In a Movie Stunt, a Car Is Driven Off a Cliff

Multiple Choice

In a movie stunt, a car is driven off a cliff and falls into the ocean 200 feet below. If the car is going 50 feet/second (horizontally) when it goes over the cliff, its horizontal position is described as x = 50 t, where t is the time in seconds. Its vertical position is described as y = 16 t², where y is the distance below the cliff (i.e. y = 200 when the car hits the ocean) . Compute the length of the path traversed by the falling car. Round to the nearest foot. [Hint: The two equations will need to be combined, eliminating t so that y is expressed as a function of x.]

A) 274 feet
B) 279 feet
C) 284 feet
D) 289 feet