---
title: "A small sounding rocket is launched vertically from rest at the ground (y = 0) at time t = 0. The rocket’s net vertical acceleration a(t) is measured and plotted in the graph shown. At t = 2.0 \\text{ s}, the engine shuts off and the acceleration drops discontinuously to -10 \\text{ m/s}^2, remaining constant thereafter until impact. At what time t does the rocket return to the ground?"
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url: "https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/124101/"
date_modified: "2026-09-28T13:30:26+00:00"
---

# A small sounding rocket is launched vertically from rest at the ground (y = 0) at time t = 0. The rocket’s net vertical acceleration a(t) is measured and plotted in the graph shown. At t = 2.0 \text{ s}, the engine shuts off and the acceleration drops discontinuously to -10 \text{ m/s}^2, remaining constant thereafter until impact. At what time t does the rocket return to the ground?

A small sounding rocket is launched vertically from rest at the ground (y = 0) at time t = 0. The rocket's net vertical acceleration a(t) is measured and plotted in the graph shown. At t = 2.0 \text{ s}, the engine shuts off and the acceleration drops discontinuously to -10 \text{ m/s}^2, remaining constant thereafter until impact. At what time t does the rocket return to the ground?

![A Cartesian coordinate plane with horizontal axis labeled t (s) and vertical axis labeled a (m/s^2). The horizontal axis has tick marks and integer labels at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. The vertical axis has tick marks and labels at -10, -5, 0, 5, 10, and 15. Light gray gridlines extend across the plot at each marked tick. A solid black line starts at coordinate (0, 15) and slopes downward linearly to coordinate (2, 0). A vertical dashed line connects coordinate (2, 0) downward to coordinate (2, -10). Starting at coordinate (2, -10), a solid horizontal black line extends to the right to coordinate (6, -10). No other labels, lines, text, or axes appear.](https://nerd-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/ubq-frq-generated/stem-fig-1-1790602225-n9prYt.jpg)

- **A.** \(3.5 \text{ s}\)
- **B.** \(4.0 \text{ s}\)
- **C.** \(5.0 \text{ s}\)
- **D.** \(6.0 \text{ s}\)

*The answer key and step-by-step explanation are available to logged-in users at https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/124101/*