How much force is needed for a 5 foot basketball player to dunk on a 10 foot goal?

Answer 1

Force depends on mass, without knowing the mass of the player you cannot answer the question.

Assuming the player will extend his arm 1 foot, he must only jump 4 feet off the ground. Assuming a mass of 50 kg (110 lbs) work to lift him 4 feet is found by:

4 ft x 12 x 2.54/100 = 1.2192 meters

Gravitational potential energy change = mgh = 50 x 9.8 x 1.2192 = 597.408 n-m

time = sq rt(2 x 1.2192/9.8) = 0.498814922121 sec

round to 0.5 sec

v = gt = 9.8 x 0.5 = 4.9 m/s

Ft = m (delta)v

F = 50 x 4.9 / 0.5 = 490 newtons of force using the above assumptions.