Basketball and Gravity
Objective: Students will apply
what they have learned about
gravity and free falling objects
to the sport of basketball.
What is Gravity???
 Force
that exists between any
two objects that have mass.
 Gravity is the pulling force
(pulling towards the center of
the Earth or the force pulling
objects together).
Gravity and Basketball
 Where
do you aim a basketball
when taking a free throw?
 Do you aim toward the rim, the
backboard, or the basket?
 Toward the basketball or the
backboard
Activity
 You
will work in groups of 4
 Your group will work on steps 1 and 2
of the activity sheet.
 Group # is identified by the index card
on your desk.
 Every member needs to participate in
the activity.
 Read over Steps 1 and 2
 10 – 15 minutes will be given for this
What does the path of the ball
look like?
What causes the ball to fall?
 GRAVITY
Free Throw
 When
you shoot a free throw the
path of the ball is an arc.
 Gravity causes the ball to fall as it
travels.
 Parabola is the term used for the
arc created by the act of gravity
on the basketball.
Activity
 Continue
with step #3
 Students should throw until
each member of the team has
made a basket directly and as a
banked shot.
 10 – 15 minutes will be given
for this activity.
How are the two paths of the
tossed balls different?

Tossed Basket

Banked Basket
Space Basketball
 What
would be different in playing
basketball in space?
 Astronauts would not be able to
make shots that require arcs.
 Arcs are impossible in space
because of the free fall
environment.
Free Fall
What is this?????
 Free
fall is motion with no
acceleration other than that
provided by gravity.
 Free fall is experienced in
space or on the shuttle.
Space Background
Astronauts in the space shuttle are seen
“floating” about with no floor to stand on.
 The same gravity force that keeps you in
your chair also keeps the astronauts, and
the Moon, in orbit.
 If Earth’s gravity were turned off, orbiting
astronauts, and everything else held by
Earth, would fly off into interplanetary
space.

Why do objects float in space?
 The
shuttle is falling toward Earth
just as you would be if your chair
suddenly broke.
 The shuttle is traveling so fast that
Earth curves away from it as it falls.
 Floating is due to falling in
space…….8 km/sec or 5 miles/sec
Step 4
Now imagine playing basketball while
circling Earth in the space shuttle. The
spacecraft and the astronauts are falling
around Earth at the same rate. As a
result, everything inside the shuttle seems
to float.
 Predict: Could an astronaut make a
banked shot in space?
 Could an astronaut toss the ball directly
into the hoop?
 What kind of trick shots could an astronaut
make?

Homework
 Find
one example in your daily
lives in which you use the arc
of a falling object to complete
the task……