Physics Mechanics Elevator going up at constant speed and you start playing a ga
ID: 1274330 • Letter: P
Question
Physics Mechanics
Elevator going up at constant speed and you start playing a game of darts. Do you have to aim your dart higher, lower, or the same as when you play it on the ground?
The answer given for this is "same as on ground".
My argument is that the person, dart in his hand and dart board travelling upwards at velocity V. The whole thing is moving up with constant velocity as the nef force on the system is zero. But still there are forces acting on the system - gravity downwards and a machine pulling it up with the same amount of force upwards.
Now the moment dart leaves the person hand, the upwards force disappears and gravity becomes the only force on the dart while the dart board keeps going upwards as earlier. So, now the situation in the elevator is dart board going up at constant velocity while dart though started with the same initial velocity upwards but coming under the influence of gravity.
Comparing this with scenario on ground - dart board is not moving and the dart is under the influence of same gravity.
So, clearly the dart board is moving up in one case and fixed in another case. How can the answer be "same as on ground"?
Explanation / Answer
I understood your doubt. The thing that is to be understood here is that the system (Elevator) and the dart in hand (present inside the system) both have ZERO relative velocity. Hence, irrespective of the movement of the elevator, the dart can be thrown as if it is thrown on the ground.