I just asked this on Physics.se, but the question was closed on there for "Homework-like questions and check-my-work questions are considered off-topic here, particularly when asking about specific computations instead of underlying physics concepts."
But my question is not, "do my homework for me". I just want clarification of the question itself. But the "specific computations" part is fair enough I guess, even though I've asked specific computation questions on physics.se previously and those questions were voted highly.
Anyway I'm posting it here now- hopefully I get better guidance on math.se than on physics.se.
If this is also the wrong site, where else should I try? Maybe studentroom?
My questions involve the bottom two questions on the scanned sheet above. It's blurry on the left but that only blurs the question number and I couldn't do better than that with my scanner, so apologies for that.
Note that this is single maths (not further maths) AS, so it's $F = ma$ stuff. Forces will be constant, not variable.
The first question starts with, "A lift of mass $520$kg..."
I simply don't understand what the force diagram looks like for this question. Is the rod underneath the lift mass-less and vertical? In what way is it a "support"?
The second question starting, "A woman of mass $63$kg...". I got the correct answer for (b). However, for (a), surely the lift could be moving in either direction. It could be moving down and decelerating or moving up and accelerating.