Vector Addition and Subtraction

Vector Problems

Problem 1

Suppose that you have a heavy rock sitting in your front yard. You decide that it has to be moved to make room for a new tree. So, you assemble your two closest friends, Adil and Basil, and three pieces of rope. You tie all three pieces onto the rock and everybody takes a free end. Upon your yelling "Pull!", everybody pulls on their respective end of the rope. Each force exerted on the rock is represented by a vector, the greater the force on the rock, the longer the vector. Represent the net force on the rock by drawing the resultant vector in the vector applet

Problem 2

You are watching a contest of tug-of-war. Two teams of two people each are competing against each other to see which team is the stronger of the two. Abdullah and Saleh are on one team; Basil and Ibrahim are on the other. Suppose each person exerts the following amount of force on the rope:

Team      Contestant        Force
====      ==========        =====
 1         Abdullah          60
 1         Saleh             65

 2         Basil             70
 2         Ibrahim           40

What is the net force on the rope? Which team will win?

Hint:Team one pulls to the left and team two pulls to the right. You can use the buttons at the left corner (in front of each contestant) to change the direction of the force as mentioned above.