Answer to Question #62782 in Mechanics | Relativity for John

Question

In the vertical jump, an Kobe Bryant starts from a crouch and jumps upward to reach as high as possible. Even the best athletes spend little more than 1.00 s in the air (their "hang time"). Treat Kobe as a particle and let ymax be his maximum height above the floor. Note: this isn't the entire story since Kobe can twist and curl up in the air, but then we can no longer treat him as a particle.



Hint: Find v0 to reach y_max in terms of g and y_max and recall the velocity at y_max is zero. Then find v1 to reach y_max/2 with the same kinematic equation. The time to reach y_max is obtained from v0=g (t), and the time to reach y_max/2 is given by v1-v0= -g(t1). Now, t1 is the time to reach y_max/2, and the quantity t-t1 is the time to go from y_max/2 to y_max. You want the ratio of (t-t1)/t1