To find the northward component of a force that is exerted at an angle, you need to consider the right triangle formed by the force's components. In this case, the northward component is the side opposite to the angle (30°) when the force is the hypotenuse (125 N).
To specifically find the northward component (the opposite side), you use the sine function because:
- The sine of an angle in a right triangle is defined as the ratio of the length of the opposite side to the hypotenuse.
Thus, the correct answer is:
c. Since we know the hypotenuse and want to calculate the opposite side of the given angle, we use the sine function.
To calculate it, you would use the formula: \[ \text{Northward Component} = \text{Hypotenuse} \times \sin(\text{angle}) = 125 , \text{N} \times \sin(30^\circ). \] Since \(\sin(30^\circ) = 0.5\), the calculation would be: \[ \text{Northward Component} = 125 , \text{N} \times 0.5 = 62.5, \text{N}. \]
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