Need help in Physics.... ASAP! (Free Fall)?

Question

Two boys standing on a bridge each throw a rock straight down into the river below. They throw the rocks at the same instant but one rock hits the water before the other. How can that happen since the acceleration (due to gravity) is the same in both cases?

Answer 1

It could be because the rocks were thrown downwards with different initial velocities; you said the rocks were "thrown," not "dropped," and the rock thrown with the greater velocity would hit the water first. It could also be because the rocks are dissimilar enough that they have sufficiently different air resistance acting on them to result in a measureable differerence in the impact time; the rock with less air resistance on it would hit the water first.

Answer 2

if the rocks were thrown it means there were different forces involved than gravity it means the boy who threw the rock with a greater force hit the water faster.............but yet again the aerodinamics of the rocks are not identical so the bigger the surface of the rock the slower it falls

Answer 3

One boy threw his rock harder, and so the initial velocity his rock had was higher to start with.

Answer 4

well if they throw the rocks, and aren't just dropping the rocks, then one of them could be throwing it harder.

Answer 5

i think of this could be a trick question... we would desire to understand the terminal speed of the rock and how long it takes to get there.. a minimum of in accordance to mythbusters i could want that information.