A ball is thrown vertically upwards. Its height m, above the ground at time seconds after being thrown is given by the formula . Find the maximum height attained by the ball and the time at which this occurs. Find the set of values of the constant for which the curve lies entirely above the line .
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Worked solution
1(a)
1. Factorise the coefficient of $t^2$ from the $t$ terms
2. Complete the square for the expression inside the bracket
3. Expand and simplify to find the vertex form
4. Identify the maximum height and the time it occurs
Since for all , the maximum value of is .
This occurs when , so .
Maximum height is m, occurring at s.
1(b)
1. Set up the inequality for the curve to lie entirely above the line
For the curve to lie entirely above the line, we must have:
for all real .
2. Rearrange the inequality into standard quadratic form
3. Apply the discriminant condition for a quadratic to be always positive
Since the coefficient of is , the quadratic is always positive if the discriminant is negative ():
4. Solve the quadratic inequality for $k$
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