Final answer:
The net force acting on the object is 1 Newton downward since the horizontal forces cancel each other out and the vertical forces combine to a net force of 1 Newton in the downward direction.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the size and direction of the net force acting on the object, we need to add up all the forces vectorially. Since force is a vector quantity, it has both magnitude and direction. The vector sum of forces requires considering both these aspects. We are given four forces, where one is pulling 2 Newtons to the left (x-axis), one 2 Newtons up (y-axis), one 3 Newtons down (y-axis), and one 2 Newtons to the right (x-axis).
On the x-axis, the forces cancel each other out because they are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction (2 Newtons to the left offset by 2 Newtons to the right), resulting in a net force of 0 Newtons on the x-axis.
On the y-axis, we have one force of 2 Newtons upwards and one force of 3 Newtons downwards. The net force on the y-axis will be the difference between these two forces, which is 1 Newton downwards.
Therefore, the size of the net force is 1 Newton, and the direction of the net force is downward, or negative along the y-axis.