Final answer:
Both the 1.0 kg ball and the 5.0 kg ball will hit the ground at the same time because, in the absence of air resistance, all objects fall at the same rate due to Earth's gravity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question pertains to the concepts of gravity and motion in classical mechanics, a branch of Physics. Specifically, it asks whether a 1.0 kg ball or a 5.0 kg ball hits the ground first when dropped simultaneously in the absence of air resistance.
According to the laws of Physics, specifically Newton's second law of motion and the universality of free fall, all objects in a vacuum, regardless of mass, will experience the same gravitational acceleration when in free fall near the Earth's surface.
This acceleration is denoted by g and is approximately 9.81 m/s². Since friction is negligible and assuming the absence of air resistance, both the 1.0 kg ball and the 5.0 kg ball will hit the ground at the same time, because their acceleration due to gravity is the same and they were released from the same height.
The 5.0 kg ball and the 1.0 kg ball will hit the ground at the same time. This is because, in the absence of air resistance, the time it takes for an object to fall to the ground does not depend on its mass. Instead, it depends on the acceleration due to gravity, which is the same for both balls.
In a vacuum, where air resistance is negligible, all objects fall with the same acceleration due to gravity regardless of their mass. This means that the gravitational force acting on the balls is the same, causing them to accelerate at the same rate. As a result, they will reach the ground simultaneously.