A basketball player jumps to dunk the ball. She pushes off the ground and rises

Question

A basketball player jumps to dunk the ball. She pushes off the ground and rises upward. We will define upward vertical as positive. 3. (a) While the player is in the air and moving upward, is her vertical velocity positive or negative? Is her acceleration positive or negative? (b) After she dunks the ball, she begins moving downward. During this downward movement, before she touches the ground, is her vertical velocity positive or negative? Is her acceleration positive or negative? (c) When the player lands on the ground, in what direction must theacceleration be to slow her downward movement? (d) To produce this acceleration, is the normal force acting on the player's feet during landing greater than, equal to, or less than her weight force?

Explanation / Answer

a)

vertical velocity is positive

acceleration is in downward direction , hence it will be negative.

b)

vertical velocity is n downward direction , hence vertical velocity is negative.

acceleration is in downward direction , hence it will be negative.

c)

since the velocity is in downward direction , the acceleration must be in opposite direction to slow down the player. hence the acceleration must be in upward direction.

d)

for the acceleration in upward direction , the net force must be in Upward direction, weight of the player acts in downward direction. hence the normal force must be in upward direction such that sum of normal force and weight must be greater than zero. hence the normal force must be greater than the weight.

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