1. Sam Sensenig Jess Rudick Eleanor Hatch
Tennis Serve
Sam Sensenig
Jess Rudick
Eleanor Hatch

2. The Prompt
Assuming the ball won't be changing direction from spin, determine the lowest angle that a tennis ball can hit the far back corner of the serving box of a tennis court in a singles match on a serve. based on what you consider to be a reasonable limitations, determine the highest angle that a tennis ball can hit the far back corner of the serving box of a single tennis match on a serve.

3. 13.5 ft
18 ft

4. Our Plan
We are using a 5 foot person with an extended arm to make a 7 foot height to hit a tennis ball from the far back corner of the serving box of a tennis court in a singles match on a serve. We are going to determine the highest angle that a tennis ball can hit the far back corner of the serving box of a singles tennis match on a serve.

5. What We Did:
First we drew what the balls path had to be, that would be the hypotenuse. The horizontal would be the distance from when the person is standing to where the ball would land and the vertical would be the height of the server. This would be done for a five foot person with their arm extended to 7 feet from 66 feet away and 62 feet away. We then separated the triangle to find the horizontal. We made two 90 degree triangles with the verticals being the length of the court and the horizontal in being the distance from the server to where the ball hits. We then used the Pythagorean Theorem to find the hypotenuse of the highest and smallest angled triangles. We then had both the horizontal and the vertical sides. We then used the inverse tangent function to find the highest and lowest possible angles that the tennis ball could hit the court and still be in. We tested it the first time with the persons arm not extended and we found that the ball would not be able to go over the net and hit at that angle. We then tested with the persons arm fully extended on their swing and got results that were accurate and pleasing.

6. THE CALCULATIONS: Step 1

7. THE CALCULATIONS: Step 2

8. THE CALCULATIONS: Step 3

9. THE CALCULATIONS: Step 4

10. What I Learned: Sam
It is almost impossible to complete the task in the prompt unless you are very tall.
Many factors can lead to results that are not correct; you must use the “ideal” world.
In many cases, trig can be used for real life situations, even if you don’t realize it.
CONTRIBUTION: Helping to making the power point

11. What I Learned: Jess
You must always account for the net in your calculations.
Trigonometry can be used in real life.
The tennis ball has to hit at a very small angle range.
CONTRIBUTION: Helped with the calculations.

12. What I Learned: Eleanor
Trigonometry has real-life applications and can be used to solve problems.
Drawing sketches of what you are trying to find makes the task much easier and improves your accuracy.
There is very little difference in tennis serve based on where you stand.
CONTRIBUTION: Assisted with the Power Point and calculations.