Question

three girls were pushing the same car with a net force of 450 N [N48°E]. Two of the girls were pushing with forces of 310 N [N25°W] and 250 N [S15°E]. With what force did the third girl push the car?

Answer 1

The net force is the vector

∑ F = (450 N) (cos(42°) i + sin(42°) j)

and two of the forces provided by the girls are

F₁ = (310 N) (cos(115°) i + sin(115°) j)

F₂ = (250 N) (cos(285°) i + sin(285°) j)

Then the force provided by the third girl is the vector

F₃ = ∑ F - F₁ - F₂

F₃ = ((450 N) cos(42°) - (310 N) cos(115°) - (250 N) cos(285°)) i

… … … + ((450 N) sin(42°) - (310 N) sin(115°) - (250 N) sin(285°)) j

F₃ ≈ (400.722 N) i + (261.635 N) j

So, the third girl provided a force of magnitude

||F₃|| = √((400.722 N)² + (261.635 N)²) ≈ 478.572 N ≈ 480 N

pointing in a direction

arctan((261.635 N)/(400.722 N)) ≈ 33.1409° ≈ 33°

relative to East which refers to 0°; that is, 33° N of E or E33°N. Since the other forces are given relative to North or South, we can write this direction as N57°E.

So, the third girl pushed with force 480 N [N57°E].