Question

A small paint bucket of mas 5.0 kg is attached to a larger bucket of mas 15.0 kg by a light rope of 25 m long. The small bucket is at rest on the ground, and the rope goes up and over a small frictionless pulley and is attached to the larger bucket, which is on a window sill, 11 meters above the ground. There is no slack in the rope. If the heavy bucket slips off the window sill, causing the smaller bucket to rise and the two to collide in mid air, after what time will the big spash occur?

I got the first step of the question; i wrote the two Fnet equations and solved for acceleration, but i don't know where to go after that.

Answer 1

d = 11 meters
They both go the same acceleration, speed, and distance.
Therefore each goes half the distance.
d/2 = (1/2) a t^2