Does anybody know what net force means?

Question

i need it inmeededly for homework!
i luv u

Answer 1

If one force is applied that is pulling to the left and another force is applied that is pulling to the right the numeric difference between them is the net force.

Where it gets hairy is if they aren't pulling in opposite directions , like if one is pulling up toward the left and the other is pulling up toward the right at a different angle. What you need to do is break each force up into the portion that is going up or down and the portion that is going left or right. Then you add the ups and downs and add the lefts and rights. Then you combine those two answers to find where the net force is going.

To see how much is going which way you need to draw a little triangle that goes up/down and left/right for each force. Then you use the typical sine/cosine geometry rules to find how much of it is going in the left/right and how much is going up/down.

After you do that for every force you have a net in the up down and a net in the left right direction. Now draw a triangle with two sides using those nets. Then use geometry to find the length of the third side in that right triangle. That is the final net force going at whatever angle the geometry tells you.