A light inextensible string, passing over a pulley, supports two particles 1 and 2 at its ends. An insect of mass m is sitting on particle 2 and the system is in equilibrium. The sum of masses of particles and the insect is M. Now the insect crawls a distance `x` up relative to the string. Find the displacement of centre of mass of the system of two particles and the insect. In which direction does the centre of mass move and why ?

Answer

`(mx)/(M)`