Effect of horizontal and vertical forces applied at once

Question

So I was reading my school Physics textbook, and when reading about forces I started to think what might happen if unbalanced forces are being applied to an object from different directions.
First I thought of a car, but then realized that the weight of the car is being balanced by the normal reaction force from the ground.

But what might happen, in a case where it is possible?

That imagine there is an object that is, maybe falling, and somehow we are able to apply some force to it horizontally, what will be the effect of that?

Or what I'm trying to ask is, if an unbalanced force is being applied horizontally while there is another unbalanced force being applied vertically, will they both still work the same way (like it accelerates downwards in the same way as before but now is also accelerating forward due to the horizontal force) or will it behave in some other way?
(Given only these forces are acting, and no external forces like drag is acting on it).

Señor O · Answer

Forces in perpendicular directions act independently of one another. A force in the x-direction will accelerate an object in the x-direction, regardless of any velocity or force in the y-direction.
In any introductory physics class you will learn to break down forces into perpendicular components (commonly x and y components). To get the net force magnitude, you add the sum of squares (i.e. $F_{net} = sqrt{F^2_x + F_y^2}$, and $vec{F} = F_x hat{x} + F_yhat{y}$)

Effect of horizontal and vertical forces applied at once

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