Parabola Exploration (Baseball), Algebra 1
Try to make the batter hit the bucket, the plane and the bird with the baseball. You will need to change the values of a, c, and the strike zone for each swing to hit the objects. (You can’t hit all of them at once.)
• Click the Pow! button to start/stop the baseball. You can also drag the ball with your mouse to see its flight path.
• The baseball must start in the strike zone, which is the area between the knees and the midpoint of the torso. You will need to drag the baseball there each time you change the slider values.
Record the values you use to hit each target.
Airplane:
a = ____ c = ____ equation: ______________
Bird:
a = ____ c = ____ equation: ______________
Bucket:
a = ____ c = ____ equation: ______________
1. What happens to the path of the ball as a decreases?
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2. What happens to the path of the ball as c increases?
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