why does a scale show an increase of weight when downward motion is applied?

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Say I’m standing on a scale in the middle of the room and I weigh 150 lbs. Why is it that when I crouch down and apply force to ready a jump, the scale jumps to 200+ lbs even though it’s still my body weight?

Does this kinetic energy make me heavier for a moment? Why does the scale read so many extra lbs?

In: Physics

6 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Normal scales does not measure your mass directly but the force created by your weight in the gravity of earth and then use that force value to calculate your weight.

However it can not differentiante between gravitional force and any other forces. If you move downwards, you apply an additional force on the scale and then it thinks that your weight has changed.

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