The apparent weight of a person standing in a lift accelerating upwards is
Correct answer: A. greater than their true weight
- A. greater than their true weight
- B. less than their true weight
- C. equal to their true weight
- D. zero
Explanation
The floor must both support the weight and supply the extra upward force to accelerate the person, so the normal reaction, which is what the scales read, is m times g plus a. Accelerating downwards makes the reading smaller, and in free fall it drops to zero, which is the weightlessness astronauts experience. The true weight, mg, is unchanged throughout.
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About Newton's Laws of Motion
Newton’s laws explain inertia, the relation between net force and acceleration, and action-reaction pairs. Questions involve free-body diagrams, balanced and unbalanced forces, F = ma, force as the rate of change of momentum, and identifying genuine third-law pairs, which act on different bodies.
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