---
title: "A student stands on a force platform inside an elevator cab that is initially at rest at ground level. The elevator ascends vertically and comes to rest at an upper floor. The platform measures the normal force \\(F_N\\) exerted on the student as a function of time \\(t\\), as shown in the graph. Taking the acceleration due to gravity to be \\(g = 10 \\text{ m/s}^2\\), which of the following statements correctly describes the motion or acceleration of the student?"
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url: "https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/124123/"
date_modified: "2026-09-28T13:30:34+00:00"
---

# A student stands on a force platform inside an elevator cab that is initially at rest at ground level. The elevator ascends vertically and comes to rest at an upper floor. The platform measures the normal force \(F_N\) exerted on the student as a function of time \(t\), as shown in the graph. Taking the acceleration due to gravity to be \(g = 10 \text{ m/s}^2\), which of the following statements correctly describes the motion or acceleration of the student?

A student stands on a force platform inside an elevator cab that is initially at rest at ground level. The elevator ascends vertically and comes to rest at an upper floor. The platform measures the normal force \(F_N\) exerted on the student as a function of time \(t\), as shown in the graph. Taking the acceleration due to gravity to be \(g = 10 \text{ m/s}^2\), which of the following statements correctly describes the motion or acceleration of the student?

![A quantitative plot of normal force versus time. The horizontal axis is labeled t (s) with major tick marks at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14. The vertical axis is labeled F_N (N) with major tick marks at 0, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, and 700. A grid of light gray lines aligns with every major tick mark. A single solid black curve shows five horizontal intervals connected by vertical dashed segments: from t = 0 to 2 s at F_N = 500 N; a vertical dashed line rises at t = 2 s to 600 N; from t = 2 to 6 s at F_N = 600 N; a vertical dashed line drops at t = 6 s to 500 N; from t = 6 to 10 s at F_N = 500 N; a vertical dashed line drops at t = 10 s to 300 N; from t = 10 to 12 s at F_N = 300 N; a vertical dashed line rises at t = 12 s to 500 N; from t = 12 to 14 s at F_N = 500 N. No other labels, lines, text, or axes appear.](https://nerd-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/ubq-frq-generated/stem-fig-1-1790602234-2VoODe.jpg)

- **A.** Between \(t = 6 \text{ s}\) and \(t = 10 \text{ s}\), the student is at rest because the normal force is equal to the student's weight.
- **B.** The student experiences their greatest magnitude of acceleration between \(t = 2 \text{ s}\) and \(t = 6 \text{ s}\), with a value of \(2.0 \text{ m/s}^2\).
- **C.** Between \(t = 10 \text{ s}\) and \(t = 12 \text{ s}\), the student is moving upward with a downward acceleration of magnitude \(4.0 \text{ m/s}^2\).
- **D.** Between \(t = 10 \text{ s}\) and \(t = 12 \text{ s}\), the student is moving downward because the normal force is less than the student's weight.

*The answer key and step-by-step explanation are available to logged-in users at https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/124123/*