Question

A woman takes her dog Rover for a walk on a leash. To get the little dog moving forward, 

she pulls on the leash with a force of 20.0 N at an angle of 37° above the horizontal. (a) 

How much force is tending to pull Rover forward? (b) How much force is tending to lift 

Rover off the ground? Show graphical and analytic solutions.

Answer 1

(a) We can find the force that is tending to pull Rover forward (or the horizontal component of the force) as follows:

$$F_{forward}=Fcos\theta=20\ N\cdot cos37^{\circ}=16\ N.$$

(b) We can find the force that is tending to pull Rover off the ground (or the vertical component of the force) as follows:

$$F_{up}=Fsin\theta=20\ N\cdot sin37^{\circ}=12\ N.$$