THRILL RIDES The Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas is 921 feet tall and has a “needle” at its top that extends even higher into the air. A thrill ride called the Big Shot catapults riders 160 feet up the needle and then lets them fall back to the launching pad. a. The height h (in feet) of a rider on the Big Shot can be modeled by

h = º16t 2 + v0 t + 921 where t is the elapsed time (in seconds) after launch and v0 is the initial vertical velocity (in feet per second). Find v0 using the fact that the maximum value of h is 921 + 160 = 1081 feet.

b. A brochure for the Big Shot states that the ride up the needle takes 2 seconds. Compare this time with the time given by the model h = º16t 2 + v0t + 921 where v0 is the value you found in part (a). Discuss the model’s accuracy.