Two Identical Balls Are Thrown from the Top of a Building

question 53

Multiple Choice

Two identical balls are thrown from the top of a building with the same speed. Ball 1 is thrown horizontally, while ball 2 is thrown at an angle θ above the horizontal. Neglecting air resistance, which ball will have the greatest speed when hitting the ground below?

• A) Ball 1
• B) Ball 2
• C) Both balls reach the ground with the same speed.
• D) Cannot be determined without knowing the height of the building.
• E) Cannot be determined without knowing the time each ball is in the air.

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Definitions:

Mean

The arithmetic average of a set of numbers, calculated by adding them together and dividing by the number of values.

Standard Deviation

A measure of the amount of variation or dispersion in a set of values, indicating how much the values deviate from the mean.

Range

The difference between the highest and lowest values in a set of numbers, indicating the spread or dispersion of the dataset.

Empirical Rule

The empirical rule, also known as the 68-95-99.7 rule, states that for a normal distribution, approximately 68% of the data falls within one standard deviation of the mean, 95% within two, and 99.7% within three.