Question

Help please!

three people pull simultaneously on a stubborn donkey. jack pulls eastward with a force of 65.1 n, jill pulls with 81.9 n in the northeast direction and jane pulls to the southeast with 115 n. find the magnitude of the net force the people exert on the donkey.

Would i end up with this equation: 65.1N-81.9N+115N?

Answer 1

No, because force is a vector quantity, meaning it has direction as well as size.
So when you add forces, you have to take the direction of the force into account.

Answer 2

so, do i just simply add the vector together?

like so: 65.1N + 81.9N+115N?

Answer 3

No ! What I'm saying is, you can't simply add vectors as if they are numbers.
It's best to draw a diagram, then you need to be able to work out the component of a force in a particular direction.

Answer 4

You can add the components of different forces along the same direction, but you have to calculate those components first.

Answer 5

Yes, that looks about right, but you really need arrows on there to show which way the forces are pushing

Answer 6

Here The Net force acting is;

f=65.1+cos 45(81.9+115)

45 is the angle between forces