Brian, a scientist, is writing a research paper on projectile motion. during one of his experiments, he throws a ball from a point marked as point a, with a certain velocity in the horizontal direction. the ball travels a horizontal distance of 0.6 meter in the 1st second, 1.2 meters in the 2nd second, 1.8 meters in the 3rd second, and so on. it hits the ground on the 8th second. brian marks the point where the ball landed as point b. calculate the distance between point a and point b. explain your work.