Why did Michael Jordan seem to stay in the air longer when he jumped to shoot or dunk?
He didn’t actually hang in the air like some people said. Nor did he stay in the air any longer than any other player. As soon as he left the ground, Jordan was subject to the laws of physics just like the rest of us. How high someone jumps depends entirely on the force with which they push off the ground. How long they stay in the air is related to the height of the jump: The higher the jump, the longer the time spent in the air.
A 90 cm jump has an airtime of 0.87 s, while the entire process of dunking the ball into the basket takes 8–9 tenths of a second. Jordan appeared to stay in the air longer because, before shooting or dunking, he held the ball longer than other players, waiting to release it during his descent. His tendency to extend his legs in the air, similar to the motion of a jump, also seemed to make him stay in the air longer. However, if one watched a Bulls game closely and compared the times spent in the air, they wouldn’t find significant differences.
Exercise.
If we watch the video closely, we can measure Jordan’s jump at 125 cm. What was the vertical velocity that propelled Michael to that height? Assuming that Jordan exerts a force on the floor for 0.5 seconds and that his mass is 100 kg, find the average force exerted by the floor on Jordan!
