A piling for a high-rise building is pushed by two bulldozers at exactly the same time. One bulldozer exerts a force of 1250 pounds in a westerly direction. The other bulldozer pushes the piling with a force of 2650 pounds in a northerly direction. What is the magnitude of the resultant force upon the piling, to the nearest ten pounds?

The forces result in a right triangle. To obtain the resultant force, one can simply use the Pythagorean theorem. 1250 lbf and 2650 lbf both act as the legs of the triangle. Obtaining the hypotenuse via the theorem would yield the resultant force. This is done below:

c^2 = a^2 + b^2

c^2 = (1250) ^2 + (2650) ^2

c = 2930.017 lbf

Therefore, the magnitude of the resultant force is approximately equal to 2930 lbf.