The Physics of Basketball Essay examples -- Athletics Sports Essays

The Physics of Basketball The NBA playoffs are making the headlines all over. Every news channel, sports channel, and newspaper has a story about the big games. Everyone is making bets as to who will be the big champions. Will it be the defending champions, Los Angeles Lakers, or will it possibly be one of the underdogs. This is the most intensive time of year for basketball fans as they watch the teams battle out the game. Up and down the court, the turnovers, rebounds, fast breaks, and most of all the baskets make the games exciting. But have you ever wondered how these things happen? What enables the basketball to bounce, how does Kobe Bryant fly through the air, and why does the ball rotate backwards as it leaves a shooter’s hand and approaches the basket? These are all interesting questions and believe it or not they can all be answered with a discussion on physics. Whenever you watch a basketball game you are watching the â€Å"application of physics. It is very much at work in the game of basketball† (Hawkins). One of the key pieces of equipment in the game is the basketball itself. The ability of the ball to bounce is entirely explained by physics. The law of conservation of energy says that the total energy of an isolated system does not change (Kirkpatrick, 131). When the ball comes in contact with the floor an elastic collision occurs in which the kinetic energy of the system is conserved. Two things determine the elasticity: the air pressure in the ball and the surface it is colliding with. The more pressure in the ball, the better the bounce and the greater elasticity. The energy will be stored in the compressed air inside the ball creating a greater bounce. â€Å"Air stores and returns energy more efficiently than ... ... air, just remember that it takes the same amount of time for him to reach the basket as it does for him to fall. You may also want to notice how the ball spins as well as how it bounces. As you are watching the playoffs this year keep in mind that the application of physics is very much at work in the game of basketball. Bibliography Hawkins, Bethany. Physics of Basketball. â€Å"Intro to Basketball and Physics.† http://www.kent.wednet.edu/staff/trobins/physicspages/PhysOf1998. 25 March 2003. Kirkpatrick, Larry D., Wheeler, Gerald F. Physics A World View. Fourth edition, Harcourt College Publishers. Orlando, Florida. 2001. Willis, Bill. The Physics of Basketball. http://www.geocities.com/thesciencefiles/physicsof/basketball.html. 13 March 2003. Brancazio, Peter J. Physics of Sports. â€Å"Physics of Basketball. Department of Physics. Brooklyn, New York. 1981.

A Man Named Dave Essay

A Man Named Dave, by Dave Pelzer is the story of hope and eventual love and how a child called â€Å"It† finally found himself as a man free at last, after early childhood experiences as the son of a brutal, alcoholic mother. When his father is dying of cancer, Dave attempts to reestablish contact with him, he spends innumerable hours with his father, trying to disentangle in his mind the broken family relationships. Much later, after his mother’s death, Dave realizes that his mother’s maniac actions were picked up from her own childhood experiences. Having rushed into marriage Dave enjoys the son that was born, and is determined that his child will never know the disapproval he felt as the child called â€Å"It. † I find Dave Pel . . . zer admirable because he demonstrates remarkable qualities, such as independence, determination, and courage- quality’s I would like to strengthen in myself. After a horrible childhood, he strives for the best he can do all by himself, not depending on others to help him. One day you’ll see, I’m going to make something of myself. He becomes an in-flight fueling technician for the Air Force, a highly regarded job. Dave has displayed a lot of courage, being fearless and brave, in his trilogy; courage to survive, courage to make it on his own and various others. With his determination to succeed from his setbacks, and gain power from his calamity’s Dave is the man he is today. Independence means to me being able to make it on your own, and not having to depend on others. Another display of his independence (is his desire to be standing on his own two feet) when he gave to his mother his statement to be independent â€Å"All those years you tried your best to break me, and I’m still here. Another is being able to go back to his father who deserted him when Dave needed his father most. His courage to be able to deal with his past, and start a new life is one good example of his courage. Dave’s father didn’t protect Dave from his mother. But his wonderful trait of determination, which is never giving up and going for your goals and not quitting until you’ve achieved it, pulls him past these obstacles in his journey for recognition. Dave Pelzer strongly demonstrates independence in A Man Named Dave, and his life. Dave demonstrates independence by being capable of starting over a new life on his own.

The Capital Punishment Debate Essay - 1396 Words

Capital Punishment, also known as the death penalty is a legal sentence for a criminal to be put to death. The Punishment is rising to a controversial topic and has led to a lot of heated debates. As of 2014, over 150 countries have abolished the death penalty and 40 others have not used it in recent years, although it is still legal. The death Penalty is mostly used in extreme cases of crime like rape or murder. The convicted criminals are mostly put to death in inhuman ways such as lethal injections or electric chairs. The execution can only take place after a proper legal trial and can only be used by the state. As versatile as humankind is, they invented the term â€Å"death penalty† to contrast with the sanctity of life. The topic should†¦show more content†¦Should the man have the right to live after he has stolen the right from someone else? Even if the man is put away for life, it is still expensive to provide for him. On an average, 26.19 US Dollars are spen t to keep an individual in jail. That adds up to a bit under 10,000 US Dollars per year, per prisoner.If so many resources are being wasted, execution would be a more efficient option. If more people are arrested, it only leads up to us paying more taxes and this would have a negative effect on society. It would not be for the greater good and people would be inclined to put the death penalty into action. Time and money is wasted on people who committed crimes in their healthy minds and were aware of the consequences. It is not right for them to be given a second chance and a utilitarian would consider it immoral,unethical and unresourceful to oppose the death penalty. The contrasting ideology to challenge the thinking of an utilitarianists would be an deontologist. Deontological ethics or deontology is the normative ethical position that judges the morality of an action based on the actions adherence to a rule or rules. This means that a deontologist would always make the most moral choices and base the individuals concern on what the societys actions is rather than what the consequences that would follow. It is the opposite of what utilitarianistsShow MoreRelatedThe Debate Of Capital Punishment1313 Words   |  6 PagesCapital Punishment Introduction The state of California has carried out 13 executions since the enactment of capital punishment in 1992 (NAACP, 2016, 10). According to the NAACP winter quarterly report, there are currently 743 prisoners on death row (NAACP, 2016, 39). Since the enactment, there has been a wide range of political debate. The largest concern is in regards to the number of wrongful convictions and its philosophical underpinnings. The citizens in California are as diverse as theirRead MoreThe Debate On Capital Punishment1673 Words   |  7 Pagessocieties in history at least at one point of time or another. Capital punishment could have been considered a tradition of sorts, considering how often it was and still is made to be an intriguing, perhaps morbidly entertaining, spectacle. When the reality behind the contentious punishment is revealed, so is the true ugliness of this custom. Throughout the world in modern times, including the United States in particular, the controversial debate on whether t o retain or abolish the death penalty is extremelyRead MoreThe Debate Over Capital Punishment936 Words   |  4 Pages The debate over capital punishment is in regards to whether the death penalty contradicts the Eighth Amendment. If the death penalty does contradict the Eight Amendment, then the State should not have the power to sentence criminals to death for capital crimes. However, if capital punishment is not against the Eighth Amendment, then the State has the right to sentence criminals to death. In this essay I will first summarize Justice Brennan’s argument on why the death penalty is beyond the powerRead MoreThe Debate Over Capital Punishment1183 Words   |  5 Pagesmorally just and constitutional. Those thinking it is cruel want capital punishment abolished. The others want to see it revised and maintained. Capital punishment is being sentenced to death and executed for committing various crimes. Usually, it is reserved for convicted murder cases, but had been used for others such as: armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, and treason. Only about sixty countries still use capital punishment – the United States included. Canada, Australia, and most EuropeanRead MoreEssay on Capital Punishment Debate1527 Words   |  7 PagesCapital Punishment Debate Is Capital Punishment, otherwise known as the Death Penalty, a disgraceful and unjust way to kill a fellow Human being? Or is it a justifiable way to punish someone in a modern day society? Some nations use the Death Penalty as their most severe punishment. Capital Punishment is one of the most debated issues in current day life. Is it acceptable or not? Many politicians have put their arguments across highlighting both their benefits andRead MoreCapital Punishment Debate Essay756 Words   |  4 PagesCapital Punishment Debate The death penalty is a tough debate and an overwhelming argument in this country. We as Americans put Timothy McVeigh to death by lethal injection just three months ago. Arguments can be made for and against the death penalty, but this is not the problem. Capital Punishment is supposed to be a deterrent to crime, but is the death penalty really a deterrent? Capital Punishment is not a deterrent for crime, and the effects ofRead MoreThe Capital Punishment Debate Essay2269 Words   |  10 PagesCapital Punishment Try to imagine a relative sitting in a dark, cold, and tight prison cell and knowing minutes later that death would come for them through lethal injection. What if their case wasnt handled correctly, what if evidence was mishandled, and possibly an innocent person is going to die. Imagine the family who has been waiting years for justice to be served by the means of lethal injection. There is two sides to every story either way both families will grieve or already is. Read MoreThe Debate Over Capital Punishment1599 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction The Capital Punishment is a sure punishment. Sure punishment in the sense that the convicted never commits another crime, namely a homicide, again. People that oppose it support the argument that as human beings we shouldn’t take the responsibility of judging who should and shouldn’t die. That argument is backed by moral reasons, whether they are religious or simply ethical beliefs. Another argument against it is the fact that an offender facing the death penalty does not deter themRead MoreAmerica s Debate On Capital Punishment760 Words   |  4 PagesAmerica’s Debate: Should the Capital Punishment be abolished in the United States? Violent crimes such a murder, rape, sexual assault, and robbery are perpetrated by criminals once every few minutes in this country. Lawmakers spend countless hours enacting laws to prevent these crimes. The introduction of the death penalty is an effort to deter criminals from committing heinous crimes. What exactly does the death penalty accomplish? The best description of the term death penalty is the legal executionRead MoreThe Debate over Capital Punishment Essay1025 Words   |  5 PagesThe Debate over Capital Punishment South Carolina, January 15, 1993. After wounding an Orangeburg, S.C. police officer with a misfired bullet, Thomas Treshawn Ivey, an Alabama prison escapee, proceeded to fired five more shots into the police officer from a handgun at close range after the wounded police office had reached for his gun. Ivey fled the scene but was quickly apprehended. This scenario is not to different from the horrible acts of violence that lead an offender to death row where