A pendulum bob of mass 50 g hangs from the ceiling of an elevator. Determine the tension in the string given that the elevator is travelling downward with an acceleration of 1.2 m/s ^2 .

Step-by-step solution

Given mass of the bob, m = 50 g = 0.05 kg Acceleration of the elevator, a = 1.2 m/s ^2 downward Acceleration due to gravity, g = 9.8 m/s ^2 When the elevator accelerates downward, the equation of motion for the bob is: mg - T = ma T = m(g - a) Substituting the given values: T = 0.05(9.8 - 1.2) T = 0.05 8.6 = 0.43 N