JennieRiedl 3rdPeriodPhysics 12/19/12 PhysicsinPhun!:BasketballinPhysics Basketballhasmanyphysicsaspectsandcomponentstoitwhenplaying.Forexample, jumpingisamajorcomponentofthephysicsofbasketball(RealWorldPhysics,2013).Whenan NBAplayerstealstheballandmakesitforthebasket,theplayerjumpsintotheairtomaketheshot, heorshecanlooktobesuspendedinmidairduringthehighpointofthejump(RealWorldPhysics, 2013).Thephysicalcomponentofthejumpwouldbecalledprojectilemotion.So,whenanobject,in thiscasethebasketball,isthrownintheairitwillspendalargepartofthattimeatthetopofthethrow, orthepeak. Forexample,ifMichaelJordanstealstheball,makesashotforthebasketandjumpsabout fourfeetintheair,vertically,hewillspendthemajorityofthejumpinmidair.

Duringthebasketball playerstakeoff,sincethereisahorizontalaswellasaverticalcomponentinthejump,themagnitude oftheverticalcomponentofthevelocityattakeoffwilldeterminethetimetheplayerspendsairborne (RealWorldPhysics,2013).So,aftertakeoff,theverticalcomponentofthevelocityoftheplayerwill changealongwiththetime.However,thehorizontalcomponentofthevelocityoftheplayerwillremain constantallthroughoutthecourseofthejumpsincegravitydoesntaffectit. Tocalculatehowmuchaplayerspendsinhangtime,theformulaneededisforlinearmotion withconstantacceleration:d=V1t0.5g(t)2(RealWorldPhysics,2013).Thegivenswouldbe:d =verticaljumpdistance,v1=verticalcomponentofjumpvelocityattakeoff,t=time,g=9.81m/s2 (RealWorldPhysics,2013).Now,tofindthemaximumheightofthejump,thefollowingformulawould beused:t=V1/g(RealWorldPhysics,2013).Theresultsshowthathalfthehangtimeisspentinthe

JennieRiedl 3rdPeriodPhysics 12/19/12 bottom75%ofthejumpandtheremainingtimeisspentinthetopofthejump(thetop25%ofthe jump)(RealWorldPhysics,2013).TheresultsconcludethatifMichaelJordanstealstheballfromthe otherteamandjumpsfourfeettothebaskettomaketheshot,hewillhaveahangtimeofarounda second,withhalfasecondspentinthehighpartofthejump(RealWorldPhysics,2013).

References RealWorldPhysics.(2013).Physicsofbasketball.Retrievedfrom

JennieRiedl 3rdPeriodPhysics 12/19/12 http://www.realworldphysicsproblems.com/physicsofbasketball.html