Question

A man pulls with a force of 300 N on a rope attached to a

building. The man is positioned 8 m away horizontally and 6

m at the base of the building (vertically) from the point of

attachment, A. What are the horizontal and vertical

components of the force exerted by the rope at point A?

Answer 1

The horizontal component of the force exerted by the rope at point A is

$F_h = Fcos\alpha$

and vertical component of the force exerted by the rope at point A is

$F_v = Fsin\alpha$

The angle $\alpha$ can be found as

$\alpha=\arctan{\frac{6}{8}}\approx37\degree.$

So,

$F_h = 300\cdot cos37\degree\approx240\space N,$

$F_v = 300\cdot sin37\degree\approx180\space N.$