a 70kg man stands in an elevator on a scale (for some unknown reason, what a weirdo) if the elevator accelerates downward at 0.9m/s what would the scale read? I got 623 newtons so 63kg but idk if that's even close.

Question

a 70kg man stands in an elevator on a scale (for some unknown reason, what a weirdo)  if the elevator accelerates downward at 0.9m/s what would the scale read? I got 623 newtons so 63kg but idk if that's even close.

anonymous · Answer

The acceleration of the elevator is downwards, which means it is subtracted from the acceleration of gravity. 

Therefore, a = 9.8 - 0.9. Plug this value into Newton's Second Law and wahla!