WELCOME TO RYAN

GROSSS SCIENCE FAIR

HOTEL ELEVATORS:
Whats the actual weight limit?
INTRODUCTION
Question

Hypothesis

Rationale

Materials

Experimental Procedure

Data

Data Analysis

Photographs

Conclusion

Abstract

Bibliography

References

Ryan Gross

M. Purvis

12/6/2016

INTRODUCTION
Hello. My name is Ryan Gross, and I am in 7th grade at Milwee Middle School. My
science teacher is Mr. Matthew Purvis.
Last year I did an elevator related science fair project, and I wanted to do that again. But
sadly, while last summer I had the opportunity to go on a cruise, I didnt have that this
year. So I had to find a new solution: find a 12+ story elevator on land. And then I
realized what I was going to do: contact a hotel and ask them to test their elevator. First
I asked the Hilton Orlando Convention Center (19 floors), but they said no. (They later
changed their mind, but by then it was too late.) Then I asked the DoubleTree by Hilton
Universal and they said yes. So, the day before school started, I went to the hotel and
did my tests. It was pretty fun riding the elevators (except for the fact it had no AC), and
it was also fun to make this presentation to viewers who I know will find this interesting.

QUESTION
How does the amount of weight in an elevator affect
its speed?

HYPOTHESIS
If an elevator is sent up from Lobby to 18 (17 floors no 13th
floor) and back down with 1,532 pounds, then it will go slower
than if it just had one person in it, because more weight in an
elevator would cause it to go slower.

RATIONALE
This experiment will benefit the people staying at hotels by telling them if they should squeeze
into the elevator, or just wait for the next one. Knowing if elevators (for example only, not actual
results) are affected by the weight inside it could affect people flow through the elevators by
maintaining a proper load, and in some cases may increase stair load.

ABSTRACT
To begin my Abstract, lets first see the question so you can learn about my experiment:
How does the amount of weight in an elevator affect its speed? Now, some pictures to
clear up a few questions.

What hotel?

What elevator will I test?

South
Tower #1

My hypothesis states that the elevator will be slower with more weight, however my data
analysis proves that travel time is 0.0343 seconds faster with more weight than with less.

MATERIALS
Here are my materials needed for my experiment:
1. 1 pencil - brand does not matter.
2. 1 data tracking sheet. See Data-Data Sheets
3. 1 stopwatch or timer. Phones would work also. Brands still do not matter.
4. 1 hotel. Preferably 17 floors (what I used in my experiment)
5. 1 person to time the elevator for 1 person tests
6. At least 1000 lbs (Preferably 1,532 lbs; what I used in my experiment) for 1000 pound tests

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
Here is my procedure:
1. Choose hotel to test at, then choose an elevator at that hotel to use for testing. Record the hotel name and the brand, model, and floor amount of the
elevators.
2. Start in the lobby (1st or bottom floor)
3. Press the elevator call button
4. If a different elevator opens for the call, send it to the top floor
5. Repeat #3 and #4 until your chosen elevator opens
6. Enter your chosen elevator and press the button for the top floor
7. If the elevator is not empty, do not record this ride
8. Start a timer as soon as the doors are fully closed and stop as soon the doors start to open
9. Record information (hotel, elevator number, floor amount, amount of weight, trial number, date/time of trial, direction, travel time) on paper.
10. If the elevator stopped along the way, do not record this ride
11. Repeat rides until you have 20 successful up trials and 20 successful down trials
12. Repeat entire procedure for both one person and 1000+ (1532) lbs.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Pictures taken by Ryan and Andrew Gross

DATA SHEETS

DATA GRAPHS

Hotel

Doubletree near Universal Date

August 9, 2016.

Total Flrs. 17 floors

Time

About 1:43 PM

Weight

Elevator

South Tower-1

One Person - 129 lbs.

DATA SHEETS

NOTES:

Up
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Average

29.98
1
30.12
2
29.93
3
30.05
4
29.90
5
30.02
6
29.95
7
29.86
8
29.98
9
29.83 10
29.56 11
29.73 12
30.00 13
30.00 14
29.97 15
29.87 16
30.07 17
30.08 18
29.98 19
30.23 20
29.9555Average
Combined Average 29.8743

Down
29.70
29.80
30.49
29.90
29.87
29.07
29.67
30.40
29.55
30.00
29.37
29.55
29.57
29.93
28.87
30.20
30.01
29.96
29.93
30.02
29.7930

Hotel

Doubletree near Universal Date

Total Flrs. 17 floors

Time

About 1:43 PM

Weight

1,532 lbs.

Elevator

South Tower-1

NOTES:

1,403 lbs. difference from other tests

Up

Data Graphs

Data Analysis

August 9, 2016.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Average

29.97 1
29.15 2
29.70 3
29.74 4
29.78 5
30.00 6
30.12 7
30.05 8
30.00 9
29.93 10
29.72 11
30.55 12
29.97 13
29.86 14
29.93 15
30.15 16
30.01 17
30.47 18
30.08 19
29.83 20
29.9505Average
Combined Average 29.8400

Down
29.65
29.63
29.67
29.98
29.87
29.89
29.85
29.76
28.57
29.90
30.03
29.63
29.67
29.91
29.85
29.85
29.51
29.79
30.00
29.58
29.7295

DATA GRAPHS

One Person - Up
30.12

30.08
30.07

30.05

30.10

30.02
29.98
29.98
29.95
29.93
29.90
29.86
29.83

30.00
29.90

30.00
30.00
29.97

29.98

29.87
29.73

29.80
29.70

29.56

29.60

30.55

30.60

TravelTime (sec.)

30.20

TravelTime (sec.)

30.80

30.23

30.30

30.40
30.20
30.00
29.80

10

15

20

29.60
29.40

29.15

29.00

25

Trial Number

30.60

29.80

29.80

30.00

29.90
29.87
29.67

29.60
29.40

29.55

30.00

30.02
30.01
29.96
29.93
29.7930

29.93

TravelTime (sec.)

TravelTime (sec.)

30.00

30.20

30.20

30.20

29.57
29.55
29.37

29.07

29.20

28.87

29.00
28.80

Data Analysis

28.60
0

10

15

Trial Number

15

20

25

1532 LBS - Down

30.40

30.40

10

Trial Number

One Person - Down

30.47

30.15
30.12
30.08
30.05
30.00
30.00
29.97
29.97 29.93 30.01
29.93
29.86
29.83
29.78
29.74
29.72
29.70

29.20

29.50
0

1532 LBS - Up

20

25

29.80
29.60

30.03
30.00
29.98
29.91
29.90
29.89
29.87
29.85
29.85
29.85 29.79
29.76
29.67
29.67
29.65
29.63
29.63
29.58
29.51

29.40
29.20
29.00
28.80

28.57

28.60
28.40
0

10

15

Trial Number

20

25

DATA ANALYSIS
My data shows that the elevator traveled 0.0343 seconds faster with
1,532 pounds than with one person.

My four averages are here:

Up
Down

One Person

1532 lbs

29.9555

29.9505

29.7930

29.7295

Data

CONCLUSION
After reviewing the components of my experiment, I came to the
conclusion that my hypothesis is not supported. The data that I
collected shows that travelling with a lot of weight was actually
faster than with just one person. The data also says that the
difference was 0.0343 seconds. This means that the times are
virtually similar, because that is such a small amount of time,
unnoticeable if you werent looking for the difference. In final, my
hypothesis is disproved for the DoubleTree near Universal.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
("Common Elevator Myths." Common Elevator Myths. KONE Elevator Corp., n.d.Web. 19 Sept.
2016.)
Elert, Glenn. "Speed & Velocity." - The Physics Hypertextbook. Glenn Elert. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.
"Elevator Problem." http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/elev.html* Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

"How Do Elevators Work?" How Do Elevators Work? Discovery Education. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.
"Why Do Some Skyscraper Elevators Run at Slower Speeds on Windy Days?" Why Do Some
Skyscraper Elevators Run at Slower Speeds on Windy Days? Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

Woodford, Chris. "Elevators." How Do Elevators and Lifts Work? Chris Woodford. Web. 13 Nov.
2016.
* Copy and paste to get to site.

REFERENCES
1. Testing elevator is at the DoubleTree near Universal, is labeled South Tower #1, and serves 17 floors.
2. There are 17 floors in the DoubleTree.
3. There are 6 guest elevators in the DoubleTree (3 in South Tower, 3 in North Tower) and at least 1 service
elevator (South Tower).
4. The type of elevator was originally Otis, modernized by Schindler.
5. Most of the elevators magic is hidden; we cant see things like counterweights, the motor, etc.

6. Two pulleys are used in most elevators, along with a motor. The pulleys make the elevator easier to lift.
7. Speed is going farther than something else in the same amount of time as that something else, or the
amount of distance traveled in a set amount of time.
8. Elevators are merely highly advanced pulleys.
9. Severe wind conditions may cause reduced elevator speed.
10.Going down on an elevator can give you a sense of weightlessness, and going up can do the opposite.