A geologist is travelling in an elevator that is below the Earth’s surface

PHYSICS · Single correct · AP · Physics C: Mechanics · Force and Translational Dynamics · Force and Translational Dynamics

Problem

70\,\text{kg}

geologist is travelling in an elevator that is

800\,\text{km}

below the Earth’s surface. At that instant the elevator is moving downward but decelerating with an upward acceleration of

2.0\,\text{m\,s}^{-2}

. Take

g = 9.8\,\text{m\,s}^{-2}

and Earth’s radius

R = 6.4 \times 10^{3}\,\text{km}

. What is the apparent weight of the geologist? (a)

6.0 \times 10^{2}\,\text{N}

(b)

8.3 \times 10^{2}\,\text{N}

(c)

7.4 \times 10^{2}\,\text{N}

(d)

5.6 \times 10^{2}\,\text{N}