Elevator Force & Acceleration Problems
How To Work Elevator Force & Acceleration Problems
This video gives you an overview of how to work problems about elevators. Big tip: if someone is standing on a scale in an elevator, they're crazy, but perhaps more relevant is that the scale will read their normal force.
Elevator Accelerating With A Bunch Of People Aboard
This video covers how to work the type of problem where they tell you the weight of the elevator and its passengers, then they ask you for the tension in the cable supporting the elevator given a certain acceleration.
Calculating Weight In Elevator Given Normal Weight
This video covers the super common type of elevator problem where they tell you how much a person weighs normally (when they're not in an elevator), then asks how much they weigh given that the elevator is accelerating up or down at a certain rate.
How Far Elevator Traveled Given Weight On Scale
The example in this elevator force problem adds one more wrinkle to the mix: not only is it backwards (they're asking for acceleration rather than giving it to you), there's also a kinematic step added onto the end!