Question

What are the x and y components of a vector a with arrow in the xy plane if its direction is 170° counterclockwise from the positive direction of the x axis and its magnitude is 8.8 m?

Answer 1

The rectangular coordinates of polar vector (r, θ) are (r·cos(θ), r·sin(θ)). For your (r, θ) = (8.8, 170°), the rectangular coordinates are

... (8.8·cos(170°), 8.8·sin(170°)) ≈ (-8.666, 1.528)