Two balls of different mass are released from the same height with friction ignored. How do their speeds at the bottom compare?

1. With no friction the mechanical energy of each ball is conserved as it falls. 2. The potential energy at the top is fully converted into kinetic energy at the bottom. 3. Potential energy depends on mass, gravitational acceleration and height. 4. Kinetic energy depends on mass and the square of the velocity. 5. Mass appears on both sides of that energy statement, so it can be cancelled out. 6. What is left links the final velocity only to the height dropped and to gravitational acceleration. 7. The velocity of the ball is therefore independent of its mass, and the two balls arrive at the same speed. 8. Expecting the heavier ball to win treats weight as if it acted alone, but the heavier ball also needs more energy to speed up. _Source: Siyavula Physical Sciences Grade 10 (Everything Science, CC BY 4.0), Chapter 22: Mechanical energy_