Forces at an Angle and Vectors

All vectors that are not directed horizontally or vertically can be considered to contribute both horizontally and vertically.  The portion of the vector that contributes in the horizontal direction is called the horizontal component and the portion that contributes in the vertical direction is called the vertical component.  The magnitudes of these components can be found using right-angle trigonometry and the sine and cosine functions and therefore help you to understand motion of objects.

When you combine component forces into a net force, you use the Pythagorean theorem to determine the magnitude of the net force, and you can use inverse trigonometric functions to determine the angle at which the resulting net force acts. In the next topic, you will analyze the motion of objects subject to angled forces.