All Solutions - Women's Basketball - February 12-16, 1996
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Correct solutions were submitted by:
Bishop Hartley High School, Columbus, Ohio Brian Hickey, Grade 12 Booker High School, ?? Amanda Detweiler, Grade 9 Boston College HS, Boston, Massachusetts Giovanni De Santi, Grade 12 Canyon Vista Middle School, Texas Jennifer Lillie, Andy Lin, Silas Barta, Jonathan Huang, Young-eun Seo, Dan Harbin, & Brian Aydemir, Grade 8, Durham Academy, Durham, North Carolina Evan Daniel & Rafael Medina, Grade 10 Fairfield High School, Fairfield, Connecticut Kyle Halligan, Robert Eng, Bilal Seyal Grade 9 Father Judge HS, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Keith M. Reinhardt, Grade 10 Georgetown Day School, Washington, DC Alex Columbus, Grade 8 Granada High School, Livermore, California Mike Sue, Erica Campbell, Shawn Riggi, Grade 10 Andrew Potter, Grade 9 Hanover High School, Hanover, New Hampshire Josh Fischel, Grade 12 Carson Henry, Grade 9 Hine Junior High School, Washington, DC Shaun Hill & Antonio Thomas, Grade 8 Home Schooled, Akron, Ohio Anna Margush, Grade 4 Homewood Flossmoor HS, Flossmoor, Illinois Keith Durkin, Mike Velazquez, Grade 10 Ignacio High School, Durango, Colorado Jared Ezzell, Grade 11 Deanna Owens & Kate Treanor, Grades 10 & 9 Nicole Gurule, Tiffany Kinnibrugh, Luke Pickens &damp; Cody Self, Grade 9 I.S. 119 Queens, New York Jason Lee, Grade 8 Lincoln Sudbury Regional HS, Sudbury, Massachusetts Melanie Lukens-Bober, Benjamin Tischler, David Trail, Matt Niemi, Grade 9 Loreto College, Marryatville, South Australia Beth Loveday, Year 10 Martin County High School, Stuart, Florida Rod Hofer & Ben Ngo, Jaime Uhazie, Melissa Sloane, Grade 9, Laura Ejups , Grade 10 Mount St. Joseph Academy, Flourtown, Pennsylvania Grade 10 Jill Sommer, Claire Bonner, Lauren Grabowski & Sarah Joyce, Elizabeth Kichula, Jenn Cody, Lori Ann Simmons Grade 9 Lindsay Pio, Sarah Schmalbach, Elissa Serrao, Lauren Wall & Annie McIntyre, Michele Weiss, Colleen Cusick, Shannon Firth & Joanne Getson, Catie Hill & Katie Walder Murray Junior High, Ridgecrest, California Ryan Carpenter, Kelly Davis, Grade 8 Thomas S. Kuo, Grade 7 Pensacola Catholic High School, Pensacola, Florida Justin Catches, Tiffany Carter, Grade 10 The Rivers School, Weston, Massachusetts Dave Lyons, Seth Longley, Grade 9 Sammamish High School, Bellevue, Washington Jay Dreher, Grade 11 Smoky Hill High School, Aurora, Colorado Grades 9 & 10 Jessica Whitehead, kBrian McCloskey, Tiffany Jackson, Carolyn Jones, Katie Crane, John MacArthur, Scott Copeland & Steve Hansen, Heather Booker, Carolyn Zavodny Jason Rivkin & Jenna Dellinger Kathryn, Erica, Katie; Scott Golembeski Solomon Schechter HS, Long Island, New York Elana Friedman &dfamp; Naamit Kurshan, Grade 9, St. George's School, Middletown, Rhode Island Sisters of Soul, Grade 10 George C.K.1, Someone nameless, Grade 9 Scarlet Wynne Elmo fourth former Sturgeon Bay High, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin Derek McCarty, Grade 9 Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Natick, Mass. Miho Watanabe, Rachel Schneebaum & Ashima Scripp, Grade 10 Walter Williams High, Burlington, North Carolina Dorothy Moorefield, Grade 11 Rachel Hestermann, Senior Indiana University Purdue University, Fort Wayne, IL
From: ? Grade: ninth School: St. George's School Answer: height of hoop: 8.8 feet court length: 68.64 ft foul line: 13.2 ft 3 point line: 16.72 ft hoop diameter: 15.84 inches *********************************************** From: George C.K.1 Grade: 9-10th School: St. Georges Answer: court- 68.64 ft. basket- 8.8ft. free throw- 13.2 ft. 3 point line- 16.72 ft. hoop- 15.84 *********************************************** From: Scarlet Wynne Elmo Grade: fourth former School: St. George's School Answer: Height of the hoop - 8.8 ft. Length of the court - 68.64 ft. Foul line - 13.2 ft. 3 point line - 16.72 ft. Hoop diameter - 15.84 ft. *********************************************** From: SISTERS OF SOUL Grade: 10th School: ST. George's Answer: Height of Hoop: 8.8 feet Length of the Court: 68.64 feet Foul Line: 13.2 feet 3-point line: 16.72 feet Hoop Diameter: 15.84 inches To answer your final question no I don't think that in the midst of Feminism we will ever be able to make women's B-Ball change. *********************************************** From: Jason Lee Grade: 8 School: I.S. 119 Queens, NY Answer: 6' 3" = 75" 5' 6" = 66" 75 : 67 is the ratio of average man to average woman bb player For court size: For height of hoop: 75 : 66 = 78 : x 75 : 66 = 10 : x 75x = 66(78) 75x = 66(10) 25x = 22(78) 15x = 66(2) 25x = 1716 5x = 22(2) x = 68.64' 5x = 44 x = 8.8' For free throw line: For 3-pointer: 75 : 66 = 15 : x 75 : 67 = 19 : x 75x = 66(15) 75x = 66(19) 5x = 66(1) 25x = 22(19) 5x = 66 25x = 418 x = 13.2' x = 16.72' For hoop: 75 : 67 = 18 : x 75x = 66(18) 25x = 66(6) 25x = 396 x = 15.84" I have no idea at all why these changes can be implemented? Okay, maybe one, because they can't? 8-) Bye! - Jason Lee *********************************************** From: AMANDA DETWEILER Grade: 9 School: BOOKER HIGH SCHOOL Answer: FOR THE GIRL'S COURT; THE COURT LENGTH SHOULD BE 68.64 FEET, THE HEIGHT OF THE BASKET SHOULD BE 8.8 FEET, THE FREE THROW LINE SHOULD BE 13.2 FEET AWAY, THE 3-POINT LINE SHOULD BE 16.72 FEET AWAY, AND THE DIAMETER OF THE HOOP SHOULD BE 15.84 INCHES. *********************************************** From: Brian Hickey Grade: 12 School: Bishop Hartley High School Set up the men's height to the women's height as follows: 6.25/5.5 Then take each of the measurements you want to scale down and convert them to feet. Then find the proportional height, length, width, etc. of the woman's court. Solving these proportions, the dimensions of the woman's court would be 68.64' long 8.8' high basket 13.2' free throw line 16.72' three-point line 15.84" diameter hoop. As for why these changes will never be instituted, I'm not sure but I think it's because people don't like change. Women's basketball will stay the same as it is now because women are forced to keep up with men's standards. *********************************************** From: Ryan Carpenter Grade: 8th School: Murray Junior High Answer: For this current problem of the week I used ratios to find my answer. The ratio for the size of the court is: 66"/75" = x/936" x=823.68" x=68.64' or about 68'8" for girl's court length For the basket: 66"/75" = x/120" x=105.6" x=8.8' or about 8'10" for girl's basket The free-throw line: 66"/75" = x/180" x=158.4" x=13.2' or about 13'2" for girl's free-throw line The hoop diameter: 66"/75" = x/18" x=15.84" x=1.32' or about 1'4" for hoop diameter The three point line: 66"/75" = x/228 x=200.64" x=16.75' or 16'9" for girl's three point line *********************************************** From: Jay Dreher at Mr.Means' 2nd period Grade: 11 School: Sammamish Answer: Yes, it's Mr.Means infamous 2nd period again. And have I got an answer. Given that the average basketball court is currently scaled for the average 6'3" man, I figured the scale rate between a 6'3" man and a 5'6" woman. (6* 12+ 3) / (5* 12+ 6) approx. = 1.136 Using this scale rate, (and converting everything to inches, just because we as Americans still insist on the standard system of measurement) we find that the average basketball court scaled for the average woman (of a respectable 5'6") would be 823.68" long, or 68.64'. The free-throw line would be 158.4" (13.2'), the three point line would be 200.64" (16.72') and the basket would be 105.6" (8.8') high, with a diameter of 15.84" (1.32'). Several reasons why we don't do this would be because it would be a pain to have to convert 68.64' to actual distance. Let's see, that's 68.64* 12 = 823.68 in. It's much easier to say 78* 12 = 936 in. I guess one other reason is that I would feel somewhat put off if I couldn't meet the "Standard." This happens in fire- fighting. Women carry 50 lbs. less than men. Hmm... But other than that, I can't think of any technical reasons that we don't do that. Heck, I don't even know if the measurements are right. Well I eagerly await your reply. Respectfully yours, Jay Dreher *********************************************** man height/length of court * woman height/x man height(inches)/length of court(inches) * women height(inches) man height * x = man height x women height * length of court = y women court/man's height Then you will find x WOMAN: 5'6" HEIGHT OF BASKET: 8.8 FEET LENGTH OF COURT: 68.6 FEET FREE THROW LINE: 13.2 FEET 3-POINT LINE: 16.7 FEET DIAMETER OF HOOP: 15.84 INCHES SHAUN HILL ANTONIO THOMAS HINE JHS WASHINGTON D.C. *********************************************** From: Miho Watanabe Grade: 10 School: Walnut Hill School for the Arts To make women's game like men's game make ratios of basketball the same as men's. Then use their average of 6'3" and 5'6", and I calculate them. The court becomes 68.84 ft, the basket is 8.8 ft high, the free line is 12 feet from the basket, the 3-point line 16.612 feet from the basket, and the hoop is 15.84 inches diam. *********************************************** From: Rachel Schneebaum and Ashima Scripp Grade: 10 School: Walnut School for the Arts Answer: If the men's court is 78' long the women's is 68'6" " " " free throw line is 15' the women's is 13'2" " " " hoop is 18" diameter the women's is 1'3" " " " basket height is 10' the women's is 8'8" " " " 3-point line is 19' the women's is 16'7" We got the answers using ratios made from the height of the men and women. 75":936" = 66":C C = 68'6" *********************************************** From: Kathryn, Erica, Katie Grade: 9 School: Smoky Hill High School Answer: In response to your problem of the week (Feb.. 12-16) here is our solution: The court for women should be 68 and 16/12 feet, the basket should be 8 and 4/5 feet high, the free throw line should be 13 and 1/5 feet from the basket, the tree point line should be 16 and 18/25 from the basket, and the diameter of the hoop itself should be 1 and 8/25 feet. We found these measurements by using ratios and cross multiplying to solve for x, x being the measurement being the correct women's' measurement. *********************************************** From: Josh Fischel Grade: 12 School: Hanover High School Answer: The ratio of height between women and men is 66 inches to 75 inches, or 0.88. Therefore, to make everything else proportionately the same, you must multiply all the dimensions and distances by 0.88 So the new measurements for women would be (rounded to nearest foot or inch): Court length = 69 feet Basket height = 9 feet Foul Line Distance = 13 feet from basket Three-Point Line Distance = 17 feet from basket Diameter of Hoop = 16 inches in diameter One problem with changing dimensions would be the cost “ women's basketball is largely a college game, and they share the court with men, which means that they would have to have separate courts. On *********************************************** From: Carson Henry Grade: 9 School: Hanover High School Answer: the court would be downsized to 68'6" the basket's height would be downsized to 8'8" the free throw line would be downsized to 13'2" the hoop's diameter would be reduced to 15'8" overall we would need to downsize by 12% I don't think that any of these changes would be made because men and women are supposed to be equal. *********************************************** From: Kelly Davis Grade: 8th School: Murray Jr. High To answer you question, I used ratios. I took 6'3" and changed that into decimal form(6.25). And I did the same with 5'6"(5.5) I then made the ratio 550/625 which simplified down to 22/25. I took the ratio (22/25=x/78) to find the length of the court and solved for x. I did the same for finding the hoops height, how far the free-throw line would be away from the hoop, where the three point line would be in comparison with the hoop and how wide the hoop would be. The hoop would be 8.8' or about 8'10". The court would be 68.64' long or about 68'8". The free throw line would be 13.2' or about 13'2" from the hoop. The three point line would be 16.72' or about 16'9" from the hoop. The hoop would be 15.84" or about 15'10" in width. To answer your other question, it would be gender discrimination to have different sizes of courts for men and women. *********************************************** From: Keith M. Reinhardt Grade: 10 School: Father Judge High School Answer: 1. To start the problem you must first put the men's height in a ratio with the women's. 2. Next, you put the remaining measurements from the men's court in a proportion with a variable and set them equal to 25/22. Finally, solve for the variable to get the new measurement for the women's court. 1. 6'3"/5'6" = 75"/66" = 25/22 2. 25/22 = 78/v 25/22 = 10/w 25/22 = 15/x 25/22 = 19/y 25/22 = 18/z 3. v = 68.64' = length of the court w = 8.8' = height of the basket x = 13.2' = distance of the free-throw line from the basket y = 16.72' = distance of three-point line from the basket z = 15.84" = diameter of the rim *********************************************** hi I'm Melanie Lukens-Bober and I am in the ninth grade at Lincoln Sudbury Regional High School, in Sudbury Massachusetts. Using proportions and ratios, I set up that 6'3"/5'6" (or 75/66) should equal 78/X and then 10/x and then 15/x and then 19/x and then 18/x. I found the following information. The court should be *68.64 feet long. The basket should be* 8.8 feet high. The free-throw line should be *13.2 feet from the basket. The three-point line should be *16.72 feet from the basket. The rim should be * 15.84 inches in diameter. I think that the reason that none of these changes will ever be made, is because it is unnecessary. No one would be really happy about it. It would cost a lot of money and take up a lot more space, to make individual courts for men and women. It would also offend some women, who are trying desperately to be equal to men. It would cause more problems with men and women attempting to play together on teams. Basically no one would ever get around to enforcing it, and these changes would never be instituted. *********************************************** Rod Hofer & Ben Ngo School: Martin County High School Stuart, Florida Grade:9 If a average women is 5 and 1/2 feet, and an average man is 6 and 1/4 feet, then you can use a proportion to scale the court down and find the measurement for a women's game to be just like the men's. To find the measurement of the court, you can use the proportion: 6.25 78 ------ = ----- 5.5 n You will find that a women's court should be 68.64 feet long. To find the measurement of the height of a the hoop you can use the proportion: 6.25 10 -------- = ------ 5.5 n The hoop should be 8.8 feet high for the ideal woman's court. To find the measurement of the free-throw line from the basket, you can use the proportion: 6.25 15 ------- = ----- 5.5 n The free throw line should be 13.2 feet away from the hoop To find the measurement of the 3-point line away from the basket use the proportion: 6.25 19 --------- = -------- 5.5 n The 3-point hoop should be 16.72 feet for a women's court. To find the measurement of the basket's diameter you can use the proportion: 6.25 1.5 ---------- = ---------- 5.5 n The diameter of a basketball hoop should be 1.32 feet in diameter. *********************************************** From: Jared Ezzell Grade: 11 School: Ignacio high Colorado Answer: Men's average height over women's average height = men's regulation over x . X = women's regulation. All answers rounded off to the nearest tenth. The court should be 68.6 feet long. The hoop should be 8.8 feet tall. The free throw line should be 13.2 feet away. The three point line should be 16.7 feet away. And the hoop diameter should be 1.3 feet. *********************************************** From: Dorothy Moorefield Grade: 11 School: Walter Williams High Answer: To scale down the basketball court, simply set up proportions using the average height of male basketball players and the average height of female basketball players. Because the proportions would be easier to solve if everything were in the same unit, it is a good idea to convert all the measurements to inches. X = the distance the court scaled for girls 66\x = 75/936 solve proportions by cross multiplying 75x=61776 x=823.68" s = the height of the hoop scaled for girls 66\s=75\120 75s=7920 s=105.6" t = the distance from the hoop to the free throw line scaled for girls t\66=180\75 It doesn't matter what order the proportion is set up as long as consistency is maintained. 75t=11660 t=158.4" u = the distance from the hoop to the 3 point line scaled for girls. 66\75=u\228 75u=15048 u=200.64" k = the diameter of the hoop scaled for girls.(It has to be reduced we don't want the game to be too easy) 75\66=18\k 75k=1188 k=15.84" The majority of basketball courts are shared by both men and women. It would be too expensive to build a separate court for all the female teams in the world. Also the changes to the court are only a few inches. These inches are made up for by reducing the size of the ball. Not only is the ball easier to control, it is lighter a requires less energy to be moved around the court. So if the court was to be reduced, the players would have a real easy game. The only thing that might be worthwhile to change would be to lower the height of the hoop to enable more dunking. However, I feel the courts should be left alone because most female players enjoy the extra challenges to their abilities. A female scoring a slam dunk is more impressive to most people than a male scoring dozens of slam dunks. *********************************************** Name: Derek McCarty School: Sturgeon Bay High Grade: 9 Annie- I don't watch women's basketball too much but I thought that the free-throw line, the 3-point line and the basket height should be decreased and the hoop should become larger. This is how I did it. Note- I changed all of the digits to feet and then back to approximate feet and inches. 6.25 5.5 ---- = --- 10 x x = 8.8 The basket height should be lowered to 8' 10". 6.25 5.5 ---- = --- 19 x x = 16.72 The 3-point line should be moved to 16' 9" 6.25 5.5 ---- = --- x 1.5 x = 1.7 The diameter of the become 1' 9" or 21". 6.25 5.5 ---- = --- 78 x x = 68.64 The court should become 68' 8" long. Although this sounds like a good idea they will never change it for two reasons that I could think of. One is that the "average" women's basketball player is 5' 6". I've seen some that are well into the six foot range. This would make it very easy for a team with a tall player to dish it down low and for her to dunk it. Secondly, colleges and high schools would have to build a men's gym and a women's gym or buy really expensive equipment that can alter the height of the hoop. If you do that though you will have two free throw lines, 3-point lines, etc. on the floor that can confuse most players. Like the Bradley center there are already two sets of lines, one for the Bucks and one for Marquette university. These changes would put three sets of lines on the ground confusing both the home and away team. Your idea is good but I think that it will never be instituted. -Derek *********************************************** From: Mike Sue Grade: Sophomore (10) School: Granada High School Men's Height = 75" Women's Height = 66" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Court length = 78' Court Length = x (68.64') 78' x ---- = ---- 75' 66 x=68.64' You do the ratio problem like this for the basket height, free throw line.... Then you ask yourself, what % of 78 is 68.84. 68.64 (Women's court length) ------- =88% 78 (Men's court length) After doing this with all of the numbers I find that the scale must be 1:.88. Food for thought: These changes wouldn't occur because it would cost too much. Practicality would play a big role in the decision. *********************************************** Court length = 68.64 ft basket height = 8.8 ft free throw line = 13.2 ft 3pt line = 16.72 ft hoop would only matter if their ball was smaller and if it was proportionally equal to the average height as the men's ball is to their average height it would be 15.84 inches *********************************************** The court length = 68.64 ft The basket height = 8.8 ft The free throw line = 13.2 ft The 3pt line = 16.72 ft The hoop would only matter if the women's ball was smaller then the hoop would have to be smaller. If the women's ball was proportional to the hoop then the hoop would be 15.84 inches. *********************************************** From: Katie Crane Grade: 10 School: Smoky Hill High School Answer: First I changed the feet into inches for the court, height, free throw line, and 3-pt. line. Then I set up this problem with proportions. The men's basketball figures to the women's figures and got these problems: 75/936-66/x x=68' for the court 75/120=66/x x=8' for the height of the hoop 75/180=66/x x=13' for the free throw line 75/192=66/x x=14' for the 3-pt. line 75/18=66/x x=15" for the hoop One reason that they don't do this might be that they use the court for both men's and women's ball and it would be too hard to change the courts for both. *********************************************** From: JOHN MACARTHUR Grade: 10 School: SMOKY HILL HIGH SCHOOL Answer: THE COURT WOULD BE 68 16/25' LONG. THE BASKET WOULD BE 8 4/5' HIGH THE FREE THROW LINE WOULD BE 13 1/5' AWAY FROM THE BASKET. THE THREE POINT LINE WOULD BE 16 18/25' AWAY FROM THE BASKET. THE BASKET WOULD BE 1 8/25' WIDE. *********************************************** From: Jason and Jenna Grade: 9&10 School: SHHS Answer: If you were to scale the basketball court down to accommodate women of an average height of 5'6", The court should be 68.64 feet long Basket should be 8.8 feet high the free throw line should be 13.2 feet from the basket the 3 point line 16.72 feet from the basket If you played with a smaller ball, then you would need to scale the hoop diameter to 15.84", but if they play with the same size ball, no change is needed. The reason that all these changes wont be instituted is because all the courts are already made at the present scale and has been played, established, and unchanged for many years. *********************************************** From: Scott Copeland and Steve Hansen Grade: 10 School: Smoky Hill First we changed 5'6" to 5.5 feet and did the same for the other height. We took that ratio of 5.5 ft to 6.25 ft and made a proportion out of them. We then solved the proportion and got the answer of, the length of the court as 68.64 ft and solved further proportions and got these answers. Height of basket = 8.8 ft. free throw line = 13.2 ft from the basket. 3 pt line = 16.72 ft from basket diameter of hoop = 15.84 in These changes won't be instituted because women are just as equal as men are and don't need any special advantages. They are doing fine as everything is now. *********************************************** For the problem of the week I used ratios to convert the men's size basketball court to the ideal women's court. My solutions are as follows, Women's court length 68.64 feet free throw line 13.20 feet 3 point line 16.72 feet diameter of hoop 15.84 inches height of net 8.80 feet I used ratios. Let's say you have a room that has the area of 20 square feet, and you want t make another room inside that room with the are 1/3 of that, you would use the ratio of 1/3=X/20 so the new room will have the area of a little under 7. The men's court numbers were given so I used the ratio of 66/75=X/10 to find the ideal women's height of the hoop, and then you would cross multiply to get 8.80 ft. Keith Durkin soph. Homewood Flossmoor, Flossmoor, Illinois *********************************************** The women's court should be in a ratio of 75:66 (inches). When applied to the men's court, the new numbers should be court length = 68.64 (feet) , basket height = 8.8 (feet) , free throw line = 13.2 feet , 3 point shot = 16.72 (feet) , basket diameter = 15.84 (inches). Evan Daniel and Rafael Medina Durham Academy Durham, NC 27707 *********************************************** From: Jennifer Lillie, Andy Lin, Silas Barta, Jonathan Huang, Young-eun Seo, Dan Harbin, Brian Aydemir Grade: 8 School: Canyon Vista Middle School Answer: Here's our solution. We basically figured out that the ratio of a woman to a man is 22 to 25. So we decided to multiply each dimension for a man by 22/25. The court is 68.64 ft long. The basket is 8.8 ft tall. The free-throw line is 13.2 feet away. The 3-point line is 16.72 feet away. The hoop is 15.84 in diameter. Food for thought: It costs too much money to alter the courts continually or build new courts. *********************************************** From: Scott Golembeski Grade: 9 School: Smoky Hill High School Answer: If you were giving an advantage to the women then you would make the court 68.64 feet long, the basket 8.8 feet high, the free throw line 13.2 feet from the basket, the 3 pt. line 16.7 feet from the basket and the hoop 15.84 inches in diameter. The way I figured this out is that I put the height of the men over the height of the women and multiply that by the measures of the men's court over x. But on the last one I had to convert every thing to inches, but I think if we are working on giving the women an advantage I would think you would make the hoop bigger and make and put the other height on top. *********************************************** Anna Margush Age 9 Grade 4th Home School Feb. 15th margush@uakron.edu This problem is like changing a recipe to make something for more or less people. If we were making pancakes for 5 people, but the recipe was for 4, we would multiply each ingredient by 5/4. The basketball "ingredients" would have to be multiplied by .88 to adjust it for the women. This is because the men are 75" tall, the women are 66" tall, and 75" * .88 = 66". Here are the computations: court length: 78' * .88 = 68.64' basket height: 10' * .88 = 8.8' free throw line: 15' * .88 = 13.2' three point line: 19' * .88 = 16.72' hoop: 18" * .88 = 15.84" points for a basket: 2 * .88 = 1.76 (which would be very hard since they would have to change all of the scoreboards!) They wouldn't want to do this because 1) It would be very expensive. 2) It would be hard and take a lot of time to make everything smaller. 3) It would be a bother. *********************************************** From: Thomas S. Kuo Email: ssusd2@owens.ridgecrest.ca.us School: Murray Junior High School, Ridgecrest, California Grade: 7th POW February 12 - 16, 1996 The court should be 68'8" long, the basket should be 8'10" high, the free throw-line should be 13'2" away from the basket, the 3-point line should be 16'9" away from the basket, and the diameter of the hoop should be 1'4". I solve these problems by using ratios and proportions: Covert units to feet: 5'6" = 5.5', 6'3" = 6.25' Let x be what the length should be, then for court: x/5.5 = 78/6.25, x = 68.64' = 68'8" for basket: x/5.5 = 10/6.25, x = 8.8' = 8'10" for free-throw line: x/5.5 = 15/6.25, x = 13.2' = 13'2" for 3-point line: x/5.5 = 19/6.25, x = 16.72' = 16'9" for hoop: x/5.5 = 1.5/6.25, x = 1.32' = 1'4" *********************************************** Justin Catches Pensacola Catholic High School 10th Grade If you divide five feet six inches by six feet and three inches you find that 5'6" is 88% of 6'3". Therefore you just multiply every dimension of the basketball court by 88% to scale it down to size. 78 x 88%= 68.64 The court would be 68.64 feet long for the women. 15 x 88%= 13.2 The free throw line would be 13.2 feet away from the endline. 19 x 88%= 16.72 The 3-pt line would be 16.72 feet away. 18 x 0.88= 15.84 The rim would have a 15.84 diameter. 10 x 0.88= 8.8 The basket would be 8.8 feet high. Every measurement was multiplied by .88 or 88% to find the scale measurements. Food for thought: Having the court and the ball the same size for women helps them to get better at basketball. If the game was made easier for them then it wouldn't be as much of a challenge for the more talented players. Besides they would not want the changes because of equality. *********************************************** Tiffany Carter Pensacola Catholic High School 10th Grade 5'6" is 88% of 6'3". Therefore you just multiply everything by 0.88 to scale it down to size. The court would be 68.64 feet long. The free throw line would be 13.2 feet away from the endline. The 3-pt line would be 16.72 feet away. The rim would have a 15.84 diameter. The basket would be 8.8 feet high. Every measurement was multiplied by .88 or 88% to find the scale measurements. Food for thought: The fundamentals of Basketball have been founded for too long to have a change made. Also, the women players may not want the change and see it as if they were being made inferior to the men. *********************************************** From: Andrew Potter Grade: 9th School: Granada High School Answer: 5'6"/6'3" = 88%, therefore, a average women is 88% of a average man. The female court should be 88% the size of the male court: Female Court length: .88 * 78' = 68.6 feet. Female basket Height: .88 * 10' = 8.8 feet. Female Free Throw: .88 * 15' = 13.2 feet. Female 3 Point: .88 * 19 = 16.7 feet. The basket would not be changed because the ball is already smaller. These changes probably wouldn't be made because of the current politics involved in today's world. I.e. The women's fight for equality, etc. Also, schools would have to draw new paints on the gym floor for the new lengths, change basket highest, etc. *********************************************** From: Heather Booker Grade: 10 School: Smoky Hill High School When solving the problem of the week, I used proportions. I made a ratio with the height of the average man and woman. 5.5:6.25 I then set up proportions with the lengths you gave me, making "X" the length or height things should be for a woman. The answers that I came up with are as follows: -Length of the court = 68.64 feet -Diameter of the rim = 15.84 inches -distance of the 3-point line = 16.72 feet -Distance of the free throw line = 13.2 feet -Height of the basket = 8.8 feet. I think they don't make these changes because women are just as capable of playing a sport at the same level of difficulty as a man. Our hands are smaller so the size of the ball does matter a little. *********************************************** From: carolyn zavodny Grade: 10 School: smoky hill high school Answer: Since you said that the average man was 6'3" and the average woman is 5'6" and you also listed the lengths of the basketball court, I just made a series of proportions and figured out what you think would make girls basketball more exciting. One example of a proportion is 5.5 is to 6.25 as (x) is to 15. I solved this proportion and figured out that the free-throw line would be 13.2 feet instead of 15 feet. I solved all of the other proportions and got the following answers. The rim would be 15.84 in diameter. The length of the quart would be 68.64 feet. The three point line would be 16.72 feet, and the height of the basket would be 8.8 feet tall. *********************************************** From: Nicole Gurule Grade: 9th School: Ignacio High School Answer: For this problem I used a ratio comparison. For each problem I changed everything to inches. I put the men's height over the woman's height. I put the men's stats over X. I then I cross-multiplied. I divided that answer, then divided that by 12. The answers I got are as follows: FREE-THROW-13.2ft, BASKET-8.8ft, COURT-68.64ft, 3-POINT-16.72ft, and HOOP-15.84in. For food for thought, I think that people are too set in their ways, and that people will think that even with these changes, that the game will not be as exciting as the men's. *********************************************** From: Deanna Owens Kate Treanor Grade: 10,9 School: Ignacio Senior High Answer: We decided the best way to work this problem is with ratios. We made ratios for each one of the situations. We first converted feet into inches so all of our units matched. Court Solution: (X = the woman's court) 75/66=936/X (Cross multiply) 75X=61776 (divide both sides by 75) X=823.7 (convert inches back into feet) The woman's court would be 68.6 feet. Basket Height Solution: (convert into inches)(X=woman's basket height) 75/66=120/X (cross multiply) 75X=7920 (divide both sides by 75) X=105.6 (convert inches back into feet) Woman's basket height would be 8.8 feet. Distance from free-throw line Solution: (convert into inches)(X=woman's free-throw line) 75/66=180/X (cross multiply) 75X=11880 (divide both sides by 75) X=158.4 (convert inches back into feet) Woman's free-throw line would be 13.2 feet from the basket. Distance from 3-point line Solution: (convert into inches)(X=woman's 3-point line) 75/66=228/X (cross multiply) 75X=15048 (divide both sides by 75) X=200.6 (convert inches back into feet) Woman's 3-point line would be 16.7 feet from the basket. Hoop Diameter: (convert into inches)(X=woman's hoop diameter) 75/66=18/X (cross multiply) 75X=1188 ( divide both sides by 75) X=15.8 Woman's hoop diameter would be 15.8 inches. This would never happen because people are not willing to pay for a court made for women. Publicity is everything in the sports world and people don't think women get enough publicity. *********************************************** From: Tiffany Kinnibrugh Grade: Freshmen School: Ignacio High School Answer: I decide to use ratios to solve the problem. I used the women and men ratios to find the proportions of court, etc. I also put all the measurements into inches. Court Women 66in X ______ = _____ 75X=61776 (61776 divided by 75) X=823.63in Men 75in 936in X=68.64ft Basket Women 66in X ______= ____ 75x=7920 7920 divided by 75 x=105.6in x=8.8 ft Men 75in 120in Free-throw women 66in X _____ = ____ 75x=11880 11880 divided by 75 x=158.4in x=13.2 ft men 75in 180 3 point Women 66in X ____ = _____ 75x=15048 15048 divided by 75 X=200.64in x=16.72ft Men 75in 228in You do these steps with the rest of the problems. Hoop 15.84 in You would have to build a new gym just for women and men. That would cost a lot of money. Also I am running out of time. Bye! *********************************************** From: Luke Pickens and Cody Self Grade: Freshman in High School School: Ignacio High School Answer: The first thing that I did was take the ratio of the average men's height(6'3") and the average women's height (5'6")and turned them into inches. I then simplified this ratio into 25/22. Next I turned all of the dimensions of the basketball court from feet into inches. I then cross-multiplied my original ratio into the dimensions of the court. For example: For the length of the court I took 78' x 12"=936". And plugged 936" into the ratio of 25/22 x 936/x. Next I got 25x=20592. Then I divided 20592 by 25 and I received 823.68 and then I had to divide it by twelve to turn it back into feet. So, my final answer for the length of women's sized court is 68.64 feet. Here is all of my answers for the women's sized court: Court length: 68.64 ft Free throw from basket: 13.2 ft Goal height: 8.8 ft 3pt from basket: 16.72 ft Hoop diameter: 15.84 ft Food for thought: Although it was a challenge doing your problem of the week. It would be much to big of a challenge to change all of the major basketball courts in the country and in the world to this new women's court size. *********************************************** Lindsay Pio Grade 9 Mount Saint Joseph Academy February 12-16, 1996 To start off the problem, I first converted all of the measurements to inches. I then set up a chart with men and women at the top, and court length, basket height, free-throw line, 3-point line, and the diameter of the hoop along the side. Then I put all of the measurements in their spots in the measurements of inches. Then I divided the inches by the average height of a man basketball player, 75 inches. For example, I divided the length of the court, 936 in., by 75 in and got 12.48. Then I multiplied the 12.48 by 66 inches, the average height of a woman basketball player, to get 823.68. 823.68 would then be the length of the women's court proportional to the men's court. So for the rest of my measurements I got: 823.68 inches for the length of the court, 105.6 in. for the height of the basket, 158.4 in. for the distance of the free-throw, 200.64 in. for the distance of the 3-point line, and 15.84 for the diameter of the hoop. If you want the measurements in feet they are: 68.64 ft.- length, 8.8 ft.- basket height, 13.2 ft.- free-throw, and 16.72 ft.- 3-point. *********************************************** Sarah Schmalbach Mount Saint Joseph Academy Grade 9 POW February 12 - 16, 1996 The first step that I took in attempting to solve this problem was to put everything in terms of inches. That would make the average male college basketball player 75 inches tall and the average female player 66 inches tall. The average court is 936 inches long. The basket is 120 inches from the ground. The free throw line is 180 inches away from the basket. The three point line is 228 inches away from the basket and the hoop is 18 inches in diameter. Next I set up proportions for each of the values listed above. 75 = 936 > x approx. 823 A women's court should be 823 in or 68 ft 7 in long 66 x 75 = 120 > x approx. 106 A women's basket should be 106 in or 8 ft 10 in high 66 x 75 = 180 > x approx. 158 A women's free throw line should be 158" or 13' 2" 66 x away from the basket 75 = 228 > x approx. 201 A women's three point line should be 201 in 66 x or 16 ft 9 in away from the basket Lastly, I do not think that the diameter of the hoop should be made smaller because that would put the women at an even greater disadvantage than they started out at. The reason that none of these changes will ever be made is probably because of the expense. The people who fund the building of the courts would have to allow money enough to build twice as many. Also, most women do not want to be treated specially just equally, particularly in the world of athletics. Thirdly, I believe that the world is just too busy to notice the statistics and do something about it. *********************************************** Elissa Serrao February 12-16, 1996 Problem of the Week Mount Saint Joseph Academy Grade 9 To achieve the proper scale of the men's court to the women's, I made a proportion. I put the height of men over the height of women. It was 25/ 22 : the women's distance/x. (I reduced 25/22 from 75/66) From this I concluded the following scale measurements: The Hoop: 25/22 = 18/x The women's diameter is 15. 84 inches The 3 Point line: 25/22 = 19/x The women's 3 point line is 16.72 feet The Free Throw: 25/22 = 15/x The women's free throw is 13.2 feet The Basket: 25/22 =120/x The women's basket is 8.8 feet tall The Court: 25/22= 78/x The length of the court would be 68.64 feet There are many reasons why these changes will never be instituted. First of all, the cost of building all these special new courts would be to expensive. Also, it would make the game to easy for women to play. (I mean, the basket is only 8 feet tall!) *********************************************** Lauren Wall, Annie McIntyre Problem of the week Feb. 12-16 Grade 9 Mt. St. Joseph Academy To scale the basketball court down to a size more fit for a woman's game we solved a series of proportions. First we converted all of the measurements from feet to inches. Then we set up all the proportions like so-- measurement in inches: n:: average height of a male (in inches): average height of a woman (in inches). We solved for the length of the basketball court-- 936:n::75:66 and found that the length scaled to an average woman basketball player would be 68.64 feet. (I converted all of the measurements from inches back to feet.) The proportion 180:n::75:66 gave us that the free throw line would be 13.2 feet from the basket. We found that the basketball net should be 8.8 feet high by solving the proportion 120:n::75:66. The three-point line would be 16.72 feet from the basket; we found this by solving 228:n::75:66. Lastly, we found that the basketball net's diameter for a game scaled down for the average woman's height would be 1.32 feet in diameter. This was found by solving the proportion 18:n::75::66. These changes will never be made because I do not think that American basketball fans will warm up to the idea of women playing basketball as competitively as the men do. Also, all these changes would be costly to make, and women have become used to the present court measurements. *********************************************** Michele Weiss Mount Saint Joseph Academy Grade 9 Problem of the week, Feb. 12-16 To make a women's basketball game as exciting as a men's basketball game, you would have to scale down the court and all of the court's components. First I changed everything into inches so it would be easier to work with. I set up this proportion: men's avg. height = women's avg. height size of court X component Then I just plugged in my numbers. Here is what I got: Court component Men's size Women's size 1. length of court 78 ft. or 936 in. 69 ft. or 824 in. 2. 3 point line 19 ft. or 228 in. 17 ft. or 201 in. 3. free throw line 15 ft. or 180 in. 13 ft. or 158 in. 4. basket diameter 18 in. 16 in. 5. height of basket 10 ft. or 120 in. 9 ft. or 106 in. These changes will never be instituted because of money. They would have to build all new arenas and courts for women. They do not want to spend the money to make the women's game more exciting. It's a man's world!! *********************************************** Colleen Cusick Grade 10 Mt.St. Joseph Academy POW 2/12-2/16 For this week's problem of the week it was our job to scale down a basketball court until it was the same proportion to the average woman basketball player as a regular court is to the average male basketball player. I set up my first proportion to find out the length of the court using the man's height / court's length as equal to the woman's height / X (the unknown length of the scaled down court). From then on I used the different lengths of the courts to set up my proportions except for when I set up a proportion for the diameter of the basket. I made it proportional to the height of the basket. These were my findings: The length of the scaled down court- 68.64 ft. The height of the basket - 8.8 ft. Distance from free-throw line to basket- 13.2 ft. Distance from 3-point line to basket- 16.72 ft. The diameter of the hoop- 15.84 in. These changes won't ever be instituted because Women's games get almost no coverage from the media. No one will take the time or the money to change things until women's sports get more coverage. *********************************************** Shannon Firth and Joanne Getson Mount Saint Joseph Academy Grade 9 We thought this problem was a lot of fun. We are both basketball fans. Shannon plays but Joanne can't shoot (but likes the game!). First we had to make sure all our measurements were in feet. Example: men's player- 6.25ft women's player-5.5ft hoop diameter-1.5ft Then we made a proportion of men's height over women's height. That would look like this: average men's height or 6.25 ft = given average women's height 5.5ft X We used this proportion to find all the unknowns including: the court length, the height of the basket, the free-throw line distance, the 3pt. line distance, and the diameter of the hoop. We put the given information of the men's game in the part labeled "given". We could find the unknown by cross multiplying the "given" by the women's height (5.5ft) and dividing by the men's height (6.25ft). So for a general rule: you have to scale the court down by 22% to make the women's game more like the men's. This is what we got: Court- 68.64 ft.Basket height- 8.8ft Free throw line- 13.2 ft 3pt. line- 16.72ft. Hoop diameter- 1.32 ft (15.84in.) FOOD FOR THOUGHT: 1) Our opinion is that women are more flexible and agile than men and have just as much endurance. Also we can handle running as far as men!!!! 2) It is less practical and more complicated to measure such intricate decimals. *********************************************** Jill Sommer Mt. St. Joseph Academy Grade 10 pow 2/16 In order for the basketball court to better suit a woman, many changes may need to be made. I used a proportion that included the height of the average male basketball player over the size of the specific court dimension = the height of the average woman over X. I entered each figure into my calculator and came up with these answers. The length of the court should be about 69 feet. The basket should be about 9 feet high. The free throw line should be about 13 feet from the basket. The three point line should be about 17 feet from the basket. The hoop should be about 16 inches in diameter especially if the smaller ball is used. I thought perhaps the width of the court needed to be shortened too. All of these changes would make the game of women's basketball a more exciting sport. They would make it a lot more like men's basketball, and maybe more people would even be interested in it. However, these changes may never come about simply because of money. Many schools complain of insufficient funds already, and I can only imagine how much it would cost to build another whole gym in every school. *********************************************** Claire Bonner Mount St. Joseph's Academy Grade 10 To make the two basketball court proportional, the women's court would significantly made smaller. Instead of the court being 78 ft. long, it would only be about 69 ft. long. The height of the hoop would be 8.8 ft. instead of the 10 regulation feet. The free-throw line would be 13.2 feet from the edge of the court, and the 3-point line would only be about 17 ft., not the 19 ft. of the men's courts. The size of the actual hoop itself would be about 16 in. instead of the 18 in. These new measurements would proportionalize the two basketball courts. These changes will never occur because all of the women's court will have to be changed. Also the women and men could no longer play on the same courts because they would be different sizes. This would be very expensive, and we already know many schools would drop women's basketball before building them a new court. *********************************************** Catie Hill and Katie Walder Mount St. Joseph Academy Grade 9, POW February 12 - 16 We found this problem very interesting. We converted 6'3" to 75 inches and 5'6" to 66 inches. We wanted to establish the ratio of these two figures, so we divided 66 by 75 to get a ratio of .88. We then multiplied the scale by each given measurement to find the appropriate women's correspondent. We found the length of the women's court to be 68.84 feet, the basket to be 8.8 feet high, the free-throw line to be 13.2 feet from the basket, the 3-point line to be 16.72 feet from the basket, and the diameter of the women's hoop to be 15.84 inches. We believe that none of these changes will ever be instituted because too much money to redesign the courts or to build new ones. Also, men dominate the basketball league because they believe it is a man's sport. As long as the men make the decisions in basketball, women will never gain equal status. And if women don't gain equal status, their games will not be equal moneymakers, and the men can say that this is their reason for not changing anything. ***************************************************** Lauren Grabowski Sarah Joyce Mount St. Joseph Academy 2/12-16/ 96 The first thing we did when solving this problem was figure out by how much the average male basketball player is than the female player by forming the ratio 5.5 feet (women) / 6.25 feet (women) = .88 So, we simply took .88 (88%) of the measurements on the basketball court. So the court, scaled down for women, would be 68.64 feet. The basket would be 8.8 feet. The free-throw line would be 13.2 feet away from the basket. the 3-point line would be 16.72 feet away from the basket. And finally, the hoop would be 15.84 inches. As for your food for thought, many people, like yourself, don't enjoy women's basketball very much, so the sport unfortunately does not generate as much money as men's basketball; therefore, it seems uneconomical to invest in a basketball court devoted solely for women. ***************************************************** Elizabeth Kichula Mt. St. Joseph POW 12-16 Grade 10 In order to find the dimensions of a women's basketball court that would be in proportion to the size of the average woman's body, in the same proportion of the man's basketball court to the man's body I set up the following proportion: woman's height = % of the women's court's dimensions in relationship to that man's height of the man's = 88% or .88 I then multiplied all of the dimensions of the regular court by .88, and came up with the following results: Length of court = .88 (78') = 68.64' height of basket = .88(10') = 8.8' length of free-throw line from basket = .88(15') = 13.2' length of 3-point line from basket = .88(19') = 16.72' diameter of the hoop = .88(18") = 15.84" There are several practical reasons why these changes would never be enacted. First of all,. most colleges and other places are not going to want to go through the trouble of changing all the dimensions. Also, some people are sure to find this sexist. Even if some people agree with the general idea, the dimensions that we used are not correct, since I don't think that the heights of the man/woman were correct since you're dealing with basketball players. ***************************************************** Jenn Cody Mt. St. Joseph Academy Grade 10 POW 2-16 I solved this problem by setting up proportions to scale down each of the parts of the court. I found the ratio by using the average height of the men divided by the average height of the women. 75in/66in = 25in/22in Using this ratio in the proportions, I received the following to make the women's game more like the men's: Length of court 68.64ft Height of basket 8.8ft Distance of Free Throw line 13.2ft Distance of 3 point line 16.72ft Diameter of basket 15.84 ft One of the reasons why these changes will never be instituted is because men and women players use the same court, so the courts would have to be the same. *********************************************** Hi. Our names are Elana Friedman and Naamit Kurshan and we are from Solomon Schechter High School of Long Island. We have solved the problem of the week concerning changes in women's basketball. Mathematically, we used a proportion and converted all the measurements into inches. Our results were: 68.64 feet length of court 8.8 feet for height of basket 13.2 feet length of free-throw line 16.72 feet length of 3-point line 15.84 inches for diameter of the hoop We feel that the court length and other measurements should not be changed. The game is very exciting and we enjoy watching it and playing it just the way it is. We hope that more people recognize the women's game and watch it. I, Elana "little Jam" Friedman, love the game and am the biggest Stanford Women's Basketball fan in the world and hope to play there someday (Jamila Wideman is the Best player in the World). *********************************************** NEW DIMENSIONS FOR WOMEN'S BASKETBALL!!!!! To make women's basketball more like men's the length of a court would have to be approximately 68.64' long, the basket would be 8.8' high, the free throw line would be 13.2' away from the basket, and the basket itself would be 1.32' in diameter. I figured this out be setting up proportions( ex. 6.25/15 = 5.5/x) and worked from there by using simple math. Alex Columbus Martha's geometry class, 8th grade, Georgetown Day School, Washington, DC *********************************************** From: Jessica Whitehead Grade: 10 School: Smoky Hill High School Answer: If the NCAA wanted to scale the women's court down, they should do it proportional to the difference of the average woman's height to the average man's height. If the average man is 6'3" and the average woman is 5'6", convert both of those into inches. So the women are 66", men 75". Then to figure how much to scale the height of the basket down, form the proportion: 66/x = 75/78. X = 8.8 convert 0.8 into inches and it becomes 9. So the height of the basket should be 8' 9". I figured the rest of my calculations the same way. Length of court: 68' 8" Height of the basket: 8' 9" Free throw line: 13' 2" from basket I did not think it was necessary to change the diameter of the hoop. I do not think these changes will ever be initiated because the women's rights people would think the NCAA was implying women were inferior to men and could not handle the "real" length of the court, height of the basket, etc.. *********************************************** From: Brian McCloskey Grade: 10 School: shhs Answer: The court would be 68.64' long. The basket would be 8.8' high. The free throw line would be 13.2' from the baseline. The three point line would be 16.72' from the baseline. The diameter of the hoop would be 15.84". This would never happen because women have yet to have their own league and then they would have to build more arenas. Also there are women basketball players that are taller than 5'6" and there are men players shorter than 6'3", so it would give them an unfair advantage if their records were compared. Bye bye. *********************************************** From: Tiffany Jackson Grade: 9 School: shhs Answer: The following proportions are men to women. height: 75:66 court: 936: approx. 824 basket: 120: approx. 106 free-throw line: 180: approx. 158 3-point line: 228: approx. 201 hoop: 18: approx. 16 The thing that you can realize about these answers is that the men's sizes are larger than the women's. One thing that you did not notice is that the basketball is in proportion too. Just thought that you would want to know. Adios! Don't computers give you a headache. *********************************************** From: CAROLYN JONES Grade: 9 School: SHHS Answer: IF I WERE TO CONSTRUCT A WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COURT, I WOULD USE THE WOMEN'S HEIGHT IN RATIO TO MEN'S. I WOULD USE THE CROSS MULTIPLICATION METHOD. I CONVERTED EVERYTHING TO INCHES TO KEEP IT EASY. THE COURT WOULD BE 823.68 INCHES. THE BASKET WOULD BE 105.6 INCHES HIGH. THE FREE THROW LINE WOULD BE 158.4 INCHES AWAY FROM THE HOOP. THE THREE POINT LINE WOULD BE 200.64 INCHES AWAY. THE HOOP WOULD BE 15.84 INCHES IN DIAMETER. I THINK THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN BECAUSE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL IS NOT POPULAR ENOUGH TO START BUILDING EXPENSIVE SPECIALIZED COURTS THAT WILL NOT BE PAID OFF. HAVE A NICE DAY! *********************************************** Here's my answer to the problem of the week. To make the games just like each other, you would reduce the dimensions of the court by the same proportion of the size of men to the size of women. the proportion of men to women is 6'3" to 5'6", or 75 inches to 66 inches, or just 75:66. Here are the answers for each dimension. All lengths are in inches. Court Length: 75:936::66:x x=823.68 inches. Divide by 12 (for feet) and you get 68.64 feet, rounded off to 69 feet. Basket Height: 75:120::66:x x=105.6 inches, 105.6,/12=8.8 feet, or 8'9 1/2" Free-throw Line Distance: 75:180::66:x x=158.4,/12=13.2 feet, or 13'2 1/2" 3-Point Line: 75:228::66:x x=200.64,/12=16.72 feet, or 16'8 1/2" Hoop Diameter: 75:18::66:x x=15.84" To answer why this will never happen, a very remote possibility is that the women's movement will want to keep things equal for women as they are to men. Including the dimensions of a basketball court (?) Like you said, this has nothing to do with geometry! -Matt Niemi Lincoln-Sudbury Regional Highschool, Sudbury, MA Ninth Grade *********************************************** Jaime Uhazie grade-9 Martin County High School Stuart, Florida To start this problem, convert the average height of men players, and the average height of women players into inches. Men 75", Women 66". This will be the basis for all proportions that I will make in this problem. (Let 'M'=men's and 'W'=women's {to make it quicker for me to type and explain it!}) The M court is 936" long. Set up this proportion: 75/66=936/X. Solving for X, I conclude that X = 823.68, which rounds to 823". So, the proportional size of the women's court should be 823", or 68'7". Following the same procedure for setting up the proportions, you can conclude the Women-sized court proportions. length from basket to free-throw line: 13'2" length from basket to three point line: 16'8" height of basket . . . . . . . . . . . : 8'9" diameter of hoop. . . . . . . . . . . .: 15.8" Florida *********************************************** POW, Feb. 12-16, 1996. Melissa Sloane, grade 9 Martin County High School Stuart, Florida First of all we need to convert the men's height 6'3'' to 6.25' and the women's height 5'6'' to 5.5'. Then I took 5.5 over 6.25 equals .88 factor.( 5.5/6.25=.88 factor) Then I drew the basketball court as follows: ------------------------------------------- | ( 10'=8.8') | | rim 18''=15.84'' | | | |---------------15'=13.2'(feet)------------| | | | -------------19'=16.72'(feet)------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 78' | | | | | | |------------------------------------------| mens=womens (10')=8.8' (18'')=15.84'' 15'=13.2' 19'=16.72' 78'=68.64' To change the court to fit a woman you would have to make the basket 8.8 feet high. The rim or hoop would have to be 15.84'' in diameter. The free-throw line would have to be 13.2' from the basket and the 3-point line would have to be 16.72' from the basket. Lastly the court size would have to be 68.64' long. Food For Thought Answer: Most women want to play on an equal level as men. They don't want anything catered to them. They want to be able to say I play on a man's court and I play well. Also the changes will not be instituted because not many people are willing to pay for all new stadiums where only women play it would cost too much money. *********************************************** Laura Ejups, grade 10 Martin county high School Stuart, Florida In order to solve this problem, I converted 6'3" to 6.25' and 5'6" to 5.5'. Then I set up a proportion for each of the objects on the court. Height of the Basket : 6.25' 10 ------- = ----- = 8.8' 5.5' x move height of basket from 10' to 8.8' Free Throw Line : 6.25' 15 ------- = ----- = 13.2' 5.5 x move free throw line from 15' to 13.2' 3 Point Line : 6.25' 19' --------- = ----- = 16.72' 5.5 x move 3 point line from 19' to 16.72' Diameter of basket : 6.25' 1.5' -------- = ------- = 1.32' 5.5 x change it from 1.5' to 1.32' (or from 18" to 15.84") *********************************************** For the problem of the week I used ratios to find the sizes and lengths of everything. I used the size of the average women's player/ size of average men's player for all the equations. 66 in.: 75 in. The size of the court - 66/75= x/78. x=68.64 The court has to be 68.64 ft. The size of the basketball - 66/75=x/10 x=8.8 ft. The basket will be 8.8 ft tall The distance of the free throw line to the hoop - 66/75=x/15 x=13.2 the free throw is 13.2 ft from the hoop. The distance of the 3- point line to the hoop - 66/75=x/19 x=16.72 The three point line is 16.72 ft. from the basket. The diameter of the hoop - 66/75 = x/i8 x=15.84 The hoop is 15.84 in. in diameter. Based on all the measurements and lengths all the sizes sound reasonable for a basketball court. - Mike Velazquez Homewood Flossmoor Community High School *********************************************** Kyle Halligan, grade 9, Fairfield HS I made a proportion of 75" for the average man over 66" for the average woman. Then that equaled 936" for how long over x. I solved for x and got 68 16/25' long for the women's court. Then I continued to change the 936" to the other number that was already given. I solved for x and got the following: 8 4/5' which is the basket's height, 13 1/5' for the free-throw line, 16 18/25' for the 3-point line, and 15 21/25' for the hoop's diameter. These measurements will probably never be instituted because men and women basketball teams often share courts. Since the courts that seem to be around today are already set for men, they'll probably stay the same. *********************************************** Robert Eng, grade 9, Fairfield HS Men = 6'3" = 6.25', women = 5'6" = 5.5', court = 78', basket = 10', free throw line = 15', 3-point line = 19', hoop = 18". Court: 6.25/5.5 = 78/x, x = 68.64'. Basket: 5.5/6.25 = x/10, x = 8.8'. Free throw line: 5.5/6.25 = x/15, x = 13.2'. 3-point line: 5.5/6.25 = x/19, x = 16.72'. Hoop: 5.5/6.25 = x/18, x = 15.84". For the game to be scaled to the men's, the women's court must be 68'7.68" long, the basket must be 8'9.6" high, the free throw line must be 13'2.4" from the basket, the 3-point line must be 16'8.64" from the basket, and the hoop must be 15.84" in diameter. I don't think that these changes are instituted because it would cost too much money to build a new court, and also someone would probably end up saying it's sexist or something of that sort. *********************************************** Bilal Seyal, grade 9, Fairfield HS Since the average height of a men's player is 6'3" and the average height of a woman's player is 5'6", the ratio is 6 3/12:5 6/12 or 6.25/5.5. The court is 78' long so the women's court should be at the proportion 6.25/5.5 = 78/x. 6.25x = 429, so x equals 68.64 which is about 68'8" long, which should be the length of the women's court. The basket is 10' high, so the women's basket should be at the proportion 6.25/5.5 = 10/x. So 6.25x = 55 and x equals 8.8 or about 8'10" high. The free throw line is 15' from the basket so the women's free throw line should be 6.25/5.5 = 15/x so 6.25x = 82.5 and x equals 13.2 which is 13'2 2/5" long, which should be the length of the women's free throw line. The hoop is 18" in diameter so the women's hoop's diameter should be 6.25/5.5 = 18/x so 6.25x = 99 and x = 15.84 which is about 15 7/8" which should be the diameter of the hoop of the women's court. By calling down all the items as I did, the women's game would become more like the men's. In real life, no one would probably do this because it would be too expensive to build two courts (with all the bleachers). *********************************************** From: Erica Campbell Grade: 10 School: Granada Answer: Women are 66 inches tall Men are 75 inches tall. My equation for the court size was: 75/936 inches = 66/X inches. So the Women's court should be X = 823.68 inches = 68.64 ft. My equation for the basket height was: 75/120 inches = 66/x inches So the women's basket height should be x=105.6 inches = 8.8 ft. My equation for the free throw line was: 75/180 inches = 66/x inches. So the women's 3 point line would be x = 200.64 inches = 16.72 ft. My equation for the basketball hoop was: 75/18 inches = 15.84 *********************************************** From: Shawn Riggi Grade: 10 School: Granada High School Answer: Here are my answers for the problem of the week. You must make everything 88% the size of the men's court. The women's court length must be 68' 7.68" long. The height of the basket must be 8' 9.6". The free-throw line must be 13' 2.4" from the basket. The 3 point line needs to be 16' 8.64" from the basket. The diameter of the hoop must be 15" 10.08". The reason changes will never be made is because it would cost to much to build new courts, there would not be room, and it would be too easy for the men to use. *********************************************** From: Giovanni De Santi Grade: 12 School: BOSTON COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL from_email: giv@cybercom.net Answer: For women the: basket should be 8.8 ft high free-throw line should be 13.2 ft from the basket 3 - point line should be 16.72 ft from the basket court should be 68.64 ft long hoop should be 15.84 in. I got all of the answers using the same method. I set up proportionality equations. ex. 6.25 5.5 ---- = ----- 10 x All of the problems are done using this same method (notice that I changed ft. and in. to just plain ft.) -Giovanni De Santi Boston College High School Grade 12 (Senior) P.S.: Thanx for your time, and reply. *********************************************** Name: Beth Loveday Year: 10 School: Loreto College State: south Australia To scale down the women's game to be the same as the men's my first step was to find the scaling factor. I did this by dividing the height of the average male basketballer (in inches) by the height of the average female basketballer. 6"3"= 75" 5'6"= 66" 75 66 = 0.88 Therefore the scaling factor to be used in all the sums is 0.88". The court is 78' long which is 936". To scale it down for a women's game you would do the following: 936*0.88= 823.68 Thus the court would be of the length 823.68" or approximately 69'. The basket is 10' high which is 120", this also needs to be scaled down for a women's game: 120*0.88= 105.6 So for a women's game the basket would need to be 105.6" or approximately 9'. The distance from the free throw line to the basket is 15' which is 180", scaled down for a women's game this would be: 180*0.88= 158.4 Therefore the free throw line would be 158.4" or approximately 13' from the basket. The distance from the three point line to the basket is 19' which is 228", scaled down for a women's game: 228*0.88= 200.64 So the distance from the three point line to the basket would be 200.64" or approximately 17'. Because the ball is already scaled down (women's hands are smaller than men's) it is only fair that the basket should also be scaled down so that the proportions are the same as for the men's game. The diameter of the hoop is 18" so for a women's game it would be: 18*0.88= 15.84 So the hoop would be 15.84 in diameter. Above I have listed all the scaled down measurements for a women's court. To answer the food for thought question, I believe that just because women are smaller does not mean that they are less accurate at throwing a ball in a hoop than men are. If women's basketball was scaled down I can imagine that this would cause a great deal of controversy. However scaling down the size of the ball is appropriate because the majority of women's hands are smaller, thus a smaller ball would give greater control. .End of Solution. *********************************************** Dave Lyons POW 2/19/96 This weeks problem was based on ratios. To find each answer I put each question into it's own ratio by using the following formula. First I converted everything into inches by multiplying each it by 12. Then I divided the section I was working on by the men's height (75'') , this gave me the ratio. I multiplied the ratio by the women's height in inches (66'') to get the down scaled subject size in inches. Finally I divided that number by 12 to convert the number back to feet. Here are my answers: The court length 78x12=936 936—75=12.48 12.48x66=823.68 823.68—12=68.64 The height of the hoop 12x10=120 120—75=1.6 1.6x66=105.6 105.6—12=8.8 8.8 feet The Free-throw line 12x15=180 180—75=2.4 2.4x66=158.4 158.4—12=13.2 13.2 feet 3-Point Line 12x19=228 228—75=3.04 3.04x66=200.64 200.64—12=16.72 16.72 feet The hoops diameter (this was already in inches so the converting steps were not needed) 18—75=.24 .24x66=15.84 15.84" *********************************************** Lori Ann Simmons Problem of the Week February 12-16 Grade 10 Mount Saint Joseph Academy This week's question asked how we could scale down the women's court to make it just like the men's. To find the dimensions of the women's court, you must multiply each measurement by 88%. To solve this problem, I first converted to inches and then computed what percent of 75" is 66"? Therefore, you are reducing the dimensions by 22%. In the men's court is 78'. The women's would be 68.64'. The following are the rest of the dimensions: basket height - 8.8', free throw line - 13.2', three point line-16.72', and the hoop - 15.84". The reason that these changes will never be instituted is that different facilities would have to be built for men and women instead of sharing the facilities as they do presently. *********************************************** to find the ratio you halve to divide the women's height by the mans and times that by the Men's court size and you get the women's court size. the court is 68.64' long the basket is 8.8' tall the 3-point line is 16.72' away the free throw line is 13.2' away the basket is 15.84" in dia. Seth Longley Grade 9 The Rivers School Weston, MA *********************************************** Ben Tam ninth grade, College Park High School, Pleasant Hill, California To make a court that would be perfect for a women, I found the ratio of the male compared to female. The first thing I would need to do is convert 6 feet 3 inches to inches. I multiply 6 feet by 12 and got 72. I add 72 to the remaining 3 inches and got 75. I now know the average height of a male basketball player is 72 inches. The next thing I did was I wanted to find the average height of a women in inches. I know the average height of a women basketball player is 5 feet 6 inches. I multiply 5 times 12 and got 60 inches. I added 60 inches to the remaining 6 inches and got 66 inches. The average height of a female basketball player is 66 inches. To find the ratio, I divided 66 by 75 and got .88. I now know the ratio, to find the length of the court, I multiply 78 feet by .88 and got 68.64 feet. Next I wanted to find out how high the basket is . The men's is 10 feet. To find the height of the women's basket, I multiplied 10 feet by the ratio of men's height compared to a women's height, 10 times .88. I found out that the baskets height for a women Should be 8.8 feet high, of the free throw line of the men's basketball court is 15 feet away, the free throw line of a women's basketball court would be 13.2 feet away. I found this by taking 15 feet and multiply it by .88. The next thing I wanted to know was how far away will the 3 point line be. I know the 3 point line for men's basketball is 19 feet. I took 19 feet and multiply it by .88. The 3 point line for a women's basketball court would be 16.72 feet away. The hoop for a basketball is 18 inches in diameter. The hoops diameter would vary depending on the size of the basketball. If it has the diameter of a regular men's basketball, the hoops diameter would also be 18 inches. If the basketball was made for women's size, the hoops diameter would be 15.84 feet in diameter. I came to this conclusion by multiplying 18 inches by .88. So the women's basketball court would be 68.64 feet long, 8.8 feet high, the free throw line would be 13.2 feet away , the 3 point line would be 16.72 feet away from the basket. The hoops diameter would vary depending on the size of the basketball, if the basketball was the same as the men's the hoop would be 18 inches in diameter, if the basketball was made for a person whose height is 5 feet 6 inches the basket would be 15.84 inches in diameter. *********************************************** From: Rachel Leigh Hestermann Grade: Senior School: Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne from_email: hesterma@ipfw.indiana.edu Answer: I think the reason why the changes will never be made to the basketball courts is that it would be too expensive to maintain two different courts for men and women. Since the current courts are already sized for men, the sizes won't change for women.
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