Final answer:
There are two forces acting on the student in the elevator, and their mass is approximately 61.22 kg. To find the net force, one must consider the deceleration of the elevator and apply Newton's second law of motion.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student's question is asking about the forces acting on a person standing on a bathroom scale in an elevator, the person's mass, and the net force on the person as the elevator moves downwards with decreasing speed. There are two forces acting on the student: the gravitational force (weight) pulling the student down and the normal force from the scale pushing the student up. To find the student's mass, you would divide their weight by the acceleration due to gravity (600 N / 9.8 m/s²), which equals approximately 61.22 kg. As the elevator is decelerating while moving downwards, the net force would be calculated by subtracting the force due to the deceleration from the student's weight (F = ma, where m is the mass and a is the acceleration).