A girl whose mass is 55kg stands on a spring - weighing machine inside a lift. When the lift starts to ascend, its acceleration is 2ms1. What will be the re...
A girl whose mass is 55kg stands on a spring - weighing machine inside a lift. When the lift starts to ascend, its acceleration is 2ms1. What will be the reading on the machine? (Take g = ms-2)
Answer Details
The reading on the spring - weighing machine will be greater than the actual weight of the girl. This is because when the lift starts to ascend, the girl and the weighing machine experience an upward force due to the acceleration of the lift. This force adds to the force of gravity acting on the girl and thus, the reading on the weighing machine increases.
To find the reading on the weighing machine, we need to calculate the total force acting on the girl. Using Newton's second law, F=ma, the total force acting on the girl is the sum of the force of gravity and the force due to the lift's acceleration:
F_total = (55 kg)(9.81 m/s^2) + (55 kg)(2 m/s^2)
F_total = 676.05 N
Therefore, the reading on the weighing machine will be:
Reading = F_total = 676.05 N
So the answer is 66 kg when converted to mass.