Question

All three forces are in the same plane. Forces are acting on the ball as shown above. Which of the following diagrams but represent the resultant of the forces?

(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)

Answer 1

Force is a vector quantity and it can be defined as the rate of change of momentum.Direction of a force plays an important role.

Complete step by step answer:
In the above figure, we observe the forces ${F_1}$ and ${F_3}$ are equal in magnitude and opposite to each other. (Since, we can assume that the length of the ray, representing the Force represents the intensity/magnitude of the force)
Since, two equal forces are acting in opposite directions, the net force on the ball due to ${F_1}$and ${F_3}$will be zero.
Hence, the net resultant force acting on the ball will be because of the force ${F_2}$
Thus, the direction of the net force will be same as that of the direction of the force ${F_2}$
By observing all the options, we can conclude that (C) represents the direction of the resultant force.
So, the correct answer is option (C).
Additional Information:
If the given forces do not cancel each other. Then we resolve all the forces along X and Y axes and then find the resultant of the resolved vectors to find the resultant vector.

Note: In such examples, observing the diagram is very important. Every minute detail helps. For example, if you don’t observe that the lengths of the rays representing ${F_1}$and ${F_3}$are nearly similar but the length of the ray representing ${F_2}$is longer than the rest of the two. Then you would never have been able to guess that the length of the ray is representing the magnitude of the forces.