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 'Voltmeter readings for this circuit with switches'
TL;DR Summary: I would like to know the voltmeter readings on the two resistors separately in the picture in the following cases , When one of the keys is closed When both of them are opened (Knowing that the battery has negligible internal resistance) My thoughts for the first case , one of them must be 12 volt while the other is 0 The second case we'll I think both voltmeter readings should be 12 volt since they are both parallel to the battery and they involve the key within what the...
Thread 'Trying to understand the logic behind adding vectors with an angle between them'
My initial calculation was to subtract V1 from V2 to show that from the perspective of the second aircraft the first one is -300km/h. So i checked with ChatGPT and it said I cant just subtract them because I have an angle between them. So I dont understand the reasoning of it. Like why should a velocity be dependent on an angle? I was thinking about how it would look like if the planes where parallel to each other, and then how it look like if one is turning away and I dont see it. Since...
Back
Top