Question

38. Calculate the apparent weight of a 53 kg passenger on an elevator if the elevator is accelerating downward at 2.3 m/s2

Answer 1

Given data:

* The mass of the passenger is 53 kg.

* The acceleration of the elevator is,

`a=-2.3ms^(-2)`

Solution:

As the elevator is moving downward, the apparent weight of the body decreases due to the negative acceleration of the elevator.

Thus, the apparent weight of the passenger is,

`W_a=W+ma`

where W_a is the apparent weight of the passenger, W is the actual weight of the passenger and m is the mass of the passenger,

Substituting the known values,

`\begin{gathered} W_a=mg+ma \\ W_a=m(g+a) \\ W_a=53*(9.8-2.3) \\ W_a=397.5\text{ N} \end{gathered}`

Thus, the apparent weight of the passenger is 397.5 N.