Question

Which of the following represents the y-component of the equilibrant vector?
 A)

B)

C)

D)

Answer 1

Hint: The following question asks us to find which of the 5 options represents the y-component of the equilibrant vector mentioned on top. A y-component of an equilibrant vector is not but a vertical component of the vector.

Complete step by step solution:
We can draw the vertical component of a vector by drawing a vertical line starting from the end of the equilibrant vector upwards or downwards based on the equilibrant vector. In case of the question mentioned above, the equilibrant vector is pointed to the left side and slightly downwards, so we draw the vertical component or the y-component from the end of the equilibrant vector (that is the opposite side of the arrow head of the vector representation) downwards. From the 4 options given above option (B) is pointing vertically downwards. This is the reason why (B) is the y-component of the equilibrant vector.

Hence option (B) is the correct answer.

Note: We can get confused by x-component and y-component of a vector. An easy way to remember what is the y-component and what is the x-component is to imagine a graph and think of the x-axis and y-axis. The x-axis is the horizontal component and y-axis is the vertical component based on which quadrant the equilibrant vector is. This question is a simple question in which we have to imagine splitting a vector into its vector components, which are the vertical component and the horizontal component.