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When an elevator arrives at the bottom floor and is slowing down, what would the scale read?

User JKennedy
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Final answer:

The scale reading in the elevator when it arrives at the bottom floor and is slowing down would initially be less than the person's weight, but it will eventually become equal to the person's weight when a constant velocity is reached. If the elevator is in free-fall, the scale reading will be zero and the person will appear weightless.

Step-by-step explanation:

When an elevator arrives at the bottom floor and is slowing down, the scale would read more than the person's weight. This is because as the elevator slows down, it experiences negative acceleration. The scale reading would be less than the person's weight until a constant downward velocity is reached, at which point the scale reading becomes equal to the person's weight. If the elevator is in free-fall and accelerating downward at the rate of gravity (9.8 m/s²), then the scale reading will be zero and the person will appear weightless.

User WespiserA
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