Question

Tom drops a ball 5ft to Bill. The formula is h(t) = -16t^2 + 18t + 5. If the ball is caught 5ft high how long was the ball in the air?

Answer 1

trick question.

h(0) = 5

It appears that he threw it upwards from 5 ft high, with a speed of 18 ft/s. Not sure how that's "dropping" the ball.

But, if you want h(t) = 5, then
-16t^2 + 18t + 5 = 5
-2t(8t-9) = 0
so it was in the air 9/8 seconds.