How Do You Calculate the Magnitude and Direction of Coplanar Forces?

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves calculating the magnitude and direction of three coplanar forces, specified with both magnitude and angle relative to cardinal directions. The forces include a 40N force at 45 degrees east of south, a 10N force directed west, and a 70N force at 35 degrees east of north.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • One participant suggests finding the components of each vector and combining them to determine the resultant force's magnitude and direction. Another participant expresses difficulty with the concepts and requests more specific guidance.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants exploring different methods to approach the problem. There is an indication of helpful guidance being offered, although one participant is seeking further clarification due to their unfamiliarity with the subject.

Contextual Notes

One participant notes that they are new to physics and have been struggling to understand the concepts involved in the problem.

nettie2311
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Homework Statement



Find the magnitude and direction of 3 coplanar forces of:
40N 45 degrees east of south
10N west
70N 35 degrees east of north


This is all new to me so anyone that can show me and hopefully explain how I can get the answer would be great.
 
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Find the East/west and north/south components for each vector.
Add them separately to get totals in each direction.
Combine them using pythagorean thm for magnitude and inverse tan for angle.
 
Thanks for the reply, but physics is totally new to me and I've been online to try to teach myself but I'm having no luck...can you be more specific.
 
vector2.jpg
 

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