Breaking Down the "Can They Do That" Physics Worksheet

The "Can They Do That" worksheets are standard high school and introductory college physics assignments that use real-world scenarios to practice kinematics and energy concepts. Students are given a specific athletic or physical feat — a basketball shot from half-court, a long jump attempt, a basketball player "hang time" claim — and asked to determine whether the numbers actually work out using physics equations. The answer key provides the expected calculations and conclusions. The core method is straightforward. You pick the relevant kinematic equation, plug in the given values, and solve for the unknown. Then you compare your result to the claimed number and write a one-sentence conclusion. Most worksheets use projectile motion as the primary framework since nearly every problem involves an object launched at an angle. For a typical problem like "Can a quarterback throw a football 60 yards at a 45-degree angle?" you would use the range formula R = v²sin(2)/g. Rearranging for velocity gives v = (Rg/sin(2)). Plugging in 60 yards (54.86 meters), g = 9.8 m/s², and = 45°, you get approximately 23.2 m/s. An NFL quarterback's average throw is around 20 to 25 m/s, so yes, this is physically plausible.

Energy-based problems follow the same pattern but use conservation of energy instead. A common variant asks whether a skateboarder can clear a gap using the conversion between kinetic and gravitational potential energy: ½mv² = mgh. The mass cancels out, which trips up students every semester. You solve for the required height or velocity depending on what the problem gives you. I found the key issue when grading these was students mixing up horizontal and vertical components. They'd use the total velocity where only the vertical component belongs, or forget that sin(2) already accounts for both components in the range equation. One student once used the launch angle directly instead of 2 and got a range that was exactly half the correct answer. Took three minutes to catch and fix. Common problems you'll encounter:

  • Hang time claims where the calculated time doesn't match the assertion. Example: a player claiming 1.2 seconds of hang time would need a vertical leap of roughly 1.8 meters, which is world-record territory.
  • Air resistance is completely ignored in most versions, which matters significantly for light objects over long distances.
  • Units. Some worksheets give distances in feet or yards and expect metric answers. Mixing systems without converting is the fastest way to get a wrong result.

Here's a practical tip that isn't obvious from the textbook: always check whether the problem assumes launch and landing heights are equal. The standard range formula R = v²sin(2)/g only works for that case. If the launch point is above or below the landing point — like a basketball shot from release height to hoop height — you need the full trajectory equation y = xtan() - gx²/(2v²cos²()). Skipping this step on a basketball hoop problem will give you an answer off by several percent, enough to flip a "yes" to a "no." One edge case I ran into repeatedly: problems that give speed in miles per hour but expect SI units. A baseball being thrown at 90 mph needs to be converted to about 40.2 m/s before any equation will work. Students who skip this consistently get answers that are completely wrong by a factor of roughly 2.24. The limitations of these worksheets are worth noting. They all assume ideal conditions — no air resistance, point masses, perfect angles. Real-world athletic performance deviates significantly from these assumptions. A baseball curveball, for instance, would never come close to the trajectory predicted by basic kinematics due to the Magnus effect. The worksheet answers are internally consistent and pedagogically useful, but they do not represent physical reality closely enough for any application beyond the classroom.

If you need the actual worksheet and answer key, most teachers post them through their district's learning management system or on shared drives. The OpenStax College Physics textbook also has a similar set of problems in Chapter 3 with detailed solutions. Those tend to be more rigorous than the commercial worksheets since the derivations are shown step by step rather than just listing the final numbers. The worksheet answers themselves typically include the rearranged formula, the substituted values with units, the intermediate calculation step, and a final conclusion statement. When checking your own work, compare each of those four elements rather than just looking at the final yes or no. That's where the actual grading happens in most classes.