Question

You throw a 0.05 kg golf ball horizontally off a cliff. At the same instant and from the same height above the ground, your friend throws a 5 kg bowling bowl straight up in the air, reaching a peak height 1 m above the initial throwing height, before it falls down the cliff toward the ground. Assuming air resistance is ignored, which of the following statements is correct?

The bowling ball hits the ground first
The golf ball has greater vertical velocity just before it hit the ground
The golf ball hits the ground first
The bowling ball and the golf ball hit the ground at the same time

Answer 1

The golf ball will hit the ground first because it starts descending immediately, whereas the bowling ball has to first rise to its peak height and then fall, taking extra time.

Step-by-step explanation:

When comparing the scenarios of a golf ball thrown horizontally off a cliff and a bowling ball thrown straight up in the air, the motion of both the golf ball and the bowling ball is affected only by gravity (ignoring air resistance), hence both will have the same vertical acceleration due to gravity. The golf ball, already at the edge, will start descending immediately, while the bowling ball will move upwards first, reach its peak height, and then start to fall. Given that the bowling ball takes additional time to reach its peak before descending, both balls will not hit the ground at the same time. Instead, the golf ball will hit the ground first because it does not have to travel the extra vertical distance that the bowling ball does.