Force & Free-Body Diagram Lab
Resolve two-dimensional forces and inspect their resultant on a block.
Explore the lab
What you can explore
- Applied force components
Change force magnitude and angle to inspect horizontal and vertical contributions.
- Contact and friction
Adjust mass, gravity and friction to inspect weight, normal force and opposing friction.
- Resultant force
Add tension or custom vectors and compare individual arrows, net force and acceleration components.
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The model
Formula and underlying model
ΣF = ma; W = mg; N = max(0, mg − Fexternal,y)
Fx = F cos(θ); Fy = F sin(θ); |Fnet| = √(Fnet,x² + Fnet,y²)- F, Fnet, W, N, Fexternal,y
- Individual/resultant force, weight, normal force and external upward component (N)
- m
- Object mass (kg)
- a
- Acceleration vector (m/s²)
- g
- Gravitational acceleration (m/s²)
- θ
- Force angle; entered in degrees (radians in formula)
- μ
- Friction coefficient; limiting friction is μN (dimensionless)
Static 2D free-body diagram with a flat contact surface; no motion playback. Normal force cannot pull the block downward. Friction opposes the horizontal tendency and is limited by μN.
The experiment
How it works
Define the object
Set mass and gravity to establish weight.
Configure the forces
Set applied force, optional tension, friction and custom vectors.
Resolve and sum
Inspect component arrows, resultant magnitude/direction and Fnet/m.
Learning outcomes
What you’ll learn
- Resolve an angled force into x/y components.
- Explain how balanced forces give zero acceleration.
- Distinguish individual forces from their resultant.
Keep exploring
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Ready to experiment?
Explore Force & Free-Body Diagram interactively
Open the lab, adjust the parameters, and see the results change in real time.