Torque!!!

This past weekend I tried searching for unique instances of torque being exerted in every day life. Although this isn't a picture of me, I found and learned that a torque wrench can be used to loosen the bolts on any car tire. It is a perfect and simple example of what we have been learning in class because the wrench is long and allows for less force to be applied to create a fairly large amount of torque. According to the mechanic I talked to, certain wrenches can extend to varying lengths depending on how much force/torque is needed to tighten or loosen the nuts on the tire. There are other ways of tightening the tires, like using an impact gun, but it may overtighten the nuts and cause issues later on.

This weekend I was searching through some old pictures and I found this particular one after a game I played. I immediately knew there were physics to be discussed. The first thing I realized was that there needs to be enough force to overcome gravity pulling the basketball to the earth. However, if too much force is generated, the ball would bounce hard off the backboard or go out of bounds. This right amount of force is what most players call "touch" on the ball. This "touch" is usually what determines if the ball would bounce in the basket after hitting the rim or backboard. I also thought of the vectors of force needed to project the ball into the basket. Because the y component always equals the weight downwards, the x component is the one that varies, depending on how far the shooter is from the basket.