What's Wilt Chamberlain vertical in this picture?

[iamgine]

I'm sure a math major would be able to figure this out easily given the data. Assume that he jumps straight up.

http://i.imgur.com/BX7Kjxl.jpg

http://media.web.britannica.com/eb-media/22/72122-036-119110A2.gif

[josh99]

I don't think you can measure vertical based on how far someone's feet are off the ground.

[BigTicket]

Why would you need to be a math major, or look at those silly triangles ?

If his head is above the rim (10ft), then he jumped at least 10ft - his height (7'1) = 35 inches.

[LAZERUSS]

48".

[SpanishACB]

those trinagles show nothing

camera angles

first understand those FULLY

[iamgine]

those trinagles show nothing

camera angles

first understand those FULLY
Since we know the court and basket dimensions supposedly you can calculate the angles and distance of all those players as well.

[j3lademaster]

Assuming he's 7'2 in shoes and he looks to be about 2 inches from headlevel of a 120 inch rim, around 32 inches give or take. Pretty damn good.

[Rolando]

I am not savvy enough to do this graphically but, this is how you get the distance.

Firstly, it is great that his take off spot is known.

Secondly, you have a known object there with a known dimension: The side edge of the backboard.

Thirdly, use the side edge of the backboard as the measuring stick by cut and pasting it to the take off spot.

The edge of the backboard is apparently about 48 inches....

[kshutts1]

In the "take off" picture, it appears as though Wilt's feet are planted noticeably closer to the far side of the lane than to the close side. This tells me that he was farther away from the basket than the camera. And since the camera is higher than the rim, and shooting down, that "inflates" the appearance of Wilt's vertical.

Anyway, no offense to OP, but who really cares what the exact number is? There's enough proof out there to say that Wilt was a phenomenal, world-class athlete. Why do we need more?

[SpanishACB]

Since we know the court and basket dimensions supposedly you can calculate the angles and distance of all those players as well.

no you cannot

your understanding of camera lenses is obviously very limited

[inclinerator]

24 inches

[iamgine]

no you cannot

your understanding of camera lenses is obviously very limited
yes you can. your understanding of camera lenses is obviously very limited.


In the "take off" picture, it appears as though Wilt's feet are planted noticeably closer to the far side of the lane than to the close side. This tells me that he was farther away from the basket than the camera. And since the camera is higher than the rim, and shooting down, that "inflates" the appearance of Wilt's vertical.

Anyway, no offense to OP, but who really cares what the exact number is? There's enough proof out there to say that Wilt was a phenomenal, world-class athlete. Why do we need more?
The math of it is more interesting to me.

[fpliii]

First triangle shouldn't use his feet, but his head. Knees are often bent during jumps as opposed to fully extended, so it won't give an accurate guess.

If you trust the line to the crown of his head, draw another from the rim to the ground beneath it, and just calculate:

120 inches * (# pixels from head to ground) / (# pixels from rim to ground)