A car is driving up a hill with a force of 40N. The wind is blowing downhill with a force of 10N. Gravity is affecting th car with a force of 20N. The force of friction is 9N. What is the net force, including direction, of this situation?
To find the net force, you need to add up all the forces acting on the car. While adding forces, you need to consider their directions (positive or negative).
In this situation, the given forces are:
- Car driving up the hill with a force of 40N (uphill is usually considered positive)
- Wind blowing downhill with a force of 10N (downhill is usually considered negative)
- Gravity affecting the car with a force of 20N (downhill is negative)
- Force of friction opposing the motion with a force of 9N (opposite to the car's direction, so it is negative)
To calculate the net force, you need to add all these forces together. Since forces in opposite directions have opposite signs, you can think of positive forces as adding and negative forces as subtracting.
Net force = (40N) + (-10N) + (-20N) + (-9N)
When you simplify this equation, you get:
Net force = 1N
Therefore, the net force in this situation is positive 1N, indicating that there is a slight net force acting in the direction of the car's movement up the hill.