A person stands on a bathroom scale in a motionless elevator. When the elevator begins to move, the scale brie

Question

A person stands on a bathroom scale in a motionless elevator. When the elevator begins to move, the scale briefly reads only 0.67 of the person's regular weight. Calculate the magnitude of the acceleration of the elevator

(full question)

Answer 1

I am the worst mathematician in the world, but your question intrigued me.  I conclude that (a) the elevator was descending and (b) that I don't see how either speed or the rate of acceleration can be determined by reference to just one point in time.

Answer 2

6.566m/s

Answer 3

Logically.......I have no idea. I am not an engineer. It reminds me of the question concerning a cage of birds thought to be lighter overall when all the birds were in flight around the cage. However this is not neccessarily so

Answer 4

I'll take a guess at this.

The normal acceleration due to gravity is about 9.8 meters per second per second (or 32 feet per second per second).  The elevator is dropping with an acceleration that is about one-third of that value (1 - 0.67 = 0.34).  Therefore, the magnitude of the acceleration of the elevator is about 9.8 / 3, or about 3.3 meters per second per second (or 10.7 feet per second per second).

I'm not sure of this answer, so you should check with someone else to see if it is correct.  This answer is based on the assumption that the acceleration values are additive, which I think is correct but I'm not sure that it is correct.

Answer 5

OMG I have no clue. Is this your homework?

Answer 6

i like what juan said