Question

A 6-newton force directed east and a 6-newton force directed north act concurrently on a point, The resultant of the two forces is:

1) 5 N northeast
2) 8.5 N northeast
3) 10 N southwest
4) 3 N southwest

Answer 1

Using the Pythagorean theorem, the resultant of a 6-newton force directed east and a 6-newton force directed north is found to be 8.5 N directed northeast. This applies the concept of vector addition from high school Physics.

Step-by-step explanation:

The subject of the question concerns the resultant of two perpendicular forces acting on a point, which falls under the category of Physics. Specifically, it relates to the topic of vector addition using the Pythagorean theorem to find the magnitude of the resultant force. Given a 6-newton force directed east and a 6-newton force directed north, these two forces can be considered as perpendicular components of the resultant vector. Using the Pythagorean theorem where the two given forces are at a 90-degree angle to each other, the resultant force − which is the hypotenuse of the right triangle formed − is calculated as the square root of the sum of the squares of these two forces: −

− −

The magnitude of the resultant force is then 8.5 N, and it is directed northeast since the two original forces were directed east and north. Therefore, the correct answer is option 2) 8.5 N northeast.