PHY 101

VECTORS
 SCALAR
A SCALAR quantity Scalar
is any quantity in Example Magnitude
physics that has
Speed 35 m/s
MAGNITUDE ONLY

Distance 25 meters

Number value
with units Age 16 years
 VECTOR
A VECTOR quantity Vector Magnitude and
is any quantity in Example Direction
physics that has Velocity 35 m/s, North
BOTH MAGNITUDE
and DIRECTION
Acceleration 10 m/s2, South

Force 20 N, East

  An arrow above the symbol

x ,v ,a ,F illustrates a vector quantity.
It indicates MAGNITUDE and
DIRECTION
 Properties of Vectors
 Equality of Vectors: Two vectors are equal only if they have
the same magnitude and direction.
 Null Vectors: A null vector is one that has a magnitude of zero
with no specific direction.
 Unit Vector: A vector having a magnitude of one (1) is called a
unit vector. If A is a vector, then

k
the unit vector  along the
direction of A is defined as:
 A A
A  
A A

 Conventionally, units vectors along x, y and z directions are


denoted by î, ĵ and k respectively.
 VECTOR APPLICATION
ADDITION: When two (2) vectors point in the SAME direction, simply
add them together.

EXAMPLE: A man walks 46.5 m east, then another 20 m east.

Calculate his displacement relative to where he started.

46.5 m, E + 20 m, E

MAGNITUDE relates to the

size of the arrow and
66.5 m, E DIRECTION relates to the
way the arrow is drawn
 VECTOR APPLICATION
SUBTRACTION: When two (2) vectors point in the OPPOSITE direction,
simply subtract them.

EXAMPLE: A man walks 46.5 m east, then another 20 m west.

Calculate his displacement relative to where he started.

46.5 m, E
-

20 m, W

26.5 m, E
 Adding vectors
Displacement is a quantity that is independent of the route taken between
start and end points.

If a car moves from A to B and then to C, its total displacement will be the same
as if it had just moved in a straight line from A to C.

C
B

Two or more displacement vectors

can be added “head to tail” to
calculate a resultant vector. resultant vector
A

Any two vectors of the same type can be added in this way to find a resultant.
 Calculating a resultant
When adding two perpendicular vectors, it is often necessary
to calculate the exact magnitude and direction of the
resultant vector. This requires the use of Pythagoras’
theorem, and trigonometry.
For example, what is the resultant vector of a vertical
displacement of 3 km and a horizontal displacement of 4 km?
magnitude: direction:

R2 = 32 + 42 tan θ = 4/3
R
4 km R = √ 32 + 42 θ = tan-1(4/3)
= √ 25 = 53°
θ
= 5 km
3 km
 Example
A lorry’s load has a weight of 40 000 N and it is being pulled along by a
horizontal force of 15 000 N. What is the resultant of these two forces?

With this type of calculation it is often easier if you

sketch a rectangle using two triangles as in the Figure.
Here, the rectangle shows the two forces acting at right
angles to one another, and the diagonal represents the
resultant force.

Using Pythagoras’s theorem gives:

resultant2 = (4.0 × 104)2 + (1.5 × 104)2
= 16.0 × 108 + 2.25 × 108
= 18.25 × 108 so
resultant = 4.27 × 104 N
A raindrop falls at a constant velocity of 1.8 ms-1. If a horizontal
wind of 1.4ms-1 is blowing, calculate the magnitude and
direction of the resultant velocity of the raindrop.

Resultant x2 = 1.82 + 1.42

1.8ms-1 velocity
x = √1.82 + 1.42
x = 2.28
1.4ms-1

θ Tanθ = 1.4/1.8
1.8ms-1
Tanθ = 0.7778
SOH CAH TOA θ = 37.90
1.4ms-1
 NON-COLLINEAR VECTORS
When two (2) vectors are PERPENDICULAR to each other, you must
use the PYTHAGORAS’ THEOREM

FINISH
Example: A man travels 120 km east
then 160 km north. Calculate his the hypotenuse is
called the RESULTANT
resultant displacement.

2 2 2 2 2 160 km, N
c a b c a b VERTICAL
COMPONENT

c 120 160 
2 2

c200km S
T
R 120 km, E
T
A

HORIZONTAL COMPONENT
 WHAT ABOUT DIRECTION?
In the example, DISPLACEMENT asked for and since it is a VECTOR quantity,
we need to report its direction.

W of N E of N
N of E
N of W
N of E
W E
S of W S of E
NOTE: When drawing a right triangle that
conveys some type of motion, you MUST
W of S E of S
draw your components HEAD TO TAIL.
S
 NEED A VALUE – ANGLE!
Just putting N of E is not good enough (how far north of east ?).
We need to find a numeric value for the direction.

To find the value of the

angle we use a Trig
function called TANGENT.
200 km
160 km, N
opposite side 160
Tan    1.333
q N of E adjacent side 120
1 o
120 km, E 
  Tan (1.333)  53.1

So the COMPLETE final answer is : 200 km, 53.1 degrees North of East
 What are your missing
components?
Suppose a person walked 65 m, 25 degrees East of North. What
were his horizontal and vertical components?
The goal: ALWAYS MAKE A RIGHT
H.C. = ?
TRIANGLE!

V.C = ? To solve for components, we often use

25 65 m the trig functions sine and cosine.
adjacent side opposite side
cosine  sine 
hypotenuse hypotenuse
adj  hyp cos  opp  hyp sin 

adj  V .C.  65 cos 25  58.91m, N

opp  H .C.  65 sin 25  27.47 m, E
 Example
A bear, searching for food wanders 35 meters east then 20 meters north.
Frustrated, he wanders another 12 meters west then 6 meters south. Calculate
the bear's displacement.
23 m, E
- =

12 m, W
- =
14 m, N
6 m, S
20 m, N
R  14 2  232  26.93m
14
35 m, E R 14 m, N Tan   .6087
23
q
  Tan 1 (0.6087)  31.3
23 m, E
The Final Answer: 26.93 m, 31.3 degrees NORTH or EAST
 Example
A boat moves with a velocity of 15 m/s, N in a river which
flows with a velocity of 8.0 m/s, west. Calculate the
boat's resultant velocity with respect to due north.

Rv  82  152  17 m / s
8.0 m/s, W
8
15 m/s, N
Tan   0.5333
Rv q 15
  Tan 1 (0.5333)  28.1

The Final Answer : 17 m/s, @ 28.1 degrees West of North

 Example
A plane moves with a velocity of 63.5 m/s at 32 degrees South of East. Calculate
the plane's horizontal and vertical velocity components.

adjacent side opposite side

cosine  sine 
H.C. =? hypotenuse hypotenuse
32 adj  hyp cos  opp  hyp sin 
V.C. = ?

63.5 m/s
adj  H .C.  63.5 cos 32  53.85 m / s, E
opp  V .C.  63.5 sin 32  33.64 m / s, S
 Example
A storm system moves 5000 km due east, then shifts course at 40
degrees North of East for 1500 km. Calculate the storm's
resultant displacement.
adjacent side opposite side
cosine  sine 
1500 km hypotenuse hypotenuse
V.C.
adj  hyp cos  opp  hyp sin 
40
5000 km, E H.C.
adj  H .C.  1500 cos 40  1149.1 km, E
opp  V .C.  1500 sin 40  964.2 km, N

5000 km + 1149.1 km = 6149.1 km R  6149.12  964.2 2  6224.2 km

964.2
Tan   0.157
6149.1
R 1 o
964.2 km 
  Tan (0.157)  8.92
q
6149.1 km The Final Answer: 6224.2 km @ 8.92
degrees, North of East
 Components of a Vector
 A component is a part.
 It is useful to use
rectangular components
These are the projections
of the vector along the x-
and y-axes.

January 22-25, 2013

 Components of a Vector
 The x-component of a vector is
the projection along the x-axis
Ax
cos   Ax  A cos 
A
 The y-component of a vector is
the projection along the y-axis
Ay
sin   Ay  A sin 
A

 Then,
q   
A  Ax  Ay
 Vector Components Cont’d
 The components are the x and
y axes of the right-angled
triangle whose hypotenuse is A.

 Ax  A cos( )  Ay 
 A  A 2
 A2
and 1
  tan  
 yA  A sin( ) x y
 Ax 

 A   A 2  A 2
x y

 Ay A
1  y 
tan   or   tan   q
 Ax  Ax 
 Unit Vectors

 The vector ‘A’ has components as:

  
A  Ax  Ay
 Unit vectors i-hat, j-hat, k-hat
q iˆ  x ˆj  y kˆ  z

 Unit vectors help to specify direction

y
 Unit vectors have a magnitude of 1
j i
x  Then 
z
k A  Ax iˆ  Ay ˆj

Magnitude + Sign Unit vector

 Adding Vectors Algebraically
 Consider two vectors

A  Axiˆ  Ay ˆj

B  Bxiˆ  B y ˆj

 Then
 
A  B  ( Ax iˆ  Ay ˆj )  ( Bx iˆ  B y ˆj )
 ( Ax  Bx )iˆ  ( Ay  B y ) ˆj
  
C  A  B  ( Ax  Bx )iˆ  ( Ay  B y ) ˆj
C x  Ax  Bx C y  Ay  B y
Example : Operations with Vectors

 Vector A is described algebraically as (-3, 5), while

vector B is (4, -2). Find the value of magnitude and
direction of the sum (C) of the vectors A and B.
 
A  3iˆ  5 ˆj B  4iˆ  2 ˆj
  
C  A  B  ( 3  4)iˆ  (5  2) ˆj  1iˆ  3 ˆj
Cx  1 Cy  3
2 2
C  (C x  C y )1/ 2  (12  32 )1/ 2  3.16
Cy
  tan 1
 tan 1 3  71.56
Cx
 Dot Product
 The dot product of two vectors is the sum of the products
of their corresponding components. If a= <ax, ay> and b=
<bx, by>, then a·b = axbx + ayby .

 Ex. If a=<1,4> and b=<3,8>, then a·b = 3 + 32 = 35

 If θ is the angle between vectors a and b, then

a  b  a b cos 
Note: these are just two ways of expressing the dot product

 Note that the dot product of two vectors produces a scalar.

Hence it is also called a scalar product.
Vector (or cross) Product
 Product of Vectors
Scalar (or dot) Product Vector (or cross) Product
 Summary

 Ax  A cos( )

 Polar coordinates of vector A (A, )  Ay  A sin( )
 2 2

 Cartesian coordinates (Ax, Ay)  A   Ax    y

A
 A A 
 tan    y or   tan 1  y 
 Relations between them:  Ax  Ax 
 Beware of tan 180-degree ambiguity

 Unit vectors: A  Axiˆ  Ay ˆj  Az kˆ

  
 Addition of vectors: C  A  B  ( Ax  Bx )iˆ  ( Ay  B y ) ˆj

C x  Ax  Bx C y  Ay  By

 Scalar multiplication of a vector: aA  aAx iˆ  aAy ˆj