Question

A basketball player tries to make a half court jump shot, releasing the ball at the height of the basket. Assuming that the ball is launched at 51.0 (degrees) 14.0 meters from the basket, what speed must the player give the ball?

Answer 1

First off consider breaking up the problem into the x and y components using the trigonometric functions. Draw out the problem and label what you do and don't know. Your initial and final x and y values of position, velocity, and acceleration. From there you have a good starting point to approach the problem and see what equations you have and what unknowns you have. You can possibly use substitution if you end up with two unknowns and have two equations.