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Okay, so I'm a total numbskull and I left my book at school, but I'm seriously having issues with word problems and paths of projectiles. For the word problems I have issues putting all the words into numbers and variables, and for projectiles I have no idea what the formula h=-16t^2+Vo means.

Anyone have any idea what I'm on about and can explain these things in layman's terms for me?

I'm not very good with mathematics and I haven't come across this formula yet, but I think V=velocity, t=time, h=height. That's what those variables have represented in my former classes.
Good luck

h=-16t^2+Vo

quadratic, right?

y=ax^2+bx+c

y=h
t=x

Vo is the original velocity, i believe. since the 16t is a NEGATIVE, the parabola should open downward, meaning the parabola will have a maximum. to find the maximum use the equation:

x=-b/2a

do you have a number substitute for Vo??

What you have there is a basic height equation, I do believe.

h is the height of the object at any given time t, for what velocity Vo, is given. Now, what are the problems you have? Any in particuliar you can't figure out?

And Max is right; if you graph this the parabola will open downwards becuase this is height. Granted, you can have negative heights, but that's just messy, so we assume the height is positive! Becuase I'm a geek and I can, I'll draw a quick graph, ok? So, that's what the equation tells you, from time (t on the horizontal) 0 - the end time. The max point (t, h) gives the time at which the object achieves maximum height.

Now that I've prolly just confused you to death, any questions?

There's Algebra III? When did this happen?

Yeah, I have no Algebra III! I'm in II now, and then I'm taking Pre Calc/Trig...

Hi Razorblade,


I have attached some notes I am working on for an Advanced Algebra II class. In section 1.4, you will find a detailed example of how to solve a physics problem dealing with a similar problem.

If you have any questions, let me know.


Best,
Brad

Heh... I think I understand now. We went over the assignment in excruciating detail too.
Thanks everyone.

MisterWaffles wrote:There's Algebra III? When did this happen?

Well, where I live there's 6 levels of algebra. The odd levels are the first half of the semester, and the even levels are the second half of the semester.

For example, right now I'm taking Algebra III. In January, I'll be taking Algebra IV. Same teacher, same class, same everything. Just a different number.

So Algebra II is basically what I'm in. It's the same thing for Language Arts, Social Studies, and Spanish, and it's only for the courses with repeating subjects but advancing levels.

Edit: Oh and Brad, thanks for the notes but my computer won't download them for some bizarre reason.