Vectors and Scalars

1. Steve walks from Point P to Point Q. The

curved part of his path is a semicircle.
What is the magnitude of his
displacement from point P to point Q?
A. 5 B. 15 C. 20 D. 20.7

Answer: C Justification: Displacement is a

vector quantity that refers to an objects overall change in position. It is the distance from the
start to the end point(which in this case would be from P to Q), the path taken does not matter.
Since we are asking here for the magnitude of the displacement, we are not required to specify
the direction.

If we look at the diagram, we can

see that the distance from P to X is
10 m. The distance from X to Q is
the diameter of the semicircle.
Since the radius of the circle is 5 m,
we know that the diameter must be
twice the size, therefore 10 m. So
the distance from P to Q = 10 + 10 = 20 m, So the answer is C

2. A Physics teacher, Susan, drove to her high school which is located 15km East from her
house. After school, she drove to her children's elementary school which is 10 km South
from her high school. Then, she drove to a grocery store, located 15km West from the
elementary school. Finally, she drove back to home with her kids and several grocery
bags. Choose a true statement from the following:

A. The total distance she traveled from her house to elementary school is 18 km.

B. The magnitude of the displacement vector from the high school to the grocery store is 25 km.

C. The magnitude of the displacement vector for the whole trip is 50 km.

D. The magnitude of the displacement vector from her house to the grocery store is 10 km.
Answer: D Justification: In order to answer this question we need to draw the vectors that
represent Susans activities for the day:

We can see that Susans path forms a perfect rectangle, and that the last trip she made home
from the grocery store must be 10km. We need to remember that distance is a scalar quantity
that refers to how much ground an object has covered during its motion, and that displacement
is a vector quantity that refers to how far out of place an object is (the object's overall change in
position). Since we are only looking at the magnitude of the displacement vector in this question,
the direction does not need to be stated.

3. Steve is driving in his car to take care of some errands. The first errand has him driving to
a location 2 km East and 6 km North of his starting location. Once he completes that
errand, he drives to the second one which is 4 km East and 2 km South of the first errand.
What is the magnitude of the vector that describes how far the car has traveled from its
starting point, rounded to the nearest km?
A. 6 km B. 7 km C. 8 km D. 10 km

Answer: B Justification: First, we describe the two sections of the journey as two vectors, a
and b. If we define West-East as the x-coordinates (East is positive) and North-South as the y-
coordinates (North is positive):
Then you need to add vectors a and b together to find the vector a+b.

Using Pythagoras' Theorem, we can find the magnitude of the vector

Rounded to the nearest kilometer, the magnitude of a+b is 7 km. Therefore the correct answer is
B.

4.
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 Free fall motion

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 Kinematics one dimensional motion

1. It was once recorded that a Jaguar left skid marks that were 290 m in length. Assuming
that the Jaguar skidded to a stop with a constant acceleration of -3.90 m/s2, determine
the speed of the Jaguar before it began to skid.
Answer:

Given: Find:

a = -3.90 m/s2 vf = 0 m/s d = 290 m vi = ??

vf2 = vi2 + 2*a*d

(0 m/s)2 = vi2 + 2*(-3.90 m/s2)*(290 m)

0 m2/s2 = vi2 - 2262 m2/s2

2262 m2/s2 = vi2

vi = 47.6 m /s

2. An engineer is designing the runway for an airport. Of the planes that will use the airport,
the lowest acceleration rate is likely to be 3 m/s2. The takeoff speed for this plane will be
65 m/s. Assuming this minimum acceleration, what is the minimum allowed length for the
runway?
Answer:
Given: Find:

vi = 0 m/s vf = 65 m/s a = 3 m/s2 d = ??

vf2 = vi2 + 2*a*d

(65 m/s)2 = (0 m/s)2 + 2*(3 m/s2)*d

4225 m2/s2 = (0 m/s)2 + (6 m/s2)*d

(4225 m2/s2)/(6 m/s2) = d

d = 704 m
3. If Michael Jordan has a vertical leap of 1.29 m, then what is his takeoff speed and his hang
time (total time to move upwards to the peak and then return to the ground)?

Answer:

Given: Find:

a = -9.8 m/s2 vf = 0 m/s d = 1.29 m vi = ??

t = ??

vf2 = vi2 + 2*a*d

(0 m/s)2 = vi2 + 2*(-9.8 m/s2)*(1.29 m)

0 m2/s2 = vi2 - 25.28 m2/s2

25.28 m2/s2 = vi2

vi = 5.03 m/s

To find hang time, find the time to the peak and then double it.

vf = vi + a*t

0 m/s = 5.03 m/s + (-9.8 m/s2)*tup

-5.03 m/s = (-9.8 m/s2)*tup

(-5.03 m/s)/(-9.8 m/s2) = tup

tup = 0.513 s

hang time = 1.03 s

4. An airplane accelerates down a runway at 3.20 m/s2 for 32.8 s until is finally lifts off the
ground. Determine the distance traveled before takeoff.
Answer:

Given: Find:

a = +3.2 m/s2 t = 32.8 s vi = 0 m/s d = ??

d = vi*t + 0.5*a*t2
d = (0 m/s)*(32.8 s)+ 0.5*(3.20 m/s2)*(32.8 s)2

d = 1720 m
 Average and instantaneous acceleration

Find the following:

1. Find the functional form of the acceleration.
2. Find the instantaneous velocity at t = 1, 2, 3, and 5 s.
3. Find the instantaneous acceleration at t = 1, 2, 3, and 5 s.
4. Interpret the results of (c) in terms of the directions of the acceleration and velocity
vectors

Solutions and answers:

We find the functional form of acceleration by taking the derivative of the velocity
function. Then, we calculate the values of instantaneous velocity and acceleration from the given
functions for each. For part (d), we need to compare the directions of velocity and acceleration at
each time.

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2.
3.
4.