Wheight in an elevator?

Question

A man in an elevator goes down at a fixed speed.
Does his mass's wheight increase, or decrease compared to when he stands still on the ground?

Answer 1

If the velocity remains constant, then his weight will remain unchanged.

Answer 2

Neither...it remains the same.

Effective weight w = W - F = mg - ma = m(g - a); where a = dv/dt which is the acceleration (up or down) along the elevator shaft, W is the weight "on the ground," and g is the acceleration due to gravity. dv/dt is the symbol for changing velocity (speed) dv over time dt.

When dv/dt = 0 = a, which means the elevator is moving at a "fixed speed", we have F = ma = 0; so that w = W - F = W - 0 = W And there you have it, without acceleration, which means dv/dt = 0 and v = constant (or fixed) there is no opposing force (when descending) or augmenting force (when ascending) to change the ground weight W.

Answer 3

If you are in a moving frame of reference that is NOT accelerating then laws of motion obey Newton's 1st Law .
So since the elevator is NOT accelerating then laws of motion obey Newton's 1st Law and the weight is the same.

Answer 4

mass and weight are different values