5.1.1 Force Vectors

We can use a simple diagram to visualize how forces are exerted on objects.

TACTICS BOX 5.1 Drawing force vectors

The figure illustrates a force vector arrow labeled vector F pointing to the bottom right from a particle depicted as a dot and the description of how to draw the vector is shown.

Step 2 may seem contrary to what a “push” should do, but recall that moving a vector does not change it as long as the length and angle do not change. The vector F⃗ is the same regardless of whether the tail or the tip is placed on the particle. FIGURE 5.1 shows three examples of force vectors.

FIGURE 5.1 Three examples of forces and their vector representations.

The figure illustrates three examples of forces and their vector representations shown below the corresponding example.
FIGURE 5.1 Full Alternative Text