Question

A woman stands on a bathroom scale in a motionless elevator. When the elevator begins to move, the scale briefly reads only 0.64 of her regular weight. Calculate the magnitude of the acceleration of the elevator.

Answer 1

Answer:

The downwards acceleration is 3.53 m/s2.

Explanation:

Let the true weight is m g.

The reading of the balance, R = 0.64 mg

Let the acceleration is a.

As the apparent weight is less than the true weight so the elevator goes down wards with some acceleration.

Use Newton's second law

m g - R = m a

m g - 0.64 m g = m a

0.36 g = a

a = 3.53 m/s2