Suppose you hang an object of weight W by a string from a hanging spring scale, such as the kind used in some grocery stores. You then hang the scale with the object from the ceiling of an elevator. When the elevator is standing still, the scale will read the actual weight of the object, W. What will the scale read in each of the following situations: 1) when the elevator is accelerating upward; 2) when the elevator is accelerating downward; 3) when the elevator is falling freely?

Answer 1

The reading R will be

R>W
R<W
R=0