Kinematics nasty...

[Byrne]

A convertible with the top down is heading for a parking garage entrance at a steady 24 km/h. Directly above this entrance is a window washer who accidentally drops her bucket of water off her rising platform. At this time the car was 12 m from the entrance and the platform was traveling up at a speed of 1 m/s. Calculate if the car gets wet.

Okay, so here is my given information:

CONVERTIBLE:
V(const) = 24 km/h = 6.67 m/s
d = 12 m

WINDOW WASHER
V(initial) = -1.5 m/s

I really don't see where to begin. I know I can determine the time it will take for the convertible to reach the entrance of the garage, but I don't see what good that would do since I do not have the height above the road the window washer is when the bucket falls.

Help.

[Tide]

By the way, this is not a kinematics problem. It is a dynamics problem.

Obviously, you need the initial height but if the problem is as you stated then you will take the height, say h, to be a parameter in your analysis.

I think the most direct approach would be to simply determine how long it takes for the bucket to hit the ground (in general this would really be the height of the car). Then calculate where the car would be at that time.