Question

In a free-body diagram, all force vectors must

a. be drawn to be the same sizes
b. point in all directions
c. show the type and strength of the forces
d. include the action-reaction pairs of forces

Answer 1

In a free-body diagram, force vectors must show the type and strength of the forces. The diagram consists of vectors representing all forces acting on an object, resolved into components, if needed, with separate diagrams for each object in multi-object systems.

Step-by-step explanation:

Here are the steps to draw an effective free-body diagram:

1. Represent the object of interest as a point and place it at the origin of an xy-coordinate system if you are treating it as a particle.
2. Include all forces that act on the object, representing these forces as vectors. Do not include the net force on the object or the forces that the object exerts on its environment. The types of forces you'll consider include the normal force, friction, tension, spring force, weight, and applied force.
3. It can be helpful to resolve the force vectors into x- and y-components, especially when applying Newton's laws to solve a problem.
4. If multiple objects are involved, draw a separate free-body diagram for each object.