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VECTORS AND DIRECTION
In the study of motion we use quantities such as distance, displacement, speed,
velocity, acceleration, etc.
These can be divided into two categories: vector and scalar
A vector is a quantity that is described by magnitude (number) and direction.
A scalar is a quantity that is described by its magnitude.
VECTORS AND DIRECTION
Examples of vectors include: displacement, velocity, acceleration, and force

Vector quantities require both magnitude and direction:

Examples: 20 meters and 30 degrees to the west of north.
Vectors are often represented by scaled vector diagrams.
Involves an arrow drawn to scale and in a specific direction.
Commonly called free-body diagrams.
Scale is clearly listed
A vector arrow (with arrowhead) is drawn in a specified direction. The arrow has
a head and a tail.
The magnitude and direction of the vector are clearly labeled.
EXAMPLE OF VECTOR DIAGRAM

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 HOW TO DESCRIBE THE DIRECTION OF
VECTORS
Example: Due West, Due North, Due
South, Due East
Also can use Due North West, Due North
East, Due South West, etc.
The direction of a vector is often expressed
as an angle of rotation of the vector about
its “tail” from east, west, north, or south.
Example: Direction of 40 degrees North
of West which means a vector pointing
West has been rotated 40 degrees towards
the northerly direction.
The direction of a vector is often expressed
as a counterclockwise angle of rotation of
the vector about its “tail” from due East.
Example: A vector with a direction of 30
degrees is a vector that has been rotated
30 degrees in a counterclockwise
direction relative to due east.

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REPRESENTING MAGNITUDE
The magnitude is depicted by the length of the arrow.
Arrows are drawn according to the scale that is chosen.

How long would the

arrow be in the
example given?

What would the length

of the arrow be if the
displacement vector
was 15 miles and the
scale was 1 cm = 5
miles?

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RESULTANTS
The resultant is the vector sum of two or more vectors.
It is the result of adding two or more vectors together.
Example: If you add A, B, and C, the result will be
vector R.
When displacement vectors are added, the result is a
resultant displacement.
Any two vectors can be added as long as they are the
same quantity.
Example: Two or more velocity vectors are added,
then you have a velocity resultant.
“To do A + B + C is the same as to do R”

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VECTOR ADDITION
Two vectors can be added together to determine the result or resultant.
Examples below of how to add vectors:
First vector + second vector = total
If opposite direction, then subtract

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VECTOR ADDITION
More complicated cases need special directions:
The Pythagorean theorem and trigonometric methods
The head to tail method using a scaled vector diagram
Examples of more complicated cases below:

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THE PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM
Only used when the result of adding two (and only two) vectors that make a right
angle to each other.
Cannot be used for adding more than two vectors or adding vectors that are not at
90 degree angles to each other.

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PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM EXAMPLE
Eric leaves the base camp and hikes 11 km, north and then hikes 11 km east.
Determine Eric’s resulting displacement.

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PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM EXAMPLE #2
In each example below, determine the magnitude of the vector sum.

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USING TRIGONOMETRY TO DETERMINE
VECTOR’S DIRECTION
The direction of a resultant vector can often be determined by use of trigonometric
functions:
SOH CAH TOA – Sine, Cosine, and Tangent
The sine function relates the measure of an acute angle to the ratio of the length
of the side opposite the angle to the length of the hypotenuse.
The cosine function relates the measure of an acute angle to the ratio of the
length of the side adjacent the angle to the length of the hypotenuse.
The tangent function relates the measure of an acute angle to the ratio of the
length of the side opposite the angle to the length of the side adjacent to the
angle.
TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS

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EXAMPLE OF USING TRIG FUNCTIONS
Apply trig functions to the hiker problem to determine the hiker’s overall
displacement.
Begin by selecting one of the two angles other than the right angle. Then use any of
the three trig functions to find the measure of the angle.

Once the measure of the angle is

determined, the direction of the
vector can be found. The vector
makes an angle of 45 degrees
with due East. (The direction of
a vector is the counterclockwise
angle of rotation that the vector
makes with due East.

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EXAMPLE OF USING TRIG FUNCTIONS
Sometimes the measure of an angle as determined by SOH CAH TOA is NOT always
the direction of the vector. How would you determine direction? The following
example illustrates this relationship.

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USE OF SCALED VECTOR DIAGRAMS TO
DETERMINE A RESULTANT
Must have accurately drawn scaled vector diagrams.
Use the head to tail method.
A common Physics lab involves a vector walk. Either using centimeter sized
displacements on a map or meter-sized displacements in a large open area, a
student makes several consecutive displacements beginning from a designated
starting position.
Example of the head to tail method after you have completed a vector walk.

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STEPS TO HEAD TO TAIL METHOD
1. Choose a scale and indicate it on a sheet of paper. The best choice of scale is one
that will result in a diagram that is as large as possible, yet fits on the sheet of
paper.
2. Pick a starting location and draw the first vector to scale in the indicated
direction. Label the magnitude and direction of the scale on the diagram.
(SCALE: 1 cm = 20 m)
3. Starting from where the head of the first vector ends, draw the second vector to
scale in the indicated direction. Label the magnitude and direction of this vector
on the diagram.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for all vectors that are to be added.
5. Draw the resultant from the tail of the first vector to the head of the last vector.
Label this vector the resultant or simply R.
6. Using a ruler, measure the length of the resultant and determine its magnitude
by converting to real units using the scale (ex. 4.4 cm x 20 m/1cm = 88 m)
7. Measure the direction of the resultant using the counterclockwise convention.
HEAD TO TAIL EXAMPLE
Calculate the resultant given the following vectors:

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HEAD TO TAIL EXAMPLE SOLUTION

The order in which

the three vectors are
added has not affect
upon either the
magnitude or the
direction of the
resultant.

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VECTOR COMPONENTS
Examples of vectors that are directed in two dimensions – upward and rightward or
northward and eastward, etc.
Use math to transform a vector into two parts along a coordinate axes.
Example: A vector directed northwest has two parts – northward part and
westward part.
Example -
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VECTOR COMPONENTS
Each part of a two
dimensional vector is
known as a
component.
The components of a
vector depict the
influence of that
vector in a given
direction.
The combined influence
of the two
components is equal
to the influence of
the single two
dimensional vector.

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VECTOR COMPONENT EXAMPLE
Consider a picture that is hung
to a wall by means of two
wires that are stretched
vertically and horizontally.
Each wire exerts a tension
force on the picture to
support its weight. Since
the wire is stretched in two
dimensions them it is a
component vector.

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VECTOR COMPONENT EXAMPLE
This means that the wire on the left could be replaced with two
wires one pulling leftward and one pulling upward.

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 PERPENDICULAR COMPONENTS
The two perpendicular parts or components of a vector are independent of each
other.
A change in one component does not affect the other component. Changing a
component will affect the motion in that specific direction. While the change in
one of the components will alter the magnitude of the resulting force, it does not
alter the magnitude of the other component.
Example: an air balloon descending through the air toward the ground in the
presence of a wind that blows eastward. Suppose that the downward velocity of
the balloon is 3 m/s and that the wind is blowing east with a velocity of 4 m/s.
The resulting velocity of the air balloon would be the combination (i.e., the
vector sum) of these two simultaneous and independent velocity vectors. The air
balloon would be moving downward and eastward.
If the wind velocity increased, the air balloon would begin moving faster in the
eastward direction, but its downward velocity would not be altered. If the
balloon were located 60 meters above the ground and was moving downward at
3 m/s, then it would take a time of 20 seconds to travel this vertical distance.
d = v • t So t = d / v = (60 m) / (3 m/s) = 20 seconds
During the 20 seconds taken by the air balloon to fall the 60 meters to the ground, the
wind would be carrying the balloon in the eastward direction. With a wind speed of 4
m/s, the distance traveled eastward in 20 seconds would be 80 meters. If the wind
speed increased from the value of 4 m/s to a value of 6 m/s, then it would still take 20
seconds for the balloon to fall the 60 meters of downward distance. A motion in the
downward direction is affected only by downward components of motion. An
alteration in a horizontal component of motion (such as the eastward wind velocity)
will have no affect upon vertical motion. Perpendicular components of motion are
independent of each other. A variation of the eastward wind speed from a value of 4
m/s to a value of 6 m/s would only cause the balloon to be blown eastward a distance
of 120 meters instead of the original 80 meters.

PERPENDICULAR COMPONENTS
VECTOR RESOLUTION

The process of determining the magnitude of a

vector is called vector resolution.
Two methods of vector resolution are:
the parallelogram method
the trigonometric method
A step-by-step procedure for using the parallelogram method of vector resolution is:
Select a scale and accurately draw the vector to scale in the indicated direction.
Sketch a parallelogram around the vector: beginning at the
tail of the vector, sketch vertical and horizontal lines; then sketch horizontal and
vertical lines at the head of the vector; the sketched lines will meet to form a rect
angle (a special case of a parallelogram).
Draw the components of the vector. The components are the sides of the
parallelogram. The tail of the components start at the tail of the vector and
stretches along the axes to the nearest corner of the parallelogram. Be sure to
place arrowheads on these components to indicate their direction (up, down, left,
right).
Meaningfully label the components of the vectors with symbols to indicate which
component represents which side. A northward force component might be
labeled Fnorth. A rightward velocity component might be labeled v x; etc.
Measure the length of the sides of the parallelogram and
use the scale to determine the magnitude of the components in real
units. Label the magnitude on the diagram.

PARALLELOGRAM METHOD
The following diagram illustrates the
parallelogram method.

PARALLELOGRAM METHOD
Uses trig functions to determine the components of the vector. Used to determine the components
of a single vector.
Step by Step:
Construct a rough sketch (no scale needed) of the vector in the indicated direction. Label its
magnitude and the angle that it makes with the horizontal.
Draw a rectangle about the vector such that the vector is the diagonal of the rectangle. Beginning
at the
tail of the vector, sketch vertical and horizontal lines. Then sketch horizontal and vertical lines
at the head of the vector. The sketched lines will meet to form a rectangle.
Draw the components of the vector. The components are the sides of the rectangle. The tail of each
component begins at the tail of the vector and stretches along the axes to the nearest corner of
the rectangle. Be sure to place arrowheads on these components to indicate their direction (up,
down, left, right).
Meaningfully label the components of the vectors with symbols to indicate which component
represents which side. A northward force component might be labeled Fnorth. A rightward force
velocity component might be labeled vx; etc.
To determine the length of the side opposite the indicated angle, use the sine function. Substitute
the magnitude of the vector for the length of the hypotenuse. Use some algebra to solve the
equation for the length of the side opposite the indicated angle.
Repeat the above step using the cosine function to determine the length of the side adjacent to the
indicated angle.
TRIGONOMETRIC METHOD
EXAMPLE OF TRIGONOMETRIC METHOD
COMPONENT METHOD OF VECTOR ADDITION
Reminder you can add two vectors oriented at right angles to one another using the
Pythagorean theorem.
Example: Two displacement vectors with magnitude and direction of 11 km North
and 11 km East can be added together to produce a resultant vector that is
directed both North and East. The example below shows the two vectors added
together head to tail. The resultant will be the hypotenuse of a right triangle.
The sides of the triangle are both 11 km. Use the Pythagorean theorem to
determine the hypotenuse side.
COMPONENT METHOD OF VECTOR ADDITION
Using vector components, vector resolution, and the Pythagorean theorem to solve
more complex vector addition problems.
Adding three or more right angle vectors:
Example 1:
A student drives his car 6.0 km, North before making a right hand turn and driving 6.0 km
to the East. Finally, the student makes a left hand turn and travels another 2.0 km to
the north. What is the magnitude of the overall displacement of the student?
Like any problem in physics, a successful solution begins with the development of a
mental picture of the situation. The construction of a diagram like that below often
proves useful in the visualization process.
COMPONENT METHOD OF VECTOR ADDITION
When these three vectors are added together in head-to-tail fashion, the resultant is
a vector that extends from the tail of the first vector (6.0 km, North, shown in
red) to the arrowhead of the third vector (2.0 km, North, shown in green). The
head-to-tail vector addition diagram is shown below.
COMPONENT METHOD OF VECTOR ADDITION
As can be seen in the diagram, the resultant vector (drawn in black) is not the
hypotenuse of any right triangle - at least not of any immediately obvious right
triangle. But would it be possible to force this resultant vector to be the
hypotenuse of a right triangle? The answer is Yes! To do so, the order in which
the three vectors are added must be changed. The vectors above were drawn in
the order in which they were driven. The student drove north, then east, and
then north again. But if the three vectors are added in the order 6.0 km, N + 2.0
km, N + 6.0 km, E, then the diagram will look like this:
COMPONENT METHOD OF VECTOR ADDITION
After rearranging the order in which the three vectors are added, the resultant
vector is now the hypotenuse of a right triangle. The lengths of the perpendicular
sides of the right triangle are 8.0 m, North (6.0 km + 2.0 km) and 6.0 km, East.
The magnitude of the resultant vector (R) can be determined using the
Pythagorean theorem.
R2 = (8.0 km)2 + (6.0 km)2R2 = 64.0 km2+ 36.0 km2 R2 = 100.0 km2 R = SQRT (100.0
km2)R = 10.0 km(SQRT indicates square root)
COMPONENT METHOD OF VECTOR ADDITION
Example #2: Mac and Tosh are doing the Vector Walk Lab. Starting at the door of
their physics classroom, they walk 2.0 meters, south. They make a right hand
turn and walk 16.0 meters, west. They turn right again and walk 24.0 meters,
north. They then turn left and walk 36.0 meters, west. What is the magnitude of
their overall displacement?
Diagram illustrates what is happening.
COMPONENT METHOD OF VECTOR ADDITION
When these four vectors are added together in head-to-tail fashion, the resultant is a
vector that extends from the tail of the first vector (2.0 m, South, shown in red)
to the arrowhead of the fourth vector (36.0 m, West, shown in green). The head-
to-tail vector addition diagram is shown below.
COMPONENT METHOD OF VECTOR ADDITION
The resultant vector (drawn in black and labeled R) in the vector addition diagram
above is not the hypotenuse of any immediately obvious right trangle. But by
changing the order of addition of these four vectors, one can force this resultant
vector to be the hypotenuse of a right triangle. For instance, by adding the vectors in
the order of 2.0 m, S + 24.0 m, N + 16.0 m, W + 36.0 m. W, the resultant becomes the
hypotenuse of a right triangle. This is shown in the vector addition diagram below.
COMPONENT METHOD OF VECTOR ADDITION
With the vectors rearranged, the resultant is now the hypotenuse of a right triangle
that has two perpendicular sides with lengths of 22.0 m, North and 52.0 m, West.
The 22.0 m, North side is the result of 2.0 m, South and 24.0 m, North added
together. The 52.0 m, West side is the result of 16.0 m, West and 36.0 m, West
added together. The magnitude of the resultant vector (R) can be determined
using the Pythagorean theorem.

R2 = (22.0 m)2 + (52.0 m)2R2 = 484.0 m2 + 2704.0 m2R2 = 3188.0 m2R = SQRT (3188.0
m22)R = 56.5 m(SQRT indicates square root)
SOH CAH TOA AND THE DIRECTION OF VECTORS
To begin our discussion, let's return to Example 1 above where we made an effort to
add three vectors: 6.0 km, N + 6.0 km, E + 2.0 km, N. In the solution, the order of
addition

of the three vectors was rearranged so that a right triangle was formed with the resultant
being the hypotenuse of the triangle. The triangle is redrawn at the right. Observe that
the angle in the lower left of the triangle has been labeled as theta (Θ). Theta (Θ)
represents the angle that the vector makes with the north axis. Theta (Θ) can be
calculated using one of the three trigonometric functions introduced
earlier in this lesson - sine, cosine or tangent. The mnemonic SOH CAH TOA
is a helpful way of remembering which function to use. In this problem, we wish to d
etermine the angle measure of theta (Θ) and we know the length of the side opposite t
heta (Θ) - 6.0 km - and the length of the side adjacent the angle theta (Θ) - 8.0 km. Th
e TOA of SOH CAH TOA indicates that the tangent of any angle is the ratio of the le
ngths of the side opposite to the side adjacent that angle. Thus, the tangent function w
ill be used to calculate the angle measure of theta (Θ). The work is shown below.

Tangent(Θ) = Opposite/Adjacent Tangent(Θ) =

6.0/8.0 Tangent(Θ) = 0.75 Θ = tan-1 (0.75)
Θ = 36.869 …° Θ =37°
ADDITION OF NON PERPENDICULAR VECTORS
Use concept of a vector component and the process of vector resolution.
A vector component describes the effect of a vector in a given direction.
Any angled vector has two components; one is directed horizontally and the other is
directed vertically.
For instance, a northwest vector has a northward component and a westward
component.
Together, the effect these two components are equal to the overall effect of the angled
vector.
ADDITION OF NON PERPENDICULAR VECTORS
Example – A plane flies northwest from Chicago towards the Canadian border. The
northwest displacement vector of the plane has two components ( A northward
component and a westward component). When added together, these two
components are equal to the overall northwest displacement.
ADDITION OF NON PERPENDICULAR VECTORS
The northwest vector has north and west components that are represented as A x and
Ay. It can be said that
A = Ax + Ay
So whenever we think of a northwest vector, we can think instead of two vectors - a north
and a west vector. The two components Ax + Ay can be substituted in for the single
vector A in the problem.
Now suppose that your task involves adding two non-perpendicular vectors together. We
will call the vectors A and B. Vector A is a nasty angled vector that is neither
horizontal nor vertical. And vector B is a nice, polite vector directed horizontally. The
situation is shown below.
ADDITION OF NON PERPENDICULAR VECTORS
Of course nasty vector A has two components - Ax and Ay. These two components
together are equal to vector A. That is, A = Ax + Ay .

And since this is true, it makes since to say that A

+ B = Ax + Ay + B.
ADDITION OF NON PERPENDICULAR VECTORS
And so the problem of A + B has been transformed into a problem in which all
vectors are at right angles to each other. Nasty has been replaced by nice and
that should make any physics student happy. With all vectors being at right
angles to one another, their addition leads to a resultant that is at the hypotenuse
of a right triangle. The Pythagorean theorem can then be used to determine the
magnitude of the resultant.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Physics Classroom. (2013). “Vectors – Fundamentals and operations”.
Retrieved from http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/vectors/u3l1a.cfm
All images are from The Physics Classroom website.