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Consider you are trying to move a heavy box, but you cannot able to move it.
A boy is trying to move a heavy box. Should the person push the box in the direction of you or opposite to your direction?
You will ask for someone's help to move the box. And, someone agrees and he joins along with you to push the heavy box.
Forces in the same direction
In the above image, one person pushes the object, and the other pulls the object. So, forces act in the same direction.
Forces in opposite direction
In the above image, both the persons are trying to push the box, but they push in the opposite direction. So, in this case, forces act in the opposite direction.
What is the difference between forces act in the same direction and forces act in the opposite direction?
Forces act in the same direction:
Forces act on an object in the same direction add to one another. Now, remember the image we saw earlier when two persons push the heavy box in the same direction; the object gets displaced in the same direction of applied force.
Forces act in the opposite direction:
If two forces act in the opposite directions of an object, the net force acting on the object is the difference between the two forces.
Example:
When two teams pull equally hard in the tug-of-war, the rope does not move in any direction.
Therefore, we conclude that a force could be larger or smaller than the other or equal to each other. Its magnitude usually expresses the strength of a force. The displacement of the object will be in the direction of the force with greater magnitude.
Tug of war
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