A question regarding vectors

[TLK]

Re: A question regarding vectors

@Southie

Last Saturday was extremely windy while we were out for a jog/run. The wind was blowing from the west to east, while we were running north. Clearly, I felt the effect of the wind. But from what I remember about vectors, a force applied in one direction has a zero component in the perpendicular driection. So since I was moving north, I should not have been affected by the wind. What gives?

It was not the wind but your effort that was acting diagonally. Although you were jogging South to North, you were actually pushing yourself in North-West direction. A component of your push (east-west component) was negating the west-east wind and keeping you where you are. The second component of your force (South-North) was moving you in North direction. That is why you were feeling more force on your body than you should’ve if there was no West-East wind.