In 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space
while wearing the SK-1 flight suit, which weighed
44 pounds. Three weeks later, Alan Shepard became the
first American in space while wearing the Mercury flight
suit, which weighed 50% less than the SK-1. What did the
Mercury flight suit weigh?

Astudent draws two parabolas on graph paper. both parabolas cross the x-axis at (–4, 0) and (6, 0). the y-intercept of the first parabola is (0, –12). the y-intercept of the second parabola is (0, –24). what is the positive difference between the a values for the two functions that describe the parabolas? write your answer as a decimal rounded to the nearest tenth