Question

erson is pulling with a force of 35 N west, and another person is pulling with a force of 15 N east. What is the net force?

Responses

50N
50N

20N
20N

-20N
-20N

-50N
-50N

Answer 1

To find the net force, you need to consider the directions of the forces. One person is pulling west with a force of 35 N, and the other person is pulling east with a force of 15 N.

Since west and east are opposite directions, we can represent west as a negative value and east as a positive value. Thus:

- Force west = -35 N
- Force east = +15 N

Now, we can calculate the net force:

\[
\text{Net Force} = (-35 \, \text{N}) + (+15 \, \text{N}) = -35 \, \text{N} + 15 \, \text{N} = -20 \, \text{N}
\]

The negative sign indicates that the net force is directed to the west.

Therefore, the net force is **-20 N**.