- #1
kmizzle
- 6
- 0
Homework Statement
A balloon with person A in it has a force of gravity of 3000N acting on it. The balloon has an upward force of 3800N due to the hot air in it. Two people are keeping the balloon hovering just above their heads by holding onto ropes attached to each side of the balloon. If person B exerts a force of 540N[Left40°Down] and person C can exert a force of 700N, what is the minimum angle, measured from the horizontal, at which person C should hold the rope in order for the balloon to not fly away?
Homework Equations
The Attempt at a Solution
What I did was:
540sin40=347.12N
Knowing that Fnet"y" should be 0 I did 3800=3347.12N+x
x=452N (person C's horizontal force)
Then this is where I don't know how to solve the problem.
I drew out the relative velocity type triangle diagram by drawing the x component first and then the y component. This would've given me Θ=cos-1(452.88/700)=50°
However, the correct answer is 40°. I didn't know why this was for a long time, but I realized I had to draw the y component and then the x component. This would've given me Θ=sin-1(452.88/700)=40°
So my question is, how do you know whether to draw the x component first or the y component? For previous questions I did I got the correct answer by drawing the x component first, so what makes this one different? :S Thanks!
Last edited: