Resultant force

A resultant force is produced when two forces combine. A resultant is only when the component forces are unequal or unbalanced.

Table of contents

1 Forces in the same direction 2 Forces in opposite directions 3 Forces with other differences in direction

Forces in the same direction

When force A and force B act upon an object in the same direction, the resultant force (C) is equal to A + B.

Forces in opposite directions

When force A and force B act upon an object in opposite directions, the resultant force (C) is equal to the absolute value of the difference between A and B: |A - B|

Forces with other differences in direction

The addition of forces that are not in the same direction or directly opposite to each other requires vector addition. Vector addition is done algebraically by first seperating each vector to be added into components that act along orthogonal axes. Then, the vectors are added for each axis as in the two cases described above. The resultant components are recombined into the resultant force vector.