N-VM Number and Quantity—Vector and Matrix Quantities: Magnitude of Vectors with Angles

Find the magnitude of A + B , where A has a magnitude of 4 at 54 degrees and B has a magnitude of 3 at 310 degrees.

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Step 1 of 5

Calculate the x and y components of A using the formulas A x = A cos ( ∠A ) and A y = A sin ( ∠A ) .

A = 4 cos ( 54 ° ) , 4 sin ( 54 ° )

Step 2 of 5

Calculate the x and y components of B using the formulas B x = B cos ( ∠B ) and B y = B sin ( ∠B ) .

B = 3 cos ( 310 ° ) , 3 sin ( 310 ° )

Step 3 of 5

Calculate the x and y components of the sum of vectors A and B .

If S = A + B , S x = A x + B x and S y = A y + B y .

Vector sum:

A + B = 4 cos ( 54 ° ) , 4 sin ( 54 ° ) + 3 cos ( 310 ° ) , 3 sin ( 310 ° )

A + B = 4 cos ( 54 ° ) + 3 cos ( 310 ° ) , 4 sin ( 54 ° ) + 3 sin ( 310 ° )

Step 4 of 5

Calculate the magnitude of the sum of vectors A and B using the formula S = S x 2 + S y 2 .

The magnitude of A + B is ( 4 cos ( 54 ° ) + 3 cos ( 310 ° ) ) 2 + ( 4 sin ( 54 ° ) + 3 sin ( 310 ° ) ) 2 = 4.38 .

Step 5 of 5

Hence, the magnitude of A + B is 4.38 .