Vectorsandresultantforces

Whentwoobjectspullonanobject,theobjectwillwanttogointhe
directionthatsplitsthetwoforces.Twoforcesactingonanobject
resultinthesameeffectthatwouldbeproducedbyasingleforce
calledaresultantforce.Anexamplewouldbethedaysthatmules
hadtopullboatsthroughthecanal.Theropesrepresentedforces
pullingtheobject,whichwastheboat.Theresultantforce
compensatesthetwoforcesbygoinginadirectioninbetweenthem.
Theforcescanbedrawnwitharrowsontheendsandarecalled
vectors.
o rce
F
ResultantForce
Object
Forc
e
Procedureforworkingwithvectorproblems
1)Maketwovectorarrowsthatrepresentthetwoforcesactingonanobject.
Thevectorsshouldmeettoformanangle.
2)Drawaresultantforcearrowthatsplitsthedifferencebetweenthetwo
forces.Itshouldshowthepaththeobjectwilltake.
3)Connectthearrowheadstoformaparallelogram.
4)Labelallsidesandanglesthataregiven.
5)Usethepropertiesofparallelogramstofillintherestofthemeasurements.
6)Decidewhatmeasurementyouarelookingforandchoosewhatmethod
youwillusetofindthedesiredlengthorangle(lawofsinesorcosines.)
Exampleproblem:Twoforcesof130newtonsand90newtonsare
actingonanobjectsothattheanglebetweenthemis54.Findthe
resultantforcetothenearesttenth.
ns
ewto
90N

130Newtons
Exampleproblem:Aforceactingonanobjectis45poundsandthe
magnitudeoftheresultantforceis75pounds.Theanglebetweenthe
resultantandthe45poundforceis7620'.Findthesecondforceto
thenearesthundredth.
Exampleproblem:Thetwoforcesactingonanobjectare40newtons
and63newtons,andtheanglebetweentheresultantandthe40newton
forceis39.Findtheanglebetweentheresultantandthe63newton
forcetothenearesttenminutes.
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