Santa is riding the elevator and is standing on a scale. his mass is 135 kg. what does the scale read before the elevator starts moving?
135 * 9.81 Newtons
or more likely if the scale is calibrated for use here on earth it would read 135 kg
If Santa were in the elevator at the North Pole - where the earth's radius is less than at the equator - he is closer to the center of the earth and would therefore weigh more.
To determine what the scale reads before the elevator starts moving, we need to consider the forces acting on Santa while he is standing on the scale.
When an object is at rest or in a state of equilibrium, the net force acting on it is zero. In this case, both Santa and the scale are at rest before the elevator starts moving. Therefore, the scale must exert an upward force equal to Santa's weight to counterbalance the downward force of gravity.
The weight of an object is given by the formula:
Weight = mass × acceleration due to gravity
In this case, Santa's mass is given as 135 kg, and the acceleration due to gravity on Earth is approximately 9.8 m/s².
So, the weight of Santa is calculated as:
Weight = 135 kg × 9.8 m/s² = 1323 N
Therefore, the scale must read 1323 Newtons before the elevator starts moving.