Question

Consider a person standing on a scale in an elevator. If the elevator accelerates upwards with an acceleration of 1.24 m/s2 and the person has a mass of 91.3 kg, what would the scale read? HINT: you need to take into account the acceleration due to gravity, as well as that of the elevator.

Answer 1

Given:

The upward acceleration of the elevator, a=1.24 m/s²

The mass of the person, m=91.3 kg

To find:

The reading of the scale.

Explanation:

When the elevator is accelerating upwards, the force applied on the scale is given by,

$F=ma+mg$

On substituting the known values,

$\begin{gathered} F=91.3\times1.24+91.3\times9.8 \\ =1007.95\text{ N} \end{gathered}$

Final answer:

The reading of the scale is 1007.95 N