Forces in 2D

BIG QUESTIONS:

1. What does it mean to analyze forces in 2D? 

In 2D, analyzing forces means breaking up the forces into two dimensions: an X-component and a Y-component. Next we have to solve for the x and y components using Sine( to solve for Y) or Cosine( to solve for X) also known as SOH CAH. Lastly we solve for the net force for the x and y components by adding up both all the x components and y components SEPARATELY.


Lab:
In a few of our practice problems during class we solved for the x and y components just like in the picture below. Once we solved for the x and y components we added all of them up to calculate the Fnet-x and Fnet-y. During these practice problems I learned that the x and y components can be negative or positive depending on what direction they are going in.


Reminder: 
- When solving for the x and y components remember they are vectors so they can be POSITIVE and NEGATIVE lines
-In a 2D problem we are dealing with TWO FORCES so we have to solve for both of them SEPARATELY

2. How do forces cause objects to move in a circle? 

During the hover disc lab, we swung the disc around in a circle making ourselves the center and applied a centripetal force using a rope. Centripetal force is a force that is necessary to keep an object moving in a curved path and is a force directed inward toward the center of rotation. This means that the hover disc is accelerating at a constant speed, but in a different direction. If we were to let go of the rope, the hover disc went in a straight line tangent to the previous circle it was moving in. To help explain why this happens we refer back to Newton's First Law: an object will stay at rest or keep moving at a constant speed unless there is a net force applied.

3. What does it mean to be in orbit? How do satellites orbit planets and how do planets orbit the sun? 

To be in orbit means to travel in a circular path around another. The satellites orbit planets with the same idea as the hover disc, centripetal force. The satellite is being pulled toward the Earth just like in the hover disc lab. The Earth is the center of this circle and the satellite is circling or orbiting around it. Same thing goes for the planets, the planets are orbiting the sun just like how the satellite orbits earth and how the hover disc orbited us except on a bigger scale. The sun is applying a centripetal force on the earth to keep it moving in a circular path and not crash into other planets. Now if the sun were to disappear the Earth and every other planet orbiting it would travel in a straight line tangent to the previous circle it was traveling in.

This picture illustrates the circular path that the planets travel in around the sun or how the planets orbit the sun.