Physics 534 FORCE VECTORS

Exercise Set # 1

1. Three forces of 10 N are applied to a trolley on a horizontal surface.

→
F2 = 10 N

→
F 3 = 10 N
45º
45º
→
F1 = 10 N
→Π
Which of the following graphs show the equilibrium of this system?
C)
A) →
E = 2 4,1 N →
F2 = 10 N
→
→
F2 = 1 0 N 45º F3= 10 N
45º
→
4 5 º F3 = 1 0 N
→
F1 = 10 N
45º
→
F1 = 1 0 N

→
E= 24,1 N

B)
→

F = 10 N
→
D) 2
F2 = 10 N →

F = 10 N
→ 45º 3

45º
F3 = 10 N 45º
→ →
45º E
→
F = 10 N
1
F1 = 10 N

→
E = 10 N
2. An object is subjected to 3 forces applied to its center of gravity.
->
F3

->
F1

->
F2
What condition must be met for the object to remain motionless?
→ → → →
A)
F1 + F 2 + F 3 = 0
B) F1 + F 2 + F 3 = 0
→ → →
C)
F1 + F 2 = F 3
D) F1 + F 2 = F 3

3. Two forces are acting on the same object at the same point (the following
diagram is not to scale). Force F1 is 5.0 N while force F2 is 8.0 N. There is an
angle of 60o between them.

→
F2

→
F1

What is the magnitude of the resultant of these two forces?

A) 13 N B) 11 N C) 9.4 N D) 3.0 N
4. Four objects are each subjected to three forces.
Which one of the objects will remain at rest?
A) C)

B) D)

5. Three concurrent forces are acting on object:

F1 = 50.0 N [E] F2 = 40.0 N [N] F3 = 30.0 N [W]

Which one of the following forces will put this system of forces into equilibrium?

A) 44.7 N [E 63° N] B) 44.7 N [W 63° S]

C) 120. N [E 63° N] D) 120. N [W 63° S]

6. A 20.0 N weight is suspended between two stands. The force measured by one
spring scale is 15.0 N at 30° to the horizontal.
15.0 N

30°

20.0 N

What would the leftmost scale read?

7. Three concurrent forces are acting on an object as shown below.

F2

F1
(80
0 N,
0°)
F3
(60
0
Draw the vector representing the equivalent force on the diagram.

8. A bull is restrained by four ropes. The diagram below shows three of these ropes
and the force that is exerted on each. (Diagram is not drawn to scale.)

700.0 N

600.0 N
120°

500.0 N

Find the magnitude and direction of the force that must be exerted on the
fourth rope in order to restrain the bull completely.

9. Two cables are used to hang a

400 N sphere from a ceiling.
60º 60º
Each cable makes an angle of
60° with the ceiling.

What is the tension (force) in each cable?

10. Four objects are each subjected to two different forces.

Determine the forces required to put the objects into a state of equilibrium.
Draw the force vectors directly on each of the diagrams.
A) C)

B) D)

11. Determine the force that will put this system of forces into equilibrium.

W E
→
F2 = 50 N [N] S

→
F3 = 30 N [W] F1 = 40 N [E]
12. Two sled dogs are pulling on a sled. The forces applied are shown below.

5.5 × 102 N

40o
30o East

3.5 × 102 N

What is the magnitude and direction of the force exerted on the sled?

13. The diagram below shows three concurrent forces acting on an object.
(Diagram is not drawn to scale.)

750 N
450 N [W]
130°

600 N [S]

Determine the force that will put the object in equilibrium.

14. A 100 N weight is suspended by 2 cables, as shown in the diagram below.

32° 58°

Cable 1 Cable 2

What is the force in each of the cables?

15. The wire of an orthodontal brace is represented in the figure below. It exerts a
force of 2.0 N on each tooth in two directions. The angle between the two sides
of the wire at the given tooth is 140°.

Calculate the magnitude of the resultant force on the shaded tooth.

16. Two dynamometers are used to suspend a weight of 2.5 N, as shown in the
diagram below. The dynamometer on the left has a reading of 1.25 N and is set
at an angle of 30o to the horizontal. The dynamometer on the right reads 2.16 N.

1.25 N 2.16 N
90

?
180 30° 0

2.5 N

270

What is the angle (with respect to the horizontal) of the right dynamometer?
 17. Which one of the following objects will remain at rest?

A) C)

C) D)

ANSWERS:
1) C 2) A 3) B 4) A 5) B 6) 18 N 7) ( 4, 1 ) 8) 440 N [ S 53O W ]
9) 231 N 10A) (-2, 0) B) (1, -1) C) (-1, 3) D) (-1, -3) 11) 51 N [ S 11O W ]
12) 746 N [ E 14O N ] 13) 171 N [ W 43O N ] 14) #1 = 53 N #2 = 84. 8 N
15) 1.37 N 16) 60O 17) C
Physics 534 FORCE VECTORS
Exercise Set # 2

1. A gymnast holds the position shown below.

80,7 º 80,7 º

Horizontal

His weight is 600 N and each of the ropes makes an angle of 80.7° with the horizontal.
What is the tension in each of the ropes at that moment?

2. On a force table, weights of 12 N and 4 N are hung opposite one another.

Julie must add two 5 N weights to the system so that it is in equilibrium. The original 4 N
and 12 N must not be moved.

Determine the angles at which the 5 N weights must be placed for the system to
be in equilibrium.
3. A wire is suspended from the ceiling of a room. A 10 N weight is attached to the end
of the wire. The mass is then subjected to a horizontal force of 6.5 N. (The figure
below is not drawn to scale.)

What angle is formed between the wire and the ceiling?

4. John wishes to hang up a flowerpot with a weight of 50 N.

He uses two metal rods (AB and BC), solidly anchored to the wall.

30°
wall B
C

Calculate the tension in rod AB.

5. Determine the force that will put this system of forces into equilibrium.

W E
→
F2 = 40 N [N] S

→ →
F3 = 30 N [W] O F1 = 60 N [E]

6. A tightrope walker walks on a rope between two buildings 20 m apart.

The combined force of the walker, his balancing pole and the cable is
2000 N. At the midpoint, the cable stretches and sags 1.5 m.

8.5°
1.5 m

20 m
Determine the magnitude of the tension in the cable.
 → →
7. Two perpendicular forces, = 5.00 N and = 12.0 N are acting on an object.
F1 F2
→
What other force is needed to keep the object at rest?
F3

→ →
F2 F2
A) C)

→ →
F1 F1

113º 113º

F3 = 13.0 N F3 = 17.0 N

→ →
F2 F2
B) D)
→ →
F1
F1

F3 = 13.0 N F3 = 17.0 N 157º

157º

8. Three concurrent forces of equal size are applied to a single point.

120° 120°

120°

Which of these statements is true?

A) The object is subjected to a downward resultant force.
B) The object is subjected to an upward resultant force.
C) There are no forces acting on the object.
D) The resultant force acting on the object is zero.
9. The following diagram shows 4 forces acting on a cart.
Scale : 1 cm = 1 N
3.16 N
°
0

Cart
4.00 N

2.24 N

2.83 N
Which of the following forces will put this system of forces into equilibrium?
A) 3.00 N [ Ε ] C) 12.2 N [ E ]

B) 3.00 N, [ W ] D) 12.2 N [ W ]

10. Three students exert three forces simultaneously on the same mass. This situation is
shown in the drawing below.

→
→ F2
F3

→
F1

Which of the following vectors represents the equilibrant force for this system of forces?

A) B) C) D)
11. Two horses are pulling a log. The force applied by each horse is shown in the diagram
below.
6.0 × 102 N

60°

6.0 × 102 N
Which of the following is the magnitude of the equilibrant force?

A) 5.2 × 102 N B) 1.0 × 103 N C) 6.0 × 102 N D) 1.2 × 103 N

12. Draw the resultant of the two forces on the diagram below.

->
F
1
->
F
2
O

13. Draw the resultant of the three forces on the diagram below.

→
F scale in
1
Newtons (N)

0 100 200 300 400

→ O
F
3

→
F
2
14. A 200.0 N block is suspended from a ceiling by two cords of equal length.

30o 30o
Cord

200.0 N

What is the magnitude of the tension force F in each of the cords?

15. Three boys exert three different forces simultaneously, as shown in the diagram.
→
F
→ 2
F
3

→
F
1

1 square = 10 N

A fourth boy exerts a force which has the effect of cancelling the forces exerted by the
three other boys. Determine the magnitude and direction of the force exerted by the fourth
boy.

16. A flagpole is supported by two cables which are anchored to the ground and act on a
single point on the pole, as shown in the diagram below. The flagpole is in equilibrium.

F = 255 N

40° 55°

Determine the net compressive force exerted on the flagpole by the cables.

ANSWERS:
1) 304 N 2) [ E 36.9o N ] and [ E 36.9o S ] 3) 11.9 N [ W 57o N ]
o
4) 100 N 5) 50 N [ W 53 S ] 6) Tension = 6766 N
7) A 8) D 9) B 10) C 11) B 12) ( 4 , 4 )
2
13) 200 N [ E ] 14) 2.00 x 10 N 15) 80 N [ S 23° W ] 16) 332 N [ down or S ]