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Explain why an elevator with 3 people in it is less dense with an elevator with 50 people in it

User Silas Ray
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1 Answer

6 votes
6 votes

Answer:

it has a lower mass/volume ratio

Explanation:

Density is the ratio of mass to volume. An elevator will have the same volume, regardless of the number of people. The mass will increase with the number of people.

An elevator with 50 people in it will have a higher mass/volume ratio than an elevator with 3 people in it. Hence the latter is less dense.

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Additional comment

50 persons would require an industrial elevator of perhaps 10,000 pound load capacity. There might be safety issues with carrying that many people.

User Stephen Groom
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3.3k points