When your body is effectively in “free fall”,
accelerating downward at the acceleration of gravity
, then you are not being supported. … If the elevator cable breaks then both you and the elevator are in free fall.
Why do you feel lighter in an elevator?
This can also make you feel lighter: when
the elevator slows down, you need to slow down with it
. But gravity is always pulling you down, so for you to slow down, the floor needs to push up on you less, so gravity can slow you down. Since the floor pushes on you less, you feel lighter.
Why do you get the feeling of weightlessness in an elevator going down?
Earth-orbiting astronauts are weightless for the same reasons that riders of a free-falling amusement park ride or a free-falling elevator are weightless. They are weightless
because there is no external contact force pushing or pulling upon their body
. … The force of gravity is the only force acting upon their body.
Do you feel lighter going up an elevator?
If you stand on a scale in an elevator accelerating upward, you feel heavier because the elevator’s floor presses harder on your feet, and the scale will show a higher reading than when the elevator is at rest. On the other hand,
when the elevator accelerates downward, you feel lighter
.
Why do we feel weightless?
Astronauts feel weightless
when there is nothing opposing the force of gravity
. … (B) An astronaut orbiting the Earth does feel weightless because there is no ground or normal force to counteract the force of gravity. Thus, the astronaut is falling.
Does your weight increase going up elevator?
When the elevator is moving, we will weigh our normal weight. Since we are already moving at the same speed as the elevator (up or down), nothing is affecting us to change our weight. … So for a short time, we are pushed into the floor more and
our weight goes up
. The same thing works when the elevator starts moving.
Why does your weight feel different in a moving elevator?
When your body is effectively in “free fall”, accelerating downward at the acceleration of gravity, then you are not being supported. … Different sensations of apparent weight can occur on an elevator since
it is capable of zero or constant speed (zero acceleration) and can accelerate either upward or downward
.
What would a scale read in a falling elevator?
The scale reads
the Normal force
, so it reports your weight as greater than it was at rest. The same two forces are at work as when the elevator was accelerating up. The scale will read the Normal force which is less than it was at rest.
Would you float in a free falling elevator?
You do not really float
, you simply travel at the same speed as the elevator. Your feet are touching the floor of elevator applying a force to keep you upright.
Does normal force change in an elevator?
When the elevator is accelerating, there is a net upward force from the acceleration as well as the normal force to counter gravity. The
normal force generates an upward acceleration
. When moving at a constant speed, there is no upward acceleration and the normal force acts only to counter gravity.
Is normal force always present?
Normal force always acts perpendicular to the contact surface
. It can act counter to gravity or to any other force that pushes an object against a surface. Think of normal force as the force that keeps a surface solid; without normal force, an object would pass right through a surface.
What is apparent weight formula?
Usually, an object’s apparent weight is its mass multiplied by the vector difference between the acceleration of the object and the gravitational acceleration. This definition means that apparent weight is a vector that can make a move in any direction, not just vertically. Thus, apparent weight formula;
a = dv/dt
.
Can an astronaut fall to earth?
Unlike regular skydives,
he would not plummet to the Earth immediately
, for the same reason why the ISS does not fall to Earth: speed. … This is because its horizontal speed is so incredible high that when it’s about to hit the Earth, the planet curves beneath it.
At what height do you become weightless?
Any object that is falling freely is weightless, no matter where it happens to be. This can be the International Space Station at a
height of 200 miles
, a NASA reduced-gravity airplane at a height of several thousand feet, a drop tower at several hundred feet, or you jumping off a chair at 3 feet.
Can objects be weightless?
There are no objects that are weightless
. All objects have mass and take up space. Weight is the force of gravity acting on a body’s mass and is determined by multiplying the mass times the acceleration due to gravity, which on earth is −9.81m/s2 .
