Newton’s First Law in Basketball

Newton’s first law is defined as any object at rest will remain at rest until acted on by a force or if an object is in motion it will stay in motion until acted on by a force. Basketball is just that. From the players to the ball itself, everything about the sport screams Newton’s first law. This blog is intended to inform you on how this very important law of physics coincides with everyone’s favorite sport: basketball.




The basketball like any other ball is a projectile meant to be thrown or passed in various ways. One way is shooting the ball. Shooting the ball consists of the player tossing the basketball high and hard enough for the ball to reach inside of the basketball rim. This move applies to Newton’s first law because when the ball is shot into the air by the player it is remaining in motion at a constant speed until acted on by a force or another object like the backboard or another player blocking the shot.



Another way that basketball applies to Newton’s first law is the dribble. The dribble consists of the player moving the ball down the court by bouncing it up and down. This shows Newton’s first law because if you notice when you are dribbling the ball will rest in you hand for a moment until you push the ball back down to the ground. The ground (acting as a mirror mimicking what you do) will do the same exact thing to the ball. The ball will rest on the ground for a slight second until it bounces back up into your hand. Repeat your dribble process until you have successfully made a pass or attempted to shoot the ball.



A final way this law can be applied to basketball is the dunk. A dunk consists of a player slamming the ball forcibly down into the hoop. This rather finesse move can be applied to Newton’s first law because the rim is resting until the player pulls down on it while attempting a dunk. When the player lets go the rim will go back into its original resting position.


These are only a few of many ways that Newton’s first law applies to basketball. Stay tuned and we will talk about Newton’s second law next time.