Force Vectors
Free body diagram with its forces.
A force is a push or pull on an object. Forces are a result of an interaction between objects. Each force on an object has both magnitude and direction. These forces can be both calculated and illustrated by free body diagrams. Free body diagrams have arrows to show the magnitude and direction.The direction is the angle that the arrow makes with a given negative or postivie x or y axis. The direction will also either be either Clockwise (CW) or Counterclockwise (CCW). You will need to find the unknown forces in the x and y direction or the degree of the angle in order to solve the vector. In order to do this, you will need to use SOACAHTOA to find the sine, cosine, or tangent. Finding the vector is the beginning in the process for engineers to calculate a truss.