if a studebt standing on the scale and the scale reads zero should the student worry...when on an elevator
Not if the elevator is moving.
I am back... if the elevator is free falling, you would have zero gravity. I guess you should be worried.
If a student standing on a scale inside an elevator reads zero, the student does not need to worry. This is because, when an elevator is in a state of equilibrium (not accelerating), the force exerted by the scale balances the force of gravity acting on the student's body.
To understand why the scale reads zero in this situation, we can break it down into two components:
1. When the elevator is at rest: When the elevator is stationary, the student experiences two forces. First is the force of gravity pulling the student downward, and second is the normal force exerted by the scale, pushing the student upward. The scale reads zero because these two forces cancel each other out, resulting in a net force of zero.
2. When the elevator is in motion: When the elevator accelerates or decelerates, additional forces are at play. If the elevator is accelerating upward, the normal force exerted by the scale becomes greater than the force of gravity, resulting in a non-zero reading on the scale. Conversely, if the elevator is accelerating downward, the force of gravity becomes greater than the normal force, resulting in a non-zero reading on the scale.
In summary, when the elevator is neither accelerating nor decelerating, the scale reads zero because the forces of gravity and the normal force cancel each other out. Therefore, the student does not need to worry about the scale reading zero in this scenario.