A 40 N force is applied to pull the desk horizontally to the right. What is the magnitude (the net force or the total force) acting on the deak ?

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To find the magnitude of the total force acting on the desk, you need to consider any other forces acting on the desk in addition to the 40 N force applied to pull it horizontally to the right. If there are no other forces involved, then the magnitude of the net or total force will simply be 40 N, since it is the only force acting on the desk.

However, if there are other forces present, you need to calculate the vector sum of all the forces acting on the desk to find the net force. The net force is the combination of all the forces acting on an object, taking into account their magnitudes and directions.

For example, if there is a 20 N force pushing the desk to the left, the net force will be the difference between the 40 N pulling force to the right and the 20 N pushing force to the left. In this case, the net force acting on the desk will be 40 N - 20 N = 20 N to the right.

Therefore, to determine the magnitude of the total force acting on the desk, you need to consider all the forces involved and calculate their vector sum.