Sidney throws a basketball into a pool of water. the ball lands 10 feet from the edge of the pool, and the waves from the ball's impact reach the edge in 5.0 seconds. later on, sidney bounces a basketball on the floor of her school gym. if ian is sitting on the floor 10 feet away from where sidney bounces the ball, the waves traveling along the floor from the ball's impact will

The answer would be that

"reach him in less than 5.0 seconds."

This is because waves travel through different materials at different speeds.

Generally, more solid or rigid materials will transmit vibrational waves faster than softer or more fluid materials.  

Even though the waves traveling through the gym's floor are probably too small to see, they will travel much faster than similar waves in a pool of water.  

This is why Ian will feel the bouncing ball on the floor in less than 5.0 seconds.