As it turns out, the bolt has the same initial velocity of the elevator. Rather than noticing this earlier I assumed the initial velocity of the bolt was zero.
Using the roof of the elevator as my origin my two equations are
x[bolt] = 8t - 4.9t^2
and
x[floor] = -5 + 8t
Setting them equal to...
I have been thinking about it all weekend. I know it must take less than 1 second because the floor is moving toward the bolt as it falls. The reason I signed up for this forum is to be given some insight about the problem. Can you explain to me how to solve this?
A 5m tall elevator travels uniformly up an elevator shaft at 8m/s. At some point in time, a bolt falls from the top of the elevator and falls freely down the shaft. You can ignore the effect of air resistance.
How many seconds after the fall will the bolt pass the bottom of the elevator?
y=yi +...