Final answer:
In the process of shooting a basketball through a hoop and it dropping to the ground, energy transformations occur from muscular to kinetic energy, then to gravitational potential energy, and back to kinetic energy as the ball moves and falls. Some energy is lost to non-mechanical forms such as heat and sound due to air resistance and impact with the ground.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a basketball is shot through a hoop, various energy transformations occur according to the Conservation of Energy principle. Initially, the player imparts muscular energy to the basketball, converting it into kinetic energy (KE) as the ball moves towards the hoop. As the ball rises, its kinetic energy is transformed into gravitational potential energy (GPE). At the peak of its arc, the ball has maximum potential energy and negligible kinetic energy.
As the basketball falls, the gravitational potential energy is converted back into kinetic energy. When the ball reaches the hoop or before it touches the ground, most of its energy is kinetic. However, not all of the initial energy is converted back into kinetic energy due to friction with the air and the deformation of the ball during impact. When the ball bounces, it has less gravitational potential energy at its peak because some energy is lost as heat and sound during impact with the ground. This is evidence that some energy has been transferred out of the mechanical energy system of the ball.
In real-world energy transformations like the basketball shot, not all of the mechanical energy is conserved within the basketball because air resistance and other forms of dissipative forces, like the deformation of the ball, convert some of the mechanical energy into non-mechanical forms such as heat and sound.