You can use the formula h = vt – 4.9t2 to find the height of a thrown tennis ball. A tennis ball bounces upward with a speed of 4.9 meters per second. Evaluate the polynomial 4.9t – 4.9t2 for t = 0.5 to find its height after 0.5 seconds.

In this chapter you will: learn how to factor special products and common factors factor trinomials learn general strategies for factoring polynomials solve polynomial equations by factoring