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When the elevator accelerates upward, your body experiences a force in that direction. This force adds to your weight, giving the sensation of feeling heavier. It is similar to the feeling you get when you are in a car that accelerates quickly - you are pushed back into your seat.

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1y ago

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What happens to your mass when the elevator goes down?

Your mass remains the same when the elevator goes down. However, you may feel heavier due to the acceleration experienced as the elevator descends, which creates an upward force against gravity that can make you feel heavier.


Why does ascending in an elevator makes you feel heavier and descending in it makes you lighter?

When the elevator accelerates upwards, it pushes you against the floor, increasing the normal force acting on you, making you feel heavier. When the elevator descends and decelerates, there is less normal force acting on you, so you feel lighter.


Why do you weight less on the elevator?

You weigh less only while the elevator's upward speed is decreasing, or downward speed is increasing. In each case, the acceleration of the elevator is in a direction opposite to the acceleration of gravity. The result of that is that the total acceleration acting on you is less than usual, and your weight is less. Note that in a sealed container, such as a space ship or an elevator, there's no way for you to tell the difference between acceleration and a gravitational field.


Why do you feel heavier going up a lift?

The force of the lift accelerating you upward is added to the force dur to gravity. You feel this as added weight. The same effect happens when it stops moving going downward, and the opposite occurs when you begin going down or stop going up. You are not resisting the force of gravity and you do not feel the weight; for some of that time, you are actually freefall.


When riding in an elevator why does a person appear to lose weight when accelerating downward?

Weight is felt by the body resisting the pull (acceleration) of gravity. Less acceleration means less pull thus less weight. The rate at which you are accelerating downward subtracts from the pull of gravity, thus your weight is less. If you fall, say from a cliff or tall building you accelerate downward at exactly the acceleration of gravity so you're completely weightless.

Related Questions

When do you feel lighter or heavier on a roller coaster?

-- You feel lighter on a roller coaster when your speed is either upward and decreasing or downward and increasing. -- You feel heavier when your speed is either upward and increasing or downward and decreasing. -- Exactly the same as on an elevator.


What happens to your mass when the elevator goes down?

Your mass remains the same when the elevator goes down. However, you may feel heavier due to the acceleration experienced as the elevator descends, which creates an upward force against gravity that can make you feel heavier.


Why does ascending in an elevator makes you feel heavier and descending in it makes you lighter?

When the elevator accelerates upwards, it pushes you against the floor, increasing the normal force acting on you, making you feel heavier. When the elevator descends and decelerates, there is less normal force acting on you, so you feel lighter.


Why do you feel heavier when you go up in an elevator?

Remember, the force of gravity on you is pretty much constant and unchanging. However, the degree to which you 'feel' it depends on whether or not something is pushing back up at you, to balance/resist your weight. If we assume that the elevator is going at a constant speed, then we know that the net force on your body must be zero, since you are not accelerating. Therefore the elevator is still supplying an upward force to resist your weight, and you will still feel heavy. You will only feel lighter if the lift is allowed to accelerate downwards. We can justify all this with equations. If R is the force pushing up against your feet (which makes you feel heavy) then acceleration (a) = (mg - R) / m Rearranging: R = mg - ma Dividing through by mg gives an expression for the proportion of ordinary weight felt: R/mg = 1 - a/g


Why do you weight less on the elevator?

You weigh less only while the elevator's upward speed is decreasing, or downward speed is increasing. In each case, the acceleration of the elevator is in a direction opposite to the acceleration of gravity. The result of that is that the total acceleration acting on you is less than usual, and your weight is less. Note that in a sealed container, such as a space ship or an elevator, there's no way for you to tell the difference between acceleration and a gravitational field.


What are the two forces acting on a person as they move up and down in an elevator and when are these two forces equal and when are they not equal?

When the elevator is still the force of gravity due to your weight pressing downwards on the floor is equalled exactly by the floor pushing you upwards with the same force. When the elevator rises you feel a little heavier, and the elevator is pushing upwards with the same increased force. When the elevator descends you feel that you lose a little weight, and the floor pushes up at you with the equally reduced force, so you descend.


Why do you feel heavier going up a lift?

The force of the lift accelerating you upward is added to the force dur to gravity. You feel this as added weight. The same effect happens when it stops moving going downward, and the opposite occurs when you begin going down or stop going up. You are not resisting the force of gravity and you do not feel the weight; for some of that time, you are actually freefall.


Why do astronauts feel heavier during launch?

Astronauts feel heavier during launch because of the upward motion of the spacecraft. This has the effect of adding extra "g's," or gravity forces, making everything seem heavier while the thrust is occurring.


When riding in an elevator why does a person appear to lose weight when accelerating downward?

Weight is felt by the body resisting the pull (acceleration) of gravity. Less acceleration means less pull thus less weight. The rate at which you are accelerating downward subtracts from the pull of gravity, thus your weight is less. If you fall, say from a cliff or tall building you accelerate downward at exactly the acceleration of gravity so you're completely weightless.


What happens to your weight if you are in an elevator traveling upward at a constant speed?

Your weight (the force you feel at the soles of your feet) in an elevator traveling at any constant speed in anydirection would be the same at any instant as it would be if you were in that elevator in the same place, stopped. For practical purposes, it would be the same as it would be when you're standing on the ground. Technically, weight changes with altitude, but for any existing building the difference between your weight at the lowest and highest points of the building will be so slight as to be undetectable. You'd probably lose more weight due to evaporation of moisture in perspiration and exhaled breath during the elevator ride than you would due to the slight reduction in gravity resulting from your moving a bit further from the surface of the Earth.In order for your perceived weight to change, there has to be an acceleration. Constant speed/velocity is not acceleration. You would feel a change in weight as the elevator slowed down or sped up, but you would feel your "normal" weight once the elevator reaches constant speed/velocity.


What are the two forces acting on you in an elevator?

1). The force of gravity attracts you downward. 2). The floor of the elevator car exerts an upward force on the bottom of your feet. When #1 is greater than #2, you accelerate downward, and you feel lighter than normal. That happens when the car is starting to go down, or finishing going up. When #2 is greater than #1, you accelerate upward, and you feel heavier than normal. That happens when the car is starting to go up, or finishing going down. When #1 and #2 are equal, you don't accelerate at all, and your weight feels normal. That happens when the car is standing still, or rising at a steady speed, or dropping at a steady speed.


What force would the scale exert on a 53 kg person in a elevator and its moving up at a constant speed?

Scale already reads 70 kg when elevator is at rest. This is Gravity Force down (Fg), plus Normal force (n) up. Now, force on the man in the upward direction from accelerating up (force E) = mass of the man x acc. of the lift in the upward direction = 70 x5.5 N = 385 N. Now force of gravity (Fg) = 70 x 9.8 N = 686 N. Plus the normal force (n) -which keeps him falling through floor of elevator - is also acting on him = 686 N (same as gravity in up direction).So, F(y) = Elevator (Up) 385 (up) + Normal (up) 686 N - Gravity (down) 686 N. Therefore net force in the upward direction (against bottom of scale-floor) = (+385 + 686 - 686) N = 385 N. Hence the reading of the scale has extra = (385N). Scale is calibrated for "g = 9.8 m/ss". So, (385 / 9.8m/ss) kg = 39.3 kg extra. So, 39.3 kg (extra) + 70 kg (original) = 109.3 kg. This is why you feel heavier when elevator goes up.