Chapter 2

Vectors
 Vectors

Vector quantities
 Physical quantities that have both numerical and directional
properties
Mathematical operations of vectors in this chapter
 Addition
 Subtraction

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Coordinate Systems

Used to describe the position of a point in space

Common coordinate systems are:
 Cartesian
 Polar

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Cartesian Coordinate System

Also called rectangular coordinate

system
x- and y- axes intersect at the origin
Points are labeled (x,y)

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Polar Coordinate System

Origin and reference line are noted

Point is distance r from the origin in
the direction of angle , ccw from
reference line
 The reference line is often the x-
axis.
Points are labeled

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Polar to Cartesian Coordinates

Based on forming a right triangle from

r and

If the Cartesian coordinates are

known:

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Example

The Cartesian coordinates of a point in the

xy plane are m, as shown in the figure.
Find the polar coordinates of this point.
Solution: Using the equations shown in the
last slide, we get,

(signs give quadrant)

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 Vectors and Scalars

A scalar quantity is completely specified by a single value with an

appropriate unit and has no direction.
 Many are always positive
 Some may be positive or negative
 Rules for ordinary arithmetic are used to manipulate scalar
quantities
A vector quantity is completely described by a number and
appropriate units plus a direction.

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Vector Example

A particle travels from A to B along the

path shown by the broken 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:

Also used for printing is simple bold print:
When dealing with just the magnitude of a vector in print, an italic
letter will be used: or
 The magnitude of the vector has physical units.
 The magnitude of a vector is always a positive number.

When handwritten, use an arrow:

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Equality of Two Vectors

Two vectors are equal if they have the

same magnitude and the same
direction.
if and they point along parallel lines
All of the vectors shown are equal.
Allows a vector to be moved to a
position parallel to itself

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 Adding Vectors

Vector addition is very different from adding scalar quantities.

When adding vectors, their directions must be taken into account.
Units must be the same
Graphical Methods
 Use scale drawings

Algebraic Methods
 More convenient

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 Adding Vectors Graphically

Choose a scale.
Draw the first vector, , 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 and parallel to the coordinate system used for .

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Adding Vectors Graphically (continue)

Continue drawing the vectors “tip-to-

tail” or “head-to-tail”.
The resultant is drawn from the origin of
the first vector to the end of the last
vector.
Measure the length of the resultant and
its angle.
 Use the scale factor to convert length
to actual magnitude.

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Adding Vectors Graphically (final)

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

When two vectors are added, the sum

is independent of the order of the
addition.
 This is the Commutative Law of
Addition.

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 Adding Vectors—Rules (continue)
When adding three or more vectors, their sum is independent of the way in which
the individual vectors are grouped.
 This is the Associative Property of Addition.

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 Adding Vectors—Rules (final)

When adding vectors, all of the vectors must have the same units.
All of the vectors must be of the same type of quantity.
 For example, you cannot add a displacement to a velocity.

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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.
 Represented as

The negative of the vector will have the same magnitude, but point in
the opposite direction.

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Subtracting Vectors

Special case of vector addition: If , then

use
Continue with standard vector addition
procedure.

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Subtracting Vectors (Method 2)

Another way to look at subtraction is to

find the vector that, added to the
second vector gives you the first vector.

 As shown, the resultant vector points

from the tip of the second to the tip of
the first.

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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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 Component Method of Adding Vectors

Graphical addition is not recommended when:

 High accuracy is required
 If you have a three-dimensional problem

Component method is an alternative method

 It uses projections of vectors along coordinate axes

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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

and are the component vectors of .

 They are vectors and follow all the rules for vectors.

and are scalars, and will be referred to as the components of .

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Components of a Vector

Assume you are given a vector

It can be expressed in terms of two
other vectors, and

These three vectors form a right

triangle.

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Components of a Vector (2)

The y-component is moved to the end

of the x-component.
This is due to the fact that any vector
can be moved parallel to itself without
being affected.
 This completes the triangle.

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 Components of a Vector (3)

The x-component of a vector is the projection along the x-axis.

The y-component of a vector is the projection along the y-axis.

This assumes the angle is measured with respect to the x-axis.

 If not, do not use these equations, use the sides of the triangle
directly.

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 Components of a Vector (4)

The components are the legs of the right triangle whose hypotenuse is
the length of .
 and
 May still have to find with respect to the positive x-axis

In a problem, a vector may be specified by its components or its

magnitude and direction.

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Components of a Vector (final)

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.

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Unit Vectors (continue)

The symbols , , and represent unit

vectors
They form a set of mutually
perpendicular vectors in a right-
handed coordinate system
The magnitude of each unit vector is
1

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Unit Vectors (continue)

is the same as and is the same as

etc.
The complete vector can be
expressed as:

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Position Vector, Example

A point lies in the xy plane and has

Cartesian coordinates of (x, y).
The point can be specified by the
position vector.

This gives the components of the

vector and its coordinates.

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 Adding Vectors Using Unit Vectors

Using , Then

So,
,
and
,

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Adding Vectors with Unit Vectors

Note the relationships among the

components of the resultant and the
components of the original vectors.

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 Three-Dimensional Extension

Using , Then

So,
, , and
and
, , etc

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Adding Three or More Vectors

The same method can be extended to adding three or more vectors.

Assume

and

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 Example – Taking a Hike

A hiker begins a trip by first walking 25.0 km southeast from her car.
She stops and sets up her tent for the night. On the second day, she
walks 40.0 km in a direction 60.0° north of east, at which point she
discovers a forest ranger’s tower.

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Example – Taking a Hike

A hiker begins a trip by first walking 25.0

km southeast from her car. She stops
and sets up her tent for the night. On the
second day, she walks 40.0 km in a
direction 60.0° north of east, at which
point she discovers a forest ranger’s
tower.

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Example – Solution, Conceptualize and
Categorize
 Conceptualize the problem by drawing a
sketch as in the figure.
 Denote the displacement vectors on the
first and second days by and
respectively.
 Use the car as the origin of coordinates.
 The vectors are shown in the figure.
 Drawing the resultant , we can now
categorize this problem as an addition of
two vectors.

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Example – Solution, Analysis

Analyze this problem by using our new

knowledge of vector components.
The first displacement has a magnitude of
25.0 km and is directed 45.0°below the
positive x axis.
Its components are:

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Example – Solution, Analysis 2

Determine the components of the hiker’s

resultant displacement for the trip.
 Find an expression for the resultant in
terms of unit vectors.
The resultant displacement for the trip has
components given by

In unit vector form,

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Example – Solution, Finalize

The resultant vector has a magnitude of

41.3 km and is directed 24.1°north of east.
The units of are km, which is reasonable
for a displacement.
From the graphical representation ,
estimate that the final position of the hiker is
at about (38 km, 17 km) which is consistent
with the components of the resultant.

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Example – Solution, Finalize (continue)

Both components of the resultant are

positive, putting the final position in the first
quadrant of the coordinate system.
 This is also consistent with the figure.

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