Enter the total value and the angle of the vector into the calculator to determine the vertical and horizontal components. This can be used to calculate the components of a velocity, force, or any other vector quantity.
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Vertical & Horizontal Components Formula
The following formulas are used to calculate the horizontal and vertical components of a vector.
Vc = M * Sin (a)
Hc = M * Cos (a)
- Where Vc is the vertical component
- Hc is the horizontal component
- M is the magnitude of the value/vector
- a is the angle of the vector
What are the vertical & horizontal components?
Definition:
Vertical and horizontal components are the values of the base and height of a triangle formed with a vector as measured from the x-axis of a graph.
In other words, when the horizontal and vertical components are put together to form a triangle, the resulting hypotenuse is the original value/vector.
How to calculate vertical and horizontal components?
Example Problem:
The following example outlines how to calculate the vertical and horizontal components of a vector.
First, determine the magnitude of the vector. In this case, we are looking at a velocity, and the magnitude is measured to be 500 m/s.
Next, determine the angle of the vector. For this example, the angle is measured to be 30 degrees.
Finally, calculate the vertical and horizontal components using the formula above:
Vc = M * Sin (a)
Hc = M * Cos (30)
Vc = 500 * Sin (30)
Hc = 500 * Cos (30)
Vc = 250 m/s
Hc = 433.012 m/s
