Suppose that the flight of a launched bottle rocket can be modeled by the equation [math]y = –x^2 + 6x[/math], where [math]y[/math] measures the rocket’s height above the ground in meters and [math]x[/math] represents the rocket’s horizontal distance in meters from the launching spot at [math]x = 0[/math]. How far does the bottle rocket travel in the horizontal direction from launch to landing? What is the maximum height the bottle rocket reaches? How far has the bottle rocket traveled horizontally when it reaches its maximum height?
[list=1] [*]Identify the zeros of the function. [*]Determine the maximum height of the bottle rocket. [*]Determine the horizontal distance from the launch point to the maximum height of the bottle rocket. [/list] This applet is provided by Walch Education as supplemental material for the [i]CCGPS Analytic Geometry[/i] program. Visit [url="http://www.walch.com"]www.walch.com[/url] for more information on our resources.