So far we haven\'t learned anything about fixed objects or about statics but if

Question

So far we haven't learned anything about fixed objects or about statics but if the two forces in this question is supporting the pole shouldn't the resultant be directly down?

My friend showed me how to do it but he used the lengths to find the angles (my professor did this as well) but I thought it was wrong to assume the length of the cables are the same as the length of the forces and if this was the case then doesn't that just support my idea that the resultant should be directly down.

I checked the answer and the resultant is not down. I don't need help solving it but help in knowing if my ideas are wrong or right. Thank you

Explanation / Answer

Hi there. You haven't really posted an example for me to work on, so I'll just sum it up for you. Basically, if the force is diagonal (ie not upwards/downwards/leftwards/rightwards), then you would need to resolve the force (by angles). Each diagonal force has to be resolved to two components (ie upwards & leftwards, downwards & rightwards etc). if you have more than one diagonal force, you would need to resolve all. from there, lets say u have resolved two diagonal forces (one leftwards and one rightwards), then u compare the magnitude, to see which is more. if rightwards is higher, then the resultant horizontal component is rightwards. do the same thing for upwards and downwards forces to get the resultant vertical component. once u have both the horizontal and vertical components, then u can see where the resultant force is. (upwards and rightwards make the resultant force pointing diagonally to the top right corner etc). hope this helps :)

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