Vectoroptelling van krachten

Vector addition of two or more force vectors can be done using the parallelogram law to obtain the resultant force.

Consider a ship being pulled by two small tugboats. The two forces, F₁ and F₂, act on the ship concurrently.

To find the net force using the parallelogram law, draw parallel lines to both the force vectors such that a parallelogram is formed.

Now, the diagonal of the parallelogram represents the net force F_N  on the ship due to the two tugboats. It is expressed as the vector sum of forces F₁ and F₂ .

Suppose now a third force from another tugboat acts on the ship.

Another parallelogram is formed, using F_N  and the third force F₃. The diagonal of this new parallelogram gives the resultant force on the ship due to all three tugboats.

Here the resultant force on the ship is expressed as the vector sum of all three forces.