This year i helped out at the Iolani Classic and watched a decent amount of basketball. i realized that there's a lot of physics in basketball like projectile motion. When the ball is shot its velocity can be broken up into x (horizontal) and y (vertical) components. In the x direction its acceleration is 0 m/s^2 because it travels at a constant rate. In the y direction the balls acceleration is -9.8 m/s^2 due to gravity. The time that the ball is in the air depends on how high the ball goes. If a ball is thrown straight up to 25 feet and another ball is thrown forward (the peak is at 25 feet) they will land at the same time. This picture is me and my friend Jamie with DeMarcus Cousins and Kentari Nettles. and no we're not sitting down. we're just short.