Let h be a secure cryptographic hash function. For this problem, a password consists of a maximum of $14-$characters and there are $32$ possible choices for each character. If a password is less than $14$ characters, it$$s padded with nulls until it is exactly $14$ characters. Let P be the resulting $14-$character password. Consider the following two distinct password hashing schemes:

a$)$ Assuming a brute force attack, how much easier is it to crack the password if scheme i$)$ is used as compared with scheme ii$)$

b$)$ if scheme i$)$ is used, why might a $10-$character password be less secure than a $7-$characer password?