Crates with diff. mass inside elevator at constant speed

[bocobuff]

Homework Statement

Crates A and B are in an elevator, with Crate A on top of Crate B. The mass of crate A is greater than the mass of crate B. The elevator moves downward at constant speed. Compare the accelerations of Crates A and B.

I'm tempted to say there are equal, and both equal to 0, because of the constant speed. But I think that would only apply to the elevator as a particle, not to the crates inside the elevator.

Any suggestions?

 

[Rake-MC]

Constant velocity implies no acceleration.

 

[baba89]

It is important to consider the forces acting on each crate in this scenario. The elevator is moving downward at a constant speed, which means there is no net force acting on the elevator. However, the crates inside the elevator are experiencing different forces due to their different masses.

According to Newton's second law of motion, the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass. Since Crate A has a greater mass than Crate B, it will experience a greater force due to gravity. This means that Crate A will have a larger acceleration than Crate B.

In this case, the acceleration of Crate A will be greater than the acceleration of Crate B. However, since the elevator is moving at a constant speed, the acceleration of both crates will be equal to the acceleration of the elevator, which is 0. This means that the crates will not appear to be moving or accelerating relative to the elevator, but they are still experiencing different forces and accelerations due to their different masses.

In conclusion, the accelerations of Crates A and B will be different due to their different masses, but both will be equal to 0 relative to the elevator's frame of reference.