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Parabolicproject 1

This document describes a parabolic flight path used to simulate zero gravity conditions aboard a specialized aircraft. The aircraft climbs to a high altitude, dives down to gain speed, then follows a large parabolic arc upwards. For 10-20 seconds along the top of the arc, passengers experience weightlessness similar to conditions in space. The document provides time and altitude data points taken during one such parabolic flight and asks students to derive a quadratic equation to model the flight path and determine the maximum altitude reached.

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72 views1 page

Parabolicproject 1

This document describes a parabolic flight path used to simulate zero gravity conditions aboard a specialized aircraft. The aircraft climbs to a high altitude, dives down to gain speed, then follows a large parabolic arc upwards. For 10-20 seconds along the top of the arc, passengers experience weightlessness similar to conditions in space. The document provides time and altitude data points taken during one such parabolic flight and asks students to derive a quadratic equation to model the flight path and determine the maximum altitude reached.

Uploaded by

api-242820551
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Height of a Zero Gravity Parabolic Flight


Math 1010 Intermediate Algebra Group Project
Have you ever wondered
float weightless

what it might feel like to

in space? One way to try it out is to

fly on a special aircraft

that astronauts

use to train for

their trips to space. Both NASA and the Russian Space


Agency have been flying these for years. The way this
is accomplished

is to fly to a high altitude,

drop down

to gain speed, and then start a large parabolic

path up

in the sky. For a time ranging from 10 to 20 seconds,


along the top part of the parabolic flight, an
environment

simulating

the participants,
training

zero gravity is created within

giving rise to the name "Vomit

flights.

Currently

the plane.

Comet",

This effect can cause some nausea in

the plane used by NASA for zero-G parabolic

there is a private company that will sell you a zero-G ride, though

it is a bit

expensive.
This lab will have you take a look at the 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
model for the flight.

Then you will work to find the maximum

value of the model.

Now for the data:

Height of a Zero-G Flight t


Seconds After Starting a
Parabolic Flh!ht Path
TIME

TIN

SECONDS
HEIGHT H IN FEET

20
32015

2
23645

c..

40
33715

To find the quadratic model, you will be plugging the data into the model h = at2 + 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,
band c. ~f-bt~
Part 1: Write your 3 by 3 system of equations

~O\

>r-d-\::. \-

c ~;)3 1~L\S

~Q)o.. >r 9--Ob T ( -: ~

\ o~

\\,p:>~,..t.-\Oo-\- <, -:: ~3\ \'3

(\)

r:t:,)

a ')

for a, b, and c.

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