Why does your weight increase when you are going up in an elevator?

Question

Terrence weighs 120 lbs. What would his weight be if he were travelling up in a fast elevator? The correct answer is "more than 120 lbs." ... but WHY?

Would your weight decrease if you were going down in an elevator?

Please explain in simple terms.

Answer 1

the weight is indeed a force. and that force = the mass of the person times the acceleration it undergoes.

usually, that acceleration is the acceleration of gravity.

if you add to that the ACCELERATION of the elevator the weight will increase, but ONLY WHILE the elevator is ACCELERATING.

once it reaches a steady state velocity, you will go back to weighing your normal amount.

then as it slows down, you will feel slightly less.... you can tell it is easier to jump up as the elevator slows to a stop while going up.

so the correct answer is ACTUALLY "more than 120 lbs while the elevator is accelerating to its final speed going up, 120 lbs while the elevator is going up at a constant speed, and less than 120 lbs as the elevator slows to a stop going up."

(all of this is reversed for going down- less while accelerating down, 120 while descending at a constant velocity, and more than 120 while slowing to a stop... again the acceleration is what adds to or subtracts from the weight)

hope that helps! :-)

Answer 2

He will weigh more going up in the elevator because the elevator floor provides a Force that pushes him upwards causing his body to accelerate upward.
This force is the extra weight he feels added to his own weight.

The same in a car when you put the pedal down. The car accelerates and the seat pushes your body forward. you feel heavy on the back of the seat because of the force of acceleration.

Answer 3

Terrence is accelerating, and acceleration has the same observable affect as gravity, and hence weight. if the elevator is accelerating, he will feel heavier because his body is being pressed by the upward motion of the elevator.

If the elevator were falling downward, he would indeed measure himself to weigh less. the acceleration effect would just be moving in the opposite direction

Answer 4

Because weight is a force and a force is m x acceleration. The acceleration on a mass going up in a lift is higher than the acceleration due to gravity alone and thus the weight is proportionately higher. And vice-versa, which is the case when the lift comes down

Answer 5

Your weight only changes when the elevator is accelerating or decelerating - when it is traveling at a constant rate, up or down, your weight will remain the same.
The characteristics of acceleration forces are exactly the same as the forces of gravity.

Answer 6

Basically his weight is different because the elevator moves up making him get pushed towards the bottom of it.

His mass would stay the same though.

Answer 7

its because of the pressure.