The Serve Fig. 2

The following schematic shows a view of the volleyball trajectory, between the point of serve and the point at which the volleyball lands on the court.

Where:

g is the acceleration due to gravity (equal to 9.8 m/s² on earth)

H is the height of the net

h_max is the maximum height reached by the ball

h_o is the initial height of the ball at the serve location

V is the initial serve velocity of the ball

θ is the initial angle the ball makes with the horizontal (and above it)

Point A is the serve location

Point B is the location just above the net, through which the ball passes

Point C is the location on the court where the ball lands

The coordinate system xy is defined with the positive x and y axes pointing in the directions shown. For convenience, the origin of this coordinate system is at point A.