Question

The minimum number of vectors of unequal magnitudes required to produce a zero resultant is

• A. 2
• B. 3
• C. 4
• D. More than 4

Answer 1

The correct option is B 3

If you take 1 vector, the resultant can never be zero. If you take 2 vectors, those should be in equal magnitude and opposite in direction for the resultant to be zero.

If you take 3 vectors the resultant is zero. For example, let's take 3 vectors of unequal magnitude to say 3 units, 2 units, and -5 units, the resultant of these vectors is zero. We can take more than 2 vectors of unequal magnitude for the resultant to be zero. So the minimum no. of vectors of unequal magnitude for the resultant to be zero should be three and the maximum is infinity.

From the triangle law of vector addition, we can say that we need at least 3 vectors of unequal magnitude to produce zero resultant.