An elevator cable snaps, causing the elevator to fall freely under gravity. At that exact instant, a person inside the elevator drops an apple from a height h above the elevator floor. What is the time taken for the apple to strike the floor of the elevator?

Step-by-step solution

When the elevator cable snaps, the elevator falls freely under gravity. Therefore, the downward acceleration of the elevator is g . When the apple is dropped, it is also in free fall, so its downward acceleration is g . The relative acceleration of the apple with respect to the elevator is a_ rel = g - g = 0 . Since the apple is dropped from rest relative to the elevator, its initial relative velocity u_ rel = 0 . Using the equation of motion s_ rel = u_ rel t + 1 2 a_ rel t^2 , we get s_ rel = 0 for any time t . S