Newtons Laws Question: Finding acceleration and direction of movement

[acorn1290]

1. The only force on a 5.0 kg object has components Fx= 20N and Fy= 30N



2. Find the acceleration of the object and its direction of movement.



3. I think I'm supposed to somehow use Soh Cah Toa inorder to find something (I don't know what this would help me find). I need to use Sin(theta)= Fx/m. But that would give me the angle measure and not the acceleration.

 

[jgens]

Alright, since forces are vector quantities and the forces are acting in perpendicular directions, you can calculate the x and y components of the acceleration. After that it's merely an application of the pythagorean theorem.

For the direction, draw a free body diagram labeling the forces acting on the object and go from there. Hint: you'll need to use SOH-CAH-TOA to find the direction.

 

[PhanthomJay]

1. The only force on a 5.0 kg object has components Fx= 20N and Fy= 30N



2. Find the acceleration of the object and its direction of movement.



3. I think I'm supposed to somehow use Soh Cah Toa inorder to find something (I don't know what this would help me find). I need to use Sin(theta)= Fx/m. But that would give me the angle measure and not the acceleration.

acorn1290, welcome to PF! Sin theta = Fx/m is not a correct equation, I'm not sure how you arrived at it. Are you familiar with Newton's second law? Try applying it in the x direction, and again, independently, in the y direction, and respond with your results.