If a ball is dropped from rest from an elevated position at the same instant that a second ball is launched horizontally (from the same height), then which ball will hit the ground first? Assume the balls behave as projectiles

After the launch, only gravity acts on the balls. No other force. Gravity causes an acceleration that is same (in magnitude and direction) for all masses. Therefore the balls accelerate downward at the same rate. Since they were launched from same height, there is no reason, either of them should hit the ground before its companion. The only difference will be which spot on the ground - the ball launched horizontally will have moved "sideways" a bit while accelerating down.

snehashish65 snehashish65 · Answer 2 · 2021-10-19T14:43:24+02:00

Both the balls will take same amount of time to reach the ground, due to the influence of gravitational force.

When the two balls are dropped from same height (say h), then the following analysis takes place:

Both the balls will move downward under the influence of gravity. This means that there is no other force acting on the balls, other than the gravitational force.
The acceleration produced by each balls will be constant and is known as gravitational acceleration (say g).
Both the balls will reach at same time on the ground, due to the constant downward acceleration ( gravitational acceleration). However, the ball projected horizontally will cover more horizontal distance as compared to the ball which is simply dropped.

Thus, we can conclude that, both the balls will take same amount of time to reach the ground.

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