General Strategy for Factoring Polynomials · Exercise 33

Watermelon drop A springtime tradition at the University of California San Diego is the Watermelon Drop, where a watermelon is dropped from the seventh story of Urey Hall.

ⓐ The binomial $-16t^2+80$ gives the height of the watermelon $t$ seconds after it is dropped. Factor the greatest common factor from this binomial.
ⓑ If the watermelon is thrown down with initial velocity 8 feet per second, its height after $t$ seconds is given by the trinomial $-16t^2-8t+80$. Completely factor this trinomial.

OpenStax, Elementary Algebra 2e · §7.5 General Strategy for Factoring Polynomials · Exercise 33