Help me!!!!!? Math trig something?

Question

A 100 N force and a 50 N force act on the same object. The angle between the forces measure 90 degrees. Find the magnitude and direction of the resultant force.

Explain steps plz

Answer 1

Since the two forces are at 90 degrees, they define a Cartesian coordinate system. Let the 100 N force define the +x direction and the 50 N force define the +y direction.

Think of these forces as the two sides of a right triangle. You want to find the length of the hypotenuse and the angle the hypotenuse makes.

The magnitude of the resultant is sqrt ( 100^2 + 50^2 )
(using the Pythagorean Theorem)

The direction of the resultant is inv-tan ( 50 / 100 )