Making a Shot

Often a player will not realize the physics involved in squaring up to shoot and taking the shot. This graphic illustrates some of the physics involved in making a shot.

http://www.fearofphysics.com/Proj/proj.html

Here my 8 year old son attempts a shot:

My son's height is 1.27 meters, he is 2 meters from the hoop, and the hoop/floor distance is 3.05 meters, he will need an angle of 55 degrees (or 11pi/36 radians) launching the ball with a velocity of 7 meters/second to make his shot. (If he were to use a smaller angle he'd have to shoot with a greater velocity.) Using a calculator at fearofphysics.com we were able to figure out the angle and the velocity needed to shoot from this distance as well as for the next shot.

Here he is in action on the above shot:

Here is my son attempting a shot from further away:

Again his height is 1.27 meters, he is now 6 meters away from the hoop, the hoop/floor distance is 3.05 meters, he would need an angle of 60 degrees (or pi/3 radians), and a velocity of 9.5 meters/second to be successful on this shot.

• Trajectory and Velocity of a Basketball
• Backspin on the Ball
• Moment of Inertia of a Basketball
• Works Cited
• Related Links