Using a Spreadsheet to calculate the resultant of a set of forces.

  1. Start the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet as follows:
  2. Save the blank spreadsheet on drive h: as resultant
  3. Enter in the following in the appropriate cells:
A B C D E F
1 Force degrees radians X comp. Y comp.  
2     =B2*3.14159/180 =A2*cos(C2) =A2*sin(C2)  
3     In these cells use the same formulae as above changed slightly to reflect the fact that the Force and direction (degrees) are on differenct rows to the above.                              
4      
5      
6      
7      
8   Resultant components: =sum(D2:D7) =sum(E2:E7)  
9     Resultant: =sqrt(D8^2+E8^2)    
10     Direction: =atan(E8/D8)    

Enter in some forces and directions in columns A and B to check that it works then save the spreadsheet again. Then go and get the multiple choice test. When you get a multiple choice question, note down the forces and angles, then use the Alt and (tab key) one or more times to switch over to excel, enter the numbers into the spreadsheet, note the answer, then go back to the multiple choice test and enter in the answer.