A projectile is launched into the air from the ground. The table shows the height of the projectile, h(t), at different times.
Time: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35
Height: 1,353, 2,460, 3,323, 3,940, 4,313, 4,440, 4,323
Estimate the amount of time in seconds it took for the projectile to reach the ground.
A. 10 seconds
B. 60 seconds
C. 175 seconds
D. 85 seconfs
To estimate the amount of time it took for the projectile to reach the ground, we look for when the height is zero.
From the table, we can see that the height is decreasing after reaching a maximum of 4,440 at t=30 seconds. At t=35 seconds, the height is 4,323, and at t=40 seconds it would likely be even lower.
Since the height goes from 4,440 to 4,323 between 30 seconds and 35 seconds, we can estimate that the projectile reaches the ground between these two times.
Therefore, the amount of time it took for the projectile to reach the ground is approximately 35 seconds.
The closest answer choice is D. 85 seconds.