Edexcel M1 2014 June — Question 6

Exam BoardEdexcel
ModuleM1 (Mechanics 1)
Year2014
SessionJune
TopicNewton's laws and connected particles

6. \begin{figure}[h]
\includegraphics[alt={},max width=\textwidth]{ed659098-c1cf-4ee1-a12a-bf8b6c42db95-11_472_908_285_520} \captionsetup{labelformat=empty} \caption{Figure 4}
\end{figure} Two forces \(\mathbf { P }\) and \(\mathbf { Q }\) act on a particle at \(O\). The angle between the lines of action of \(\mathbf { P }\) and \(\mathbf { Q }\) is \(120 ^ { \circ }\) as shown in Figure 4. The force \(\mathbf { P }\) has magnitude 20 N and the force \(\mathbf { Q }\) has magnitude \(X\) newtons. The resultant of \(\mathbf { P }\) and \(\mathbf { Q }\) is the force \(\mathbf { R }\). Given that the magnitude of \(\mathbf { R }\) is \(3 X\) newtons, find, giving your answers to 3 significant figures
  1. the value of \(X\),
  2. the magnitude of \(( \mathbf { P } - \mathbf { Q } )\).