A group of children are engaged in a game of tug-of-war. The children on the left-hand side ofthe rope pull with magnitude of 110 N to the left. The children on the right-hand side of the ropepull with a magnitude of 140 N to the right.

Question

If you assign a positive value to forces applied to the left and a negative value to forces appliedto the right, what is the net force applied to the rope?
(1 point)
140 N
-30 N
250 N
30 N

Answer 1

To find the net force applied to the rope, we need to assign the appropriate signs to the forces and then sum them.

• The force applied to the left is 110 N, which we can assign a positive value: \( +110 , \text{N} \)
• The force applied to the right is 140 N, which we can assign a negative value: \( -140 , \text{N} \)

Now we can calculate the net force:

\[ \text{Net Force} = (+110 , \text{N}) + (-140 , \text{N}) = 110 , \text{N} - 140 , \text{N} = -30 , \text{N} \]

Since the net force is negative, it indicates that the direction of the net force is to the right (the direction of the greater force).

Thus, the net force applied to the rope is \( \boxed{-30 , \text{N}} \).