Elevator physics problem?
You've always wondered about the acceleration of the elevators in the 101-story-tall Empire State Building. One day, while visiting New York, you take your bathroom scale into the elevator and stand on it. The scale reads 150lb as the door closes. The reading varies between 120lbs and 170lbs as the elevator travels 101 floors.
What is the maximium magnitude of the acceleration downward?
Express your answer using two significant figures.
a/g= ?
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
a/g = 150 -120 / 150 = 30/150 = 1/5 = 0.2
a) consistent p.c. implies no tension. hence, it would examine sixty 8 kg. b) comparable. sixty 8 kg c) ok, so now think of being in an elevator that hurries up upward. you will sense heavier, surprising? An accelerating elevator is corresponding to an inertial physique with downward tension of F = ma = (sixty 8 kg)(0.33g). This tension is the extra "weight" that the dimensions reads, so (sixty 8 kg)(0.33g) = Mg, so M = (sixty 8 kg * 0.33) = 22.4 kg. it truly is the extra "mass", so the dimensions reads an entire of: 22.4 kg + sixty 8 kg = ninety.4 kg d) comparable, in the different direction: sixty 8 kg - 22.4 kg = 40 5.6 kg