Two toy canal barges are joined together by a magnetic coupling. A student tries to separate the barges by pulling the rear barge with a piece of string.
Explain why a larger force is needed to separate the barges if the string is pulled at an angle to the line of the coupling, rather than directly along it.
19 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE Physics 9.1 Forces and vectors, covering 9.1.1 Interactions and types of force, 9.1.2 Vector and scalar quantities, and 9.1.3 Vector diagrams and free body diagrams. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.