Answer:
Elevator is going down.
Step-by-step explanation:
Given that,
Weight of the person standing in the elevator, w = 850 N
mg= 850 N
The reading changes to W = 500 N
The W can be expressed as
W = (g±a)m N
Since the mass is constant, the value of W can be lowered only by the '-a' value.
The acceleration 'a' is negative for a person who is accelerating towards gravity.
Hence, the elevator is going down.