Question

Two tugboats are towing a ship. Each exerts a horizontal force of 5 tons and the angle between their towropes is 90°. What net force is exerted on the ship?

Answer 1

90

Answer 2

10

Answer 3

[AI-generated answer — Explain Bot]

To find the net force exerted on the ship, we first need to find the horizontal components of the forces exerted by the two tugboats.

The horizontal component of a force can be found using the formula:
Horizontal Component = Force * cos(angle)

In this case, both tugboats exert a force of 5 tons. Since the angle between their towropes is 90°, the formula becomes:
Horizontal Component = 5 tons * cos(90°)

The cosine of 90° is 0, so the horizontal component of each force is 0 tons.

Since the horizontal components cancel each other out (0 + 0 = 0), the net force exerted on the ship is 0 tons.