A force of 38 newtons is acting on an object making an angle of 55° with the horizontal. What is the value component of the force acting along the y-axis?

1 Answer
Daniel W.
Jan 20, 2016

#F_y = 31 N#

Explanation:

First let's orientate the problem. The y-direction is vertical and the x-direction is horizontal.

Now a diagram of the problem.
enter image source here

In the diagram on the left the force is shown with the 55º angle that is given in the question. On the right I have shown the two components of the force:

  • #F_V# is the vertical component which we can also call #F_y#
  • #F_H# is the horizontal component which we can also call #F_x#

The question requires us to find #F_V#.

By using trigonometry we can see that #F_V# forms the side of a right angled triangle that is opposite to the 55º angle, so:
#F_V = 38 sin55 = 31N# (2 sf).

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