Question

At the instant a ball is thrown horizontally with a large force, an identical ball is dropped from the same height. Which ball hits the ground first?

Question 11 options:

The dropped ball.



Neither. They both hit at the same time.


The horizontally thrown ball.

Answer 1

The answer is "The dropped ball." When a ball is dropped from a certain height, it immediately begins to fall vertically due to the force of gravity acting on it. On the other hand, when a ball is thrown horizontally, it also experiences the force of gravity but at the same time, it also has an initial velocity in the horizontal direction. This horizontal velocity does not affect the time it takes for the ball to fall vertically. Both balls experience the same gravitational force and therefore fall at the same rate. Since the dropped ball does not have any initial horizontal velocity to slow it down, it hits the ground first.