What is the y- coordinate in this equation?

Question

h(t) = −6 • (3 − 3.7)2 + 82.14

How do I add 20 to the y-coordinate in this equation?

Answer 1

Typically, the independent variable is plotted on a coordinate plane on the "x axis" as the "x" and the dependent variable is plotted on the coordinate plane on the "y axis" as the "y".

In this case, the independent variable is "t" because the function is noted as h(t) where "h" is the function in the variable "t". You could consider h(t) as the "y" because it would typically be plotted on the y-axis. You could also consider "t" as the "x" because it would typically be plotted on the x-axis.

To add 20 to to h(t), just add 20 like this: h(t) = −6 • (3 − 3.7)2 + 82.14 + 20. You could, of course, combine the 82.14 and the 20 to become: h(t) = −6 • (3 − 3.7)2 + 102.14