Chapter 3: Vectors

Vectors and Scalars

A scalar quantity is completely specified by a single value with an appropriate unit and
has no direction.
Examples: Distance , time, mass, speed

A vector quantity is completely described by a number and appropriate units plus a

direction.
Examples: displacement, velocity, acceleration, force

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Vector Example

• A particle travels from A to B along the path shown by the dotted red line

• This is the distance traveled and is a scalar

• The displacement is the solid line from A to B

• The displacement is independent of the path taken between the two points
• Displacement is a vector

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Vector Notation

• Text uses bold with arrow to denote a vector:𝐀

• Also used for printing is simple bold print: A

• When dealing with just the magnitude of a vector in print, an italic letter will be

used: A or 𝐴Ԧ

The magnitude of the vector has physical units

The magnitude of a vector is always a positive number

• When handwritten, use an arrow: 𝐀

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Equality of Two Vectors

• Two vectors are equal if they have the same

magnitude and the same direction

• 𝑨=𝑩 if A = B and they point along parallel lines

• All of the vectors shown are equal

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 Adding Vectors Graphically

• Choose a scale

• Draw the first vector, 𝑨 , with the appropriate length and in the direction
specified, with respect to a coordinate system

• Draw the next vector with the appropriate length and in the direction specified,
with respect to a coordinate system whose origin is the end of vector 𝑨
and parallel to the coordinate system used for 𝑨

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Adding Vectors Graphically

• Continue drawing the vectors “tip-to-tail”

Adding by the tip-to-tail method means to move one

vector so that its tail lies on the tip of the first vector

• The resultant is drawn from the origin of 𝐀 to the end

of the last vector

• Measure the length of 𝑹 and its angle.

 Use the scale factor to convert length to actual magnitude

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Adding Vectors Graphically

• When you have many vectors, just keep repeating the process until all are included

• The resultant is still drawn from the tail of the first vector to the tip of the last vector

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Adding Vectors, Rules

• Commutative Law of Addition

A B  B A

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Adding Vectors, Rules

• Associative Law of Addition

  
A  BC  A B C 

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Negative of a Vector

• The negative of a vector is defined as the vector that, when added to the
original vector, gives a resultant of zero,
 
A  A  0

• Represented as A

• The negative of the vector will have the same magnitude, but point in the
opposite direction
A
A
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Subtracting Vectors

Special case of vector addition:

 
• If A  B , then use A  B

• Continue with standard vector addition procedure

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Subtracting Vectors
• Another way to look at subtraction is to find the vector that, added to the
second vector gives you the first vector

•  
A  B  C

 As shown, the resultant vector points from the tip of the second to the tip of the first

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Subtracting Vectors

Q) Choose the correct answer

 
A  B  C

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Subtracting Vectors
Q) Choose the correct answer

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Multiplying or Dividing a Vector by a Scalar

• The result of the multiplication or division of a vector by a scalar is a vector

• The magnitude of the vector is multiplied or divided by the scalar

• If the scalar is positive, the direction of the result is the same as of the
original vector

• If the scalar is negative, the direction of the result is opposite that of the
original vector

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Multiplying or Dividing a Vector by a Scalar

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Components of a Vector, Introduction
• A component is a projection of a vector along an axis
Any vector can be completely described by its components
• It is useful to use rectangular components
• These are the projections of the vector along the x- and y-axes

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Vector Component Terminology

• A x and A y are the component vectors of A

• They are vectors and follow all the rules for vectors
• Ax and Ay are scalars, and will be referred to as the components of A

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Components of a Vector

• Assume you are given a vector A

• It can be expressed in terms of two other
vectors, A and A y
x
• These three vectors form a right triangle
•
A  Ax  Ay

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Components of a Vector
• The x-component of a vector is the projection along the x-axis
Ax  A cos 
• The y-component of a vector is the projection along the y-axis
Ay  A sin 
• This assumes the angle θ is measured with respect to the x-axis
If not, do not use these equations, use the sides of the triangle directly

• The components are the legs of the right triangle whose hypotenuse is the
length of A
1 Ay
A  Ax  Ay and   tan
2 2

Ax
• May still have to find θ with respect to the positive x-axis

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Problem1. What are (a) the x component and (b) the y component of a vector 𝑎Ԧ in the xy -plane if its
direction is 250° counterclockwise from the positive direction of the x axis and its magnitude is 7.3 m?

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Problem3. The x component of vector 𝐴Ԧ is ‒25.0 m and the y component is +40.0 m. (a) What is the
magnitude of 𝐴Ԧ ? (b) What is the angle between the direction of 𝐴Ԧ and the positive direction of x?

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Components of a Vector
• The components can be positive or negative and will have the same units as
the original vector

• The signs of the components will depend on the angle

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Unit Vectors

• A unit vector is a dimensionless vector with a magnitude of exactly 1.

• Unit vectors are used to specify a direction and have no other physical
significance

• The unit vector can be determined by :

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 The Base Unit Vectors.

• The symbols 𝑖,Ƹ 𝑗,Ƹ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑘෠

represent the base unit vectors

• They form a set of mutually perpendicular vectors in a right-handed coordinate system

• Remember, 𝑖Ƹ = 𝑗Ƹ = 𝑘෠ = 1

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Unit Vectors in Vector Notation

• Ax is the same as Ax and Ay is the same

as Ay etc.

• The complete vector can be expressed

as

A  Ax ˆi  Ay ˆj

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Unit Vectors in Vector Notation

Example : Let 𝐴Ԧ = (2𝑖Ƹ + 4𝑗)Ƹ cm, represent the vector in xy-plane.

𝑗Ƹ
𝑨 𝑗Ƹ
𝑗Ƹ
𝑖Ƹ 𝑖Ƹ 𝑗Ƹ

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Unit Vectors in Vector Notation

Q) Sketch a graph of each vector.

1) 5𝑖Ƹ − 12𝑗Ƹ 2) −5𝑖Ƹ + 12𝑗Ƹ 3) −5𝑖Ƹ − 12𝑗Ƹ

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Adding Vectors Using Unit Vectors
• Using 𝑅 = 𝐴Ԧ + 𝐵

• Then

𝑅 = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖Ƹ + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗Ƹ + 𝐵𝑥 𝑖Ƹ + 𝐵𝑦 𝑗Ƹ

→ 𝑅 = (𝐴𝑥 +𝐵𝑥 )𝑖Ƹ + (𝐴𝑦 +𝐵𝑦 )𝑗Ƹ

→ 𝑅 = 𝑅𝑥 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑅𝑦 𝑗Ƹ

and so Rx = Ax + Bx and Ry = Ay + By

𝑅𝑦
• 𝑅= 𝑅𝑥2 + 𝑅𝑦2 and 𝜃 = tan −1
𝑅𝑥
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Adding Vectors Using Unit Vectors

• Note the relationships among the components of the resultant and the components
of the original vectors

• Rx = Ax + Bx

• Ry = Ay + By

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Three-Dimensional Extension
• Using 𝑅 = 𝐴Ԧ + 𝐵

• Then

𝑅 = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖Ƹ + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗Ƹ + 𝐴𝑧 𝑘෠ + 𝐵𝑥 𝑖Ƹ + 𝐵𝑦 𝑗Ƹ + 𝐵𝑧 𝑘෠

→ 𝑅 = (𝐴𝑥 +𝐵𝑥 )𝑖Ƹ + (𝐴𝑦 +𝐵𝑦 )𝑗Ƹ + (𝐴𝑧 +𝐵𝑧 )𝑘෠

→ 𝑅 = 𝑅𝑥 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑅𝑦 𝑗Ƹ +𝑅𝑧 𝑘෠

and so Rx = Ax + Bx , Ry = Ay + By and Rz = Az + Bz

𝑅𝑥
• 𝑅= 𝑅𝑥2 + 𝑅𝑦2 + 𝑅𝑧2 and 𝜑 = cos −1 , etc
𝑅
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Q) Choose the correct answer
Ԧ
1. Let 𝐴=(2m)𝑖Ƹ + (6𝑚)𝑗Ƹ + (3𝑚)𝑘෠ and 𝐵= 4m 𝑖Ƹ + 2𝑚 𝑗Ƹ + 1𝑚 𝑘.
෠ The vector sum 𝑆Ԧ = 𝐴Ԧ + 𝐵 is

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Q) Choose the correct answer

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Q) Choose the correct answer

If 𝑎=2 ෠ and 𝑐=
Ԧ 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑗,Ƹ 𝑏=𝑖Ƹ − 4𝑗Ƹ + 𝑘, ෠ Find the magnitude of the vector 2𝑎Ԧ − 𝑏 + 𝑐Ԧ
Ԧ 𝑗Ƹ + 𝑘.

A) 58 B) 28 C) 78 D) 36

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Problem.3( Serway)

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Unit Vectors
Question: Find the unit vector of

Ԧ 𝑖Ƹ + 4𝑗Ƹ − 5𝑘෠
1) 𝐴=3 2) 𝑏=−6𝑖Ƹ + 2𝑗Ƹ − 2𝑘෠ 3) 𝑐=1.1
Ԧ 𝑖Ƹ − 1.5𝑗Ƹ + 2.0𝑘෠

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Multiplying Vectors
• The Scalar Product (dot product)

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Multiplying Vectors
• The Scalar Product (dot product)

but

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Multiplying Vectors
• The Scalar Product (dot product)

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Multiplying Vectors
Q) Here are three vectors in meters:

Find:
1.
2. The angle between
3. Find the angle between A and the x-axis
4. Find the component of A along the direction of C

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Multiplying Vectors
Choose the correct answer

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Multiplying Vectors
Choose the correct answer

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Multiplying Vectors
• The vector Product (cross Product)

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Multiplying Vectors
• The vector Product (cross Product)
• Right hand rule

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Multiplying Vectors
• The vector Product (cross Product)
• Unit vectors notation
• In unit vector form:

• But

• And

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Multiplying Vectors
• The vector Product (cross Product)
• Unit vectors notation
• In unit vector form:

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Multiplying Vectors
• The vector Product (cross Product)
• Unit vectors notation
• In unit vector form:
• We can find the cross product using the determinant of the matrix:

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Multiplying Vectors
Example: Consider the following vectors
𝐴Ԧ = −2𝑖Ƹ + 5𝑗Ƹ + 7𝑘෠
𝐵 = −6𝑖Ƹ − 8𝑗Ƹ − 11𝑘෠
𝐶Ԧ = −20𝑖Ƹ + 6𝑘෠

Find:
1) 𝐴Ԧ × 𝐵
2) The anlage between 𝐴Ԧ and 𝐶Ԧ using the definition of the cross product .

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Multiplying Vectors
Choose the correct answer
What will be the cross product of the vectors 2𝑖Ƹ + 3𝑗Ƹ + 𝑘෠ and 3𝑖Ƹ + 2𝑗Ƹ + 𝑘෠

A : 𝑖Ƹ + 2𝑗Ƹ + 𝑘෠
B : 2𝑖Ƹ + 3𝑗Ƹ + 𝑘෠
C : 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑗Ƹ − 5𝑘෠
D : 2𝑖Ƹ − 𝑗Ƹ − 5𝑘෠

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Multiplying Vectors
Choose the correct answer

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Multiplying Vectors
Choose the correct answer
Q) State if the two vectors are parallel, orthogonal, or neither

1) 𝑢 = 4𝑖Ƹ − 9𝑗Ƹ 2) 𝑢 = −5𝑖Ƹ − 2𝑗Ƹ

𝑣Ԧ = −9𝑖Ƹ + 4𝑗Ƹ 𝑣Ԧ = −10𝑖Ƹ + 25𝑗Ƹ

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Multiplying Vectors
Choose the correct answer
Which of the of 3-dimension coordinates axes below are right–handed coordinate systems? (The arrows indicate the
positive direction on each axis.) (Zero or more options can be correct)

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Challenging problems

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