com Bruce VomBaur & Jarfon Hatcher u » Height of a Zero Gravity Parabolic Flight $ Math 1010 Intermediate Algebra Group Project E Have you ever wondered what it might fe! ke to é float weightless in space? One way to try it out is to E fly ona special aircraft that astronauts use to train for sly their trips to space. Both NASA and the Russian Space ‘© Agency have been fiying these for years. The way this, %, fs accomplished i to fy toa high alttude, drop down & 4 * to gain speed, and then start a large parabolic path up E in the sky. Fora time ranging from 10 to 20 seconds, along the top part of the parabolic flight, an Seer the plane. This effect can cause some nausea in environment simulating zero gravity is created wi the participants, giving rise to the name “Vomit Comet’, the plane used by NASA for zero-G parabolic training flights. Currently there isa private company that will sell you a zero-G ride, though itis a bit & expensive, S Tis ab will have you take a look atthe parabolic path to try to determine the maximum altitude the & plane reaches. First, you will work with data given about the parabola to come up with a quadratic _E model for the flight. Then you will work to find the maximum value of the model. Now for the data: = g Height of a Zero-G Flight t Seconds After 4s Starting a Parabolic Flight Path ‘Time cin seconds 2 20 40 Height A in feet 23645, 32015 33715 To find the quadratic model, you will be plugging the data into the model h = at? + bt +c. The data points given are just like x and y values, where the x value is the time t in seconds and the y value is the altitude h in feet. Plug these into the model and you will get equations with a, bande. Part 1: Write your 3 by 3 system of equations for a, b, and c. (2, 2305 ) (20,329 BY (« S \2 Nee CUS a({2ys bf2)* ¢ 4 > W.. \Gooay Yous ¢ 1Part 2: Solve this system. Make sure to show your work. T dar 2p tc > 23645 ~ Ua - 2 -YWa -2b C= 23645 - Ha- 2b TE. H00a + 2obt + 3201S O0a+ 200° (23645 - Ya- 2b) = 5201S 4O0a- Yor 20b- 2b > 32015-23645 BAea+ Gk - 370 ww 1S 18 22a +\b =4e5 b= eS - 224 5- 22a)+ (2364S- Ha- 2b) = 33715 TIE. \Gooa+ 40 (He! \@00a - YO(22)q-4a~2b = BSTIS- 2364S — 18600 ~ a! O JiGa-2b S530 aso Tioa - 2(46S- 22a) = oo eb heomern P 2. $SSOrASO Cress = - 7600 zoe 88 c= 2235S a=-l0 y- 685 ly = HG5- 22(-10)> © C= 23e4S -H(-10)-2(685) = 22515 Part 3: Using your solutions to the system from part2 to form your quadratic model of the data. yn (t)= -\Oot?4685t+* 223a\5 Part 4: Find the maximum value of the quadratic function. Make sure to show your work.weckex ~? €* 2b = 34.25 seconds Mex = “1002 23\5= 3YOUS.625 + € Part 5: Sketch the parabola. Label the given data plus the maximum point. A good way to start labeling “ce your axes is to have the lower left point be (0, 20000) ‘op00 Sos00 20900" 10900 10 20 so 4O, sO eo (seconds) Part 6: Reflective Writing. Did this project change the way you think about how math can be applied to the real world? Write one paragraph stating what ideas changed and why. If this project did not change the way you think, write how this project gave further evidence to support your existing opinion about applying math. Be specific.This project detinitely changed +he Woy we Anink about Wow math con be applied to ne (eal world. Before , we knew Math Wad Somme appli cations , out we didnt AWiMk we encountered applications daily. We also AMought applications involvin Slight volved on exrtemiely complicated , higher ~Tevel math. However, atier Mis project , we were proven wrong- We alized that math applications are encountered daily > Particularly im ane Cases of : flight pattems. We also discovered nat the marn WvoWed iM Solving these Proves was simply — algebra we learnedin Math \o1o- Because of is projecs . We Will Now search for more ceal- world Mash applications.