The wind exerts a force of 452 N north on a sailboat, while the water exerts a force of 325 N west on the sailboat. What is the magnitude and direction of the net force on the sailboat?

Answer 1

Direction = #45^o# North of West (Due North-West)
Magnitude = 557 N

In this question you have a force (452N) due North and a force (325N) due West. Since these directions are #90^o# apart from one another the angle of the net force is #45^o#.

To calculate the magnitude you must reach WAAAAAY back in your math classes to the pythagorean theorem; since you can view these vectors as a triangle with the net force being the hypotenuse. #a^2 + b^2 = c^2# #(325N)^2 + (452N)^2 =309929N^2#

The magnitude in Newtons can then be found by taking the square root of your response.

#sqrt(309929N^2) = 557N#

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Answer 2

Julia Aguilar

The magnitude of the net force on the sailboat is 561.24 N, and its direction is at an angle of approximately 54.64 degrees north of west.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.