1. At the top of the hill, the ball will have the maximum value of its gravitational potential energy and the minimum value of its kinetic energy. As the ball rolls down the hill, its gravitational potential energy is converted to kinetic energy when it gets to the ground.
2. When dropping the object, you should drop it so its top part is initially at the height h. The initial speed of the ball will be zero since it starts from rest. To measure the time it takes for the ball to hit the ground, you should start the stopwatch when the ball leaves your hand and stop it when the ball hits the ground for the first time. It is recommended to perform multiple trials and calculate the average time to minimize errors.