Question

Erika is on an elevator and presses the button to go down. When the elevator first starts moving, it has an acceleration of 2.5 m/s² downward. Erika and the elevator have a combined mass of 1250 kg.

Draw a free-body diagram for the elevator.

Answer 1

In a free-body diagram for an elevator accelerating downward, two forces are shown: gravity pointing downward and tension pointing upward.

Step-by-step explanation:

A free-body diagram is a visual representation of the forces acting on an object. In this case, the elevator is the object of interest. Since the elevator is accelerating downward, there are two forces acting on it: the force of gravity acting downward and the force of tension acting upward.

The force of gravity is equal to the combined mass of Erika and the elevator multiplied by the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s²). The force of tension is equal to the force needed to accelerate the elevator downward (1250 kg * 2.5 m/s²).

Therefore, the free-body diagram for the elevator would show two arrows: one pointing downward to represent the force of gravity and one pointing upward to represent the force of tension.