Question

3. Two people are playing tug of war. One person pulls to the right with 32 N of force. The other person pulls to the left with 37 N of force. How strong is the net force and in which direction?

Answer 1

The net force = -5 N

The direction : to the left(negative sign)

Further explanation

Net force : the sum of all forces acting on an object

Force is a vector quantity that has both magnitude and direction,

We agree that the move up and to the right is a positive sign, while down and to the left is a negative sign.

The direction of the force (horizontal motion) is to the right (+32 N), and to the left (-37 N), so the net force :

$\tt \sum F=F~right-F~left\\\\\sum F=32-37\\\\\sum F=-5~N$