When forces are in opposite directions, they subtract from one another.
True
False
False.
When two forces act on an object in opposite directions, they do not simply subtract from one another in all contexts. Instead, they are combined using vector addition, taking into account both the magnitude and direction of each force. If the forces have the same magnitude, they will cancel each other out, resulting in a net force of zero. If the magnitudes are different, the net force will be the difference between the two forces, and it will act in the direction of the larger force.
To be precise, when you say "subtract," it implies a scalar operation, but forces are vectors, so you need to consider both direction and magnitude. The correct operation is vector addition/subtraction. If you have two forces acting in exactly opposite directions, the net force (vector sum) is determined by subtracting the smaller force's magnitude from the larger force's magnitude, keeping in mind that the resulting vector points in the direction of the larger original force.