The Tower of Doom, at Elitch Gardens in Denver, CO lifts 15 people 50 m into the air...?

Here is a question on my science test:



The Tower of Doom, at Elitch Gardens in Denver, CO lifts 15 people 50 m into the air. The engineers assume the average people has a mass of 70 kg. How much force must the ride produce to do this?



I know that F=ma, but I cannot find any way to put this equation into effect with there being no acceleration stated. This is all of the information they give me. Quick help is appreciated!The Tower of Doom, at Elitch Gardens in Denver, CO lifts 15 people 50 m into the air...?
you're lifting against Gravity... so the acceleration is the normal acceleration of gravity!



So the ride has to produce ~anything~ more than the force it takes to offset gravity.



F = m * 9.80665 m/s2



F = (15 * 70kg) * 9.80665 m/s2



F = 10,296.9825 newtons just to hold them back from gravity... any greater force will move them Up!



of course, if the ride produced only 10,297 newtons, then it would be a really, really slow trip :)The Tower of Doom, at Elitch Gardens in Denver, CO lifts 15 people 50 m into the air...?
Use the equation for work.



Work = Force x Distance



...with work being the ammount of energy put into the system.

i.e. what is the change in potential energy?



therefore: Work = change in PE



The ride does work against the force of gravity: F = mass x acceleration (which you already know the acceleration of gravity: its 9.8 m/s^2)



I hope this helps without explicitly giving you the answer.



(Actually in Denver, the acceleration of gravity is closer to 9.796 m/s^2)

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