HeightofaZeroGravityParabolicFlight

Math1010IntermediateAlgebraGroupProject

YourName:AnabelleDunn
Haveyoueverwonderedwhatitmightfeelliketofloatweightlessinspace?Onewaytotryit
outistoflyonaspecialaircraftthatastronautsusetotrainfortheirtripstospace.BothNASA
andtheRussianSpaceAgencyhavebeenflyingtheseforyears.Thewaythisisaccomplished
istoflytoahighaltitude,dropdowntogainspeed,andthenstartalargeparabolicpathupin
thesky.Foratimerangingfrom10to20seconds,alongthetoppartoftheparabolicflight,an
environmentsimulatingzerogravityiscreatedwithintheplane.Thiseffectcancausesome
nauseaintheparticipants,givingrisetothenameVomitComet,theplaneusedbyNASAfor
zeroGparabolictrainingflights.CurrentlythereisaprivatecompanythatwillsellyouazeroG
ride,thoughitisabitexpensive,around$5000.
Thislabwillhaveyoutakealookattheparabolicpathtotrytodeterminethemaximumaltitude
theplanereaches.First,youwillworkwithdatagivenabouttheparabolatocomeupwitha
quadraticmodelfortheflight.Thenyouwillworktofindthemaximumvalueofthemodel.Now
forthedata:

Time
t
inseconds
Height
h
infeet

HeightofaZeroGFlighttSeconds
AfterStartingaParabolicFlightPath
2

10

20

30,506

31,250

29,300

Tofindthequadraticmodel,youwillbepluggingthedataintothemodel.Thedata
pointsgivenarejustlikexandyvalues,wherethexvalueisthetime
t
insecondsand
theyvalueisthealtitude
h
infeet.Plugtheseintothemodelandyouwillgetequations
witha,bandc.

Part1:Writeyour3by3systemofequationsfora,b,andc.

2
30,506=a(2)
+b(2)+c
2
31,250=a(10)
+b(10)+c
2
29,300=a(20)
+b(20)+c

Part2:Solvethissystem.Makesuretoshowyourwork.

Equation1
30,506=4a+2b+c
c=30,5064a+2b

Equation2
2
31,250=a(10)
+b(10)+c
31,250=100a+10b+30,5064a2b
744=96a+8b
8
b=9312a

Equation3
2
29,300=a(20)
+b(20)+c
29,300=a(400)+20(9312a)+c
29,300=400a+1860240a+30,5064a2b
27,440=160a+30,5064a2b
3,066=160a4a2b
3,066=156a2(9312a)
3,066=156a186+24a
2,880=180a
a=16

b=9312a
b=9312(16)
b=93+192
b=285

c=30,5064a2b
c=30,5064(16)2(285)
c=30,506+64570
c=30,506506
c=30,000

Part3:Usingyoursolutionstothesystemfrompart2toformyourquadraticmodelofthedata.

2
h=16t
+285t+30,000

Part4:Findthemaximumvalueofthequadraticfunction.Makesuretoshowyourwork.

t=
285
=8.91Seconds
32

2
h=16t
+285t+30,000
2
h=16(8.91)
+285(8.91)+30,000
h=1,270.21+2,539.35+30,000
h=31,269.1

Part5:Sketchtheparabola.Labelthegivendataplusthemaximumpoint.Agoodwaytostart
labelingyouraxesistohavethelowerleftpointbe(0,25000)

Time(seconds)

Part6:ReflectiveWriting.

Didthisprojectchangethewayyouthinkabouthowmathcanbeappliedtothereal
world?Writeoneparagraphstatingwhatideaschangedandwhy.Ifthisprojectdidnot
changethewayyouthink,writehowthisprojectgavefurtherevidencetosupportyour
existingopinionaboutapplyingmath.Bespecific.

Ialwaysthoughtthatmathappliedtotherealworldindifferentways.Idontuseagreat
amountofmathinmyeverydaylife.Idontbelieveweusematheverysingledayineverytask
thatwedo.Thisdidmakemethinkhowcrucialmathistocertainpeopleandcertaincareers.I
didntthinkhowapilotwouldhavetousemathtofindamaximumheightofaplane.This
projectmaynothavecompletelychangedthewayIthinkaboutmathineverydaylifebutitdid
enlightenmeastohowmathisusedintheeverydaylifeofcertainpeople.