Dropping vs. Throwing

Stand on a cliff and simultaneously drop one ball straight down and throw another horizontally. Which hits the ground first? They land at exactly the same time.

How long the fall takes depends only on the height, not on how hard you throw. The fall time works out to t = √(2h/g) — drop both balls from a 5-meter cliff and each one reaches the ground in about 1 second, whether you toss the second ball gently or hurl it across the yard.