if you press down on the floor of an elevator(lift) moving up,does the elevator have to do more work to go up?

Question

If I am standing in an elevator (lift) that is moving up and I press down on the floor of the lift with my legs, will the force that I am exerting with my feet make the elevator do more work to go up?

Is this similar to some more weight being placed in the elevator which would make the elevator do more to go up?

Answer 1

Wow. Many people think this is not the case, but...

Actually the answer is yes. Work=force*distance, and for the elevator to move at constant speed in spite of your increasing the force upon the floor--which, by the way, can be done by starting your trip in a squat and then standing up over the course of your ascent--then the motor pulling it up has to exert more force for a bit. The extra work will be the distance the elevator travels in this time multiplied by the reaction force of your pressing against the floor. Not much, but not nothing either.

Answer 2

If the only thing you have to press against is the elevator, then you will never be able to apply more force than your weight.

If you are inside the elevator and use the ceiling so that you can press against the floor even harder, the force against the ceiling and against the floor are canceling each other out as far as the elevator is concerned.

If you press against the floor with your legs and somehow apply more force than your weight, then you will rise up away from the floor and will have to stop pushing on the floor. So, you could bounce the elevator, but you could never apply a steady force in excess of your own weight.

Answer 3

No. If you are inside the elevator, the most force you can apply (for a sustained time) is your body weight.

If you jump off the floor, this will put more force on the elevator for an instant ( force = mass x acceleration). But then when you are suspended in air, the elevator sees less force. The average force over time is the same.

So you cannot change the total amount of work done in going from the ground floor to the top floor be pressing on the floor, jumping, etc.

Answer 4

No, because the force that is being applied is the same. You might weight 180 pounds getting on the elevator and regardless of how hard you press the floor, you can only apply the weight you came with--180 pounds.

More weight, more work, just like when you lift something. If you try and lift your little sister off the floor and she weighs 80 pounds, no matter what she does, she will still be only 80 pounds--unless she picks up the dog too!

Answer 5

i might Say 23 middle floor Up 4 = 5 typical flooring Down 6 = 7 typical flooring Up 10 = 11 typical flooring; 8 Are Above the middle, One Is the middle, And 2 Are decrease than. Then upload the three extra flooring To the properly suited. Now 11 flooring Are Above the middle, meaning There might desire to additionally be 11 flooring decrease than the middle. 11 + 11 = 22 + middle = 23

Answer 6

No. You are pressing down on the floor, but the floor is pressing up on you. The forces cancel, so the elevator winch motor feels nothing.

Now. if you were between the elevator and the stationary shaft, and you pressed down, that would be different (but you would be squashed).

BTW, you weigh the same if you are pressing down or just resting, so the answer to your second question is also no.

Answer 7

the elevator could care less what you're doing inside unless you have some means of importing external forces into your closed system

Answer 8

How do you press on the floor with your feet anyway? I mean think about it. Do you squat down and squeeze your thigh muscles? LOL

Answer 9

Only when the elevator accelerates upwards, it has to do more work.
Th

Answer 10

no just like if you stand on a scale and push down, the dial doesnt move all that much.