How to find the resultant forcea acting on an object

First of all let's answer the question: What is the resultant force ? When an object is subject to several
forces, the resultant force is the force that alone would produce the same effect as all those forces.

How can the resultant force be found?

Experiments show that when an object is subject to several forces F 1 , F2 , ... , the resultant force is the
vector sum of those forces. In symbols:

R = F 1 + F2 + ...

Therefore it is not a mere sum of the magnitudes of all the forces as you might think, but the sum of all
the forces taken as vectors, which is far more complex since vectors have magnitudes and directions.

Let's now see how to find it in practice.

• Two forces that act in the same direction Suppose we an object subject to two forces that act in the same
direction: The resultant force will be in the same direction as the two forces, and have magnitude equal to
the sum of the two magnitudes :

• Two forces that act in opposite directions Let's assume that an object is subject to two forces that act in
opposite directions. If the two forces are equal in magnitude: The resultant will be zero because the two
forces cancel each other out . On the other hand, if the two forces are not equal in magnitude: The
resultant will be in the direction of the larger force (in this case 5 N), and have the magnitude equal to the
difference between the two magnitudes:

• 2+ forces parallel to one another

For example:

In cases like this, we first sum all the forces that go in one direction, and then all the forces that go in the
opposite direction: And now we have two forces in opposite directions, so the resultant will be in the
direction of the larger force ( 11 N) and have magnitude equal to the difference between the two
magnitudes:
• Two forces in different directions Let's suppose we have a block subject to two forces F 1 , F 2 of 50N
and 60N respectively. Here's the free-body diagram of the block: As you can see, the forces are no longer
parallel to one another, but they act in different directions. Our goal is to find the resultant force R .

The first step is to draw coordinate axes on our free-body diagram . In this case we choose the x axis
horizontal, the y axis vertical, and the origin in the center of the object:

The next step is to determine the x and y

COMPONENTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL FORCES.

F 1 x = F 1 cos45°

F2x=F2

F 1 y = F 1 sin45°

F2y=0

And now:

If we sum all the x components, we will get the x component of the resultant force:

F1x+F2x=Rx

F 1 cos45° + F 2 = R x

(50 N)(cos45°) + 60 N = R x

R x = 95 N

And if we sum the y components of the individual forces, we will get the y component of the resultant
force:

F1y+F2y=Ry

↓
F 1 sin45° = R y

(50 N)(sin45°) = R y

R y = 35 N

At this point we know the x and y components of R , so we can find the magnitude and direction of R:

R x = 95 N

R y = 35 N

The magnitude of R can be found applying Pythagoras' Theorem :

R=√Rx2+Ry2

R = √ 95 2 + 35 2 N = 100 N

And the angle θ that R makes with R x will be:

θ = tan-1 R y

Rx

θ = tan-1 0.368

θ = 20°

Hence R has magnitude 100N and direction angle 20° .

• 2+ forces in different directions Suppose we have an object subject to three forces F 1 , F2 , F3 :

F 1 = 10 N

F 2 = 20 N

F 3 = 40 N

And the free-body diagram of the object looks like this:

We can find R in the same way as we did when the object was subject to two forces. First we draw
coordinate axes on the free- body diagram: Then we determine the x and y components of the individual
forces.

F1x=F1

F2x=0

F 3 x = −F 3 cos60°

F1y=0

F2y=F2

F 3 y = −F 3 sin60°

The x component of R will be the sum of all x components:

Rx=F1x+F2x+F3x

R x = F 1 − F3 cos60°

R x = 10 N − (40 N)(cos60°)

R x = −10 N

The y component of R will be the sum of all y components:

Ry=F1y+F2y+F3y

R y = F 2 − F3 sin60°

R x = 20 N − (40 N)(sin60°)

R y = −15 N

Finally we find the magnitude and direction

of R using R x and R y :
R x = −10 N

R y = −15 N

R = √ R x 2 + R y 2 = 18 N

And θ will be:

θ = tan-1 R y = 56° R x

The direction angle of R (i.e. the counterclockwise angle that R makes with the positive x axis) will be
180° + θ , i.e. 236° . That's it.

In general , no matter how many forces act on the object, you can find the resultant force using this
method:

1) Draw a free-body diagram for the object.

2) Draw coordinate axes on the free-body diagram. It is good practice to draw them so that one of the axis
is in the same direction as the motion of the object. So if you have an object moving up a ramp, you
should draw titled coordinate axes with the x axis uphill. Sometimes however your object may be at rest
or you may not know the direction of motion, in that case place the coordinate axes in the way you think
is best (in most cases it's best to have the x axis horizontal and y axis vertical).

3) Decompose the individual forces acting on the object into x and y components : F 1 x = ... F 2 x = ... ...
F 1 y = ... F 2 y = ... ...

4) Determine the x and y components of the resultant force by adding the x and y components of the
individual forces:

R x = F 1 x + F 2 x + ...

R y = F 1 y + F 2 y + ...

5) Find the magnitude and direction of R using R x and R y

Exercises

#1

John and Rob are engaged in a tug of war. John is pulling with a force of 230N , and Rob is pulling with
a force of 215N . Determine the magnitude and direction of the resultant force, Show Solution

#2

A block is pulled by two forces of 15N and 25N to the left, and by three forces of 10N, 20N, 30N to the
right. Find the magnitude and direction of the resultant force. Show Solution
#3

An apple is subject to two vertical forces: one of 40N pulling upward, and the other of 10N pulling
downward. What is the total force acting on the apple? Show Solution

In A CONCURRENT FORCE SYSTEM, all forces pass through a common point. In the previous case
involving the application of two forces to a body, it was necessary for them to be collinear, opposite in
direction, and equal in magnitude for the body to be in equilibrium. If three forces are applied to a body,
as shown in the figure, they must pass through a common point (O), or else the condition, SM o = 0, will
not be satisfied and the body will rotate because of unbalanced moment. Moreover, the magnitudes of the
forces must be such that the force equilibrium equations, SF x = 0, SF y = 0, are satisfied.

CONCURRENT FORCES

It is fairly easy to see the reasoning for the first condition. Consider the two forces, F 1 and F 2 ,
intersecting at point O in the figure. The sum of moments of these two forces about point 0 is obviously
equal to zero because they both pass through 0. If F3 does not pass through 0, on the other hand, it will
have some nonzero moment about that point. Since this nonzero moment will cause the body to rotate, the
body will not be in equilibrium.

Therefore, not only do three nonparallel forces applied to a body have to be concurrent for the body to be
in an equilibrium state, but their magnitudes and directions must be such that the force equilibrium
conditions are satisfied (SF x = SF y = 0). Notice that there is no need for the moment equilibrium
equation in this case since it is automatically satisfied.
 GROUP # ____

FINDING RESULTANT and

EQUILIBRANT MORE THAN TWO
CONCURRENT FORCES

NAME: Jocelyn Albino

Hance Christian Ladrillono

NAME WORK DONE SIGNATURE

Jocelyn Albino

Hance Christian Ladrillono