Question

A student, who weighs 600n, is standing on a bathroom scale and riding an elevator that is moving downwards with a speed that is increasing at a rate of 1.6m/s?. how many forces are acting on the student? 2 what is the student's mass? 60 kg what is the net force on the student? 96 which force does the scale read? normal force what value does the scale read? (in newtons)

Answer 1

In an elevator moving downwards with an increasing speed, there are two forces acting on the student: their weight force and the normal force from the scale. The net force on the student can be calculated using Newton's second law. The scale reading will be less than the student's weight.

Step-by-step explanation:

In this scenario, the student is standing on a bathroom scale in an elevator. There are two forces acting on the student; their weight force and the normal force from the scale. The student's weight can be calculated by multiplying their mass by the acceleration due to gravity, which is approximately 9.8 m/s². Since the elevator is moving downwards and accelerating, the normal force from the scale will be less than the student's weight.

To calculate the net force on the student, we can use Newton's second law, which states that force equals mass times acceleration. The acceleration in this case is the rate at which the speed of the elevator is increasing, which is given as 1.6 m/s². Multiplying the student's mass of 60 kg by the acceleration of 1.6 m/s², we get a net force of 96 N acting on the student.

The scale reading is equal to the normal force exerted by the scale. Since the elevator is moving downwards, the normal force exerted by the scale will be less than the student's weight, which is 600 N. Therefore, the value that the scale reads will be less than 600 N.