Quadratic Formula Practice Word Problems

Jack wants to know how high the soccer ball will get if he kicks it straight up in the air. Which one are we looking for?

• x at vertex

• y at vertex

• positive zero

Lily wants to know how long her toy rocket will be in the air after she lights the fuse to launch it from a 1.5-foot launch pad.

Which one are we looking for?

• x at vertex

• y at vertex

• positive zero

Nancy is trying to find how many seconds it will take a golf ball to get to its highest point after being hit on the golf course. Which one are we looking for?

• x at vertex

• y at vertex

• positive zero

Bill is wondering how long it will take a football to hit the ground after Tom Brady throws it during practice. Which one are we looking for?

• x at vertex

• y at vertex

• positive zero

Sally threw a ball in the air. Sally’s friend wanted to find out how high the ball got given that it took 1 second to get to its highest point.

Which one are we looking for?

• x at vertex

• y at vertex

• positive zero

Ray found the maximum height of a basketball thrown from half court to be 21 feet and wants to know how long it took to get there. Which one are we looking for?

• x at vertex

• y at vertex

• positive zero

• 24 ft
• 8 ft
• 12 ft
• 10 ft

8 seconds

2.5 seconds

2.225 seconds

2.5 seconds

• 8 seconds

• 2.5 seconds

• 2.225 seconds

• 2.5 seconds

The function h(t) = -16t²+60t + 130 models the approximate height of an object t seconds after it is launched. How many seconds does it take the object to hit the ground?

• 4.2 seconds

• 4.9 seconds

• 5.3 seconds

• 5.8 seconds

• 6.1 seconds

You jump off a 24 foot high cliff and your fall is modeled by the function:

h(t) = -16t² + 8t + 24

When would you reach 16 feet above the water?

• 8 seconds

• 1 second

• 1/2 second

• 1/4 second