Question

four forces act on a hot air ballon
356 N north
129 N west
297 N east
156 N south

a)find the magnitude of the resultant force on the balloon.

i already found this one out.
i got magnitude to be 261.197N

b) find the direction of the resultant force (in relation to the 297 N force, with up being positive)
i cant figure this one out



may someone please help me

Answer 1

change the S to -N, and the E to -W

356N-156N + 129W - 297W
Now get the N, W components..

200N - 168W. SO it is towards the NE, the angle will be arctan 200/168

check my math, I did it in my head.

Answer 2

yeah the math is right.
but i don't get this part:
ok i know that to solve for angle "a'

tan(a) = 200/168
a = arctan(200/168)
a = arctan(1.19047619)
a = ?????

what is arctan?
is it the same as doing tangent(1.1904)

Answer 3

arctan is the angle whose tangent is ....
Some use invtan meaning the same.
Some write it like this tan^-1 (xxxx)

Answer 4

oh!!! ok thank you
yeah we use tan^-1
i was confused on what arctan meant
but thanks