Investigation: Vertical Acceleration Why do you feel \"heavy\" elevator that is

Question

Investigation: Vertical Acceleration Why do you feel "heavy" elevator that is accelerating downwards? when you move up in an elevator? Why do you feel "lighter" when you are in an Objective Students will determine the acceleration and maximum velocity of an elevator as it moves up or down. Materials Balance, video camera, masses What to Do Your job is to design and carry out your experiment. Your group must first have the Investigation Outline completed before you proceed. Your procedure will consist of recording the mass change of an object on a balance as an elevator moves up/down from rest. Important Note: The acceleration rate is NOT constant as the elevator changes speed. You will need to determine the acceleration rate at consistent intervals and create a plot of acceleration vs. time. Your group will be given 30 minutes in class to identify necessary materials and draft your procedure. The procedure must be verified by the teacher before you can begin the data collection. Reporting Complete the data collection and prepare a graphical report of your investigation. This report should have a title, procedure, data, calculations, results (analysis) and errors. Evaluation Your ability to clearly and accurately report your findings will be scored out of 10. The final lab assessment will be a lab quiz which will be written the day after the lab presentations. The quiz will be scored out of 10 as well. You will be required to bring your data, graphs and equations for the quiz.

Explanation / Answer

Solution:

When we move up in an elevator , the gravity force acts downwards .The net force is given as

F - mg = ma

F = m(g+a) , where a is the acceleration of the elevator and g is the gravity.

This clearly shows that the person feels heavy , when the elevator accelerates upwards.

When moving down the elevator , the gravity is subtracted from the acceleration.

mg - F = ma

F = m( g - a ) ; this shows that the net force is less than the actual weight , due to this downward acceleration.

So the person in an elevator will feel lighter than the actual weight .

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