Answer:
The starting height of the raiders is 39 meters.
Step-by-step explanation:
Physically speaking, a free fall motion is an uniformly accelerated motion due to gravity. Mathematically, speaking the equation of motion for the height of an object under free fall is a second order polynomial (quadratic function).
Let [tex]h(t) = -9.8\cdot t^{2}-5\cdot t + 39[/tex] be the height of the riders, in meters, the starting height is the height evaluated at [tex]t = 0\,s.[/tex] Hence, we proceed to the determined the required data by direct evaluation:
[tex]h(0) = -9.8\cdot (0)^{2}-5\cdot (0) +39[/tex]
[tex]h(0) = 39[/tex]
The starting height of the raiders is 39 meters above the ground.