Is the x-component of vector B negative when using the component method?

[link107]

Homework Statement

1. Homework Statement
A man walks 5 m at 37degrees north of east and then 10 m at 60degrees
west of north. What is the magnitude and direction of his net
displacement

The answer is around 9.3m at around 120 degrees angle on the +x axis

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

Well my question is I try to solve this component using the component way This is my work

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/802/vectorsproblem2question.png/


My question is that for vector B the ax is sin60(10)=8.66

so when I do my i j notation can I put -8.66 since it's pointing towards west which is going towards the negative x coordinate?


Thank you guys for the help.

 

[anathema]

Hi there,

Yes, you are correct in your thinking. When using the component method, the x-component of vector B would be negative since it is pointing towards the negative x-coordinate. This is because we typically define the positive x-axis to be pointing to the right and the negative x-axis to be pointing to the left.

In your notation, you would write vector B as -8.66i + 0j, since the y-component is 0 in this case.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any further questions.