Basketball and STEM The Los Angeles Lakers need one more shot Luckily the ball is in the hands of superstar LeBron James He has amazing skills And whether he knows it or not he is going to use STEM to score James pushes off the floor with his powerful legs He seems to float as he flies toward the basket At just the right second he lets go of the ball It swishes into the basket as the buzzer sounds The game is over The Lakers and STEM win again SCIENCE From flying through the air to bouncing on a court a basketball moves according to the rules of physics TECHNOLOGY Discover how wearable tech and digital recordings tell us more about the game ENGINEERING Arenas are designed to help fans enjoy games in new and exciting ways MATH Information about teams and players is gathered as numbers called stats A winning score is just the beginning
LeBron James uses science with every shot
SCIENCE What Goes Up The point guard sees the clock winding down Leaping straight up she snaps her wrist to shoot the ball It travels in a long high arc before landing in the basket Swish Three points for the win Long distance shooters make their baskets thanks to lots of practice But they also have physics to thank Why Scientists have found that shooting the ball at an angle of 30 to 35 degrees from the floor works best for most shots
The Perfect Arc The path a ball travels depends on the amount and direction of the force applied to it A player needs to push the ball upward hard enough to overcome gravity The ball also has to travel at just the right angle to reach the basket The spin of the basketball can help you score too If a ball hits the backboard or the rim backspin slows it down This helps the ball go into the basket more easily
