The force exerted by an elevator's floor on the foot of a person standing inside is greater than the person's weight if the elevator is

Step-by-step solution

Let N be the normal force exerted by the elevator floor and mg be the true weight of the person. Taking the upward direction as positive, the equation of motion for the person is N - mg = ma , where a is the acceleration of the elevator. This gives N = m(g + a) . For the normal force to be greater than the weight ( N > mg ), the acceleration a must be positive, meaning the net acceleration is directed upwards. An upward acceleration occurs in two scenarios: The elevator is travelling upward (positive velocity) and