How Does an Elevator's Acceleration Affect Spring Balance Readings?

  • Thread starter Thread starter AlchemistK
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Mechanics Pulley
AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around calculating the reading of a spring balance in an accelerating elevator. The elevator accelerates upwards at g/10, leading to a total effective acceleration of 10.78 m/s^2 for the items inside. The tension in the string for the 1.5 kg load is expressed as 16.7 - 3a, while for the 3 kg load, it is 32.34 + 3a. The poster is unsure about their calculations and suspects an error but is unable to identify it. They also mention difficulty locating the attached image necessary for the problem.
AlchemistK
Messages
157
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement



Find the reading of the spring balance shown in the figure (see attachment). The elevator is going up with an acceleration of g/10 , the pulley and the string are light weight and the pulley is smooth.


Homework Equations


F= ma


The Attempt at a Solution


Since the elevator is accelerating upwards with a magnitude of 0.98 m/s^2 (g/10) , the acceleration acting on the items in the elevator should be g+g/10 = 10.78 m/s^2.
By assuming that the 3k load has a relative acceleration of "a", the tension on the string of the 1.5 kg load will be
16.7 - 3a
While on the 3kg load it will be
32.34 + 3a

I'm sure i have made a blunder somewhere up here, yet i can't seem to find it. How do i further solve the question?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Maybe it's just me, but I can't locate the attached image
 

Thread 'Errors and significant figures'

I multiplied the values first without the error limit. Got 19.38. rounded it off to 2 significant figures since the given data has 2 significant figures. So = 19. For error I used the above formula. It comes out about 1.48. Now my question is. Should I write the answer as 19±1.5 (rounding 1.48 to 2 significant figures) OR should I write it as 19±1. So in short, should the error have same number of significant figures as the mean value or should it have the same number of decimal places as...
View full post »
Thread 'A cylinder connected to a hanging mass'

Thread 'A cylinder connected to a hanging mass'

Let's declare that for the cylinder, mass = M = 10 kg Radius = R = 4 m For the wall and the floor, Friction coeff = ##\mu## = 0.5 For the hanging mass, mass = m = 11 kg First, we divide the force according to their respective plane (x and y thing, correct me if I'm wrong) and according to which, cylinder or the hanging mass, they're working on. Force on the hanging mass $$mg - T = ma$$ Force(Cylinder) on y $$N_f + f_w - Mg = 0$$ Force(Cylinder) on x $$T + f_f - N_w = Ma$$ There's also...
View full post »

Similar threads

Mechanics: Elevator Accelerating Downward
Replies
10
Views
4K
Forces applied to a spring-loaded gas pedal
Replies
7
Views
1K
Forces acting on a box-pulley system in an elevator?
Replies
33
Views
7K
How Does Nick's Acceleration Change When His Friend Pulls the Rope?
Replies
6
Views
3K
Pulley + spring balance problem.
Replies
6
Views
5K
How do you know when k in Hooke's law is positive or negativ
Replies
2
Views
3K
Elevator Problem: Determining Scale Reading for a Moving Object
Replies
5
Views
1K
Acceleration due to *equal* weights on pulley system
Replies
22
Views
4K
How Does Elevator Acceleration Affect Spring Extension?
Replies
5
Views
5K
What are the accelerations in the multiple-pulley problem?
Replies
10
Views
2K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top