Forces acting on Body Moving in a Horizontal Plane
The forces acting on bodies moved in horizontal planes.
The force pushing - or pulling - a body along a horizontal surface can be expressed as
Q = F cos α (1)
where
Q = force moving the body in horizontal direction (N, lb)
α = angle between force F and horizontal plane
The force acting in vertical direction can be calculated as:
P = (F2 - Q2)1/2 (2)
where
P = force acting in vertical direction (N, lb)
Example - Strong Man Pulling a Truck
By stu_spivack [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
A "strong man" is pulling a truck by exerting a force of 1000 N. The force is acting 30o to the horizontal plane.
The horizontal force on the truck can be calculated as
Q = (1000 N) cos(30o)
= 866 N
= 0.87 kN
The vertical force "lifting" truck can be calculated as
P = ((1000 N)2 - (866 N)2)1/2
= 500 N
= 0.5 kN
Horizontal and Vertical Force Calculator
The calculator below can used to calculate the horizontal and vertical forces:
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