Final answer:
Vector resolution refers to breaking a vector into its horizontal and vertical components using trigonometry. The horizontal component is found by multiplying the vector's magnitude by the cosine of the angle, and the vertical component is calculated using the sine of the angle.
Step-by-step explanation:
To understand what 'vector resolve' means in the context of the student's question, we need to discuss vector resolution in physics. Vector resolution is the process of breaking down a vector into its component parts, usually along the perpendicular axes of a coordinate system such as the x and y-axes.
In the given example of resolving a vector representing a 1900 km displacement at an angle of 40° from the vertical, one would use trigonometric relationships to find the horizontal (x) and vertical (y) components of the displacement. If we denote the displacement vector as C:
- The horizontal component would be Cx = C * cos(40°)
- The vertical component would be Cy = C * sin(40°)
The horizontal component is found by multiplying the vector's magnitude by the cosine of the angle, and the vertical component by the sine of the angle, considering the angle is measured from the vertical in this scenario. While these calculations do not give us the precise numeric answer, this is the method one would use to resolve a vector into its scalar components.