Question

Michael Jordan, formerly of the Chicago Bulls basketball team, had some fanatic fans. They claimed that he was able to jump and remain in the air for two full seconds from launch to landing. Evaluate this claim by calculating the maximum height that such a jump would attain. For comparison, Jordan’s maximum jump height has been estimated at about one meter

Answer 1

The claim is not realistic

Step-by-step explanation:

We can solve the problem by using the following suvat equation:

`s=vt-(1)/(2)at^2`

where

s is the displacement

v is the final velocity

t is the time

a is the acceleration

Here we want to find the maximum height reached by Jordan, if he was able to stay in the air for 2 seconds. In that case, the time needed to reach the maximum height is

t = 1 s (half of the total time)

At the maximum height, moreover, the velocity is zero:

v = 0

The acceleration is the acceleration of gravity, so

`a=g=-9.8 m/s^2` (assuming upward as positive direction)

Therefore the equation becomes

`s=-(1)/(2)gt^2`

And solving for t = 1.0 s, we find the maximum height:

`s=(1)/(2)(9.8)(1)^2=4.9 m`

which is much greater than Jordan's maximum height (1 meter), so the claim is not realistic.