A curious person decides to do an experiment in their apartmentbuilding. They take their bathroom scale into the elevator on the15th floor of the highrise they live in. When the elevator isstationary, they step on the scale and it reads 532 N, as expectedsince this is the person's weight. When the elevator starts moving,the person looks at the scale and it reads 420 N. The combined massof the person and the elevator is 795 kg.
(a) Explain why the reading on the scale is less than theperson's weight.
(b) What is the elevator's acceleration (magnitude anddirection) when the scale reads 420 N.
(c) In the next part of the experiment, the person chooses adifferent floor to travel to and then the scale reads 670 N. Didthe person choose to go to a higher floor or a lower one? And whatis the acceleration of the elevator?
(d) Using the calculations you made in parts (b) and (c), findthe tension in the elevator cable when the scale read 420 N and 670N.
(e) At one point during the experiment, the person looks at thescale and it reads 0 N. Explain how this is possible and what theperson should do about it.
