6.

3 Vectors in the Plane

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What You Should Learn
• Represent vectors as directed line segments.

• Write the component forms of vectors.

• Perform basic vector operations and represent

vectors graphically.

• Write vectors as linear combinations of unit

vectors.

2
What You Should Learn
• Find the direction angles of vectors.

• Use vectors to model and solve real-life

problems.

3
Introduction

4
Introduction
Many quantities in geometry and physics, such as area,
time, and temperature, can be represented by a single real
number. Other quantities, such as force and velocity,
involve both magnitude and direction and cannot be
completely characterized by a single real number. To
represent such a quantity, you can use a directed line
segment, as shown in Figure 6.17.

Figure 6.17

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Introduction
The set of all directed line segments that are equivalent to
a given directed line segment is a vector v in the
plane, written (meaning start at P and go towards/through
Q):

Vectors are denoted by lowercase, boldface letters such as

u, v and w.

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Example 1 – Equivalent Directed Line Segments

Let u be represented by the directed line segment from

P(0, 0) to Q(3, 2)

and let v be represented by the directed line segment from

R(1, 2) to S(4, 4)

as shown in Figure 6.19.

Show that u = v.

Figure 6.19
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Example 1 – Solution
From the Distance Formula, it follows that and have
the same magnitude.

Moreover, both line segments have the same direction,

because they are both directed toward the upper right on
lines having the same slope.

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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

So, and have the same magnitude and direction,

and it follows that u = v.

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Component Form of a Vector

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Component Form of a Vector
The directed line segment whose initial point is the origin is
often the most convenient representative of a set of
equivalent directed line segments. This representative of
the vector v is in standard position.

A vector whose initial point is at the origin (0, 0) can be

uniquely represented by the coordinates of its terminal
point (v1, v2). This is the component form of a vector v,
written as

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Component Form of a Vector
The coordinates v1 and v2 are the components of v. If both
the initial point and the terminal point lie at the origin, then v
is the zero vector and is denoted by

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Component Form of a Vector
Two vectors and are equal if and
only if u1 = v1 and u2 = v2.

For instance, in Example 1, the vector u from P(0, 0) to

Q(3, 2) is

and the vector v from R(1, 2) to S(4, 4) is

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Example 1 – Finding the Component Form of a Vector

Find the component form and magnitude of the vector v

that has initial point (4, –7) and terminal point (–1, 5).

Solution:
Let

P(4, –7) = (p1, p2)

and

Q(–1, 5) = (q1, q2)

as shown in Figure 6.20. Figure 6.20

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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

Then, the components of are

v1 = q1 – p1 = –1 – 4 = – 5

v2 = q2 – p2 = 5 – (–7) = 12.

So, and the magnitude of v is

= 13.
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Vector Operations

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Vector Operations
The two basic vector operations are scalar multiplication
and vector addition. Geometrically, the product of a
vector v and a scalar k is the vector that is | k | times as long
as v. If k is positive, then k v has the same direction as v,
and if k is negative, then k v has the opposite direction of v,
as shown in Figure 6.21.

Figure 6.21
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Vector Operations
To add two vectors u and v geometrically, first position
them (without changing their lengths or directions) so that
the initial point of the second vector v coincides with the
terminal point of the first vector u (head to tail). The sum u
+ v is the vector formed by joining the initial point of the first
vector u with the terminal point of the second vector v, as
shown in Figure 6.22.

Figure 6.22
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Vector Operations
The vector u + v is often called the resultant of vector
addition

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Vector Operations
The negative of is

–v = (–1)v
Negative

and the difference of u and v is

u – v = u + (– v) Add (–v). See figure 6.23.

Difference

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Example 3 – Vector Operations
Let and and find each of the
following vectors.

a. 2v b. w – v c. v + 2w

Solution:
a. Because you have

A sketch of 2v is shown in Figure 6.24. Figure 6.24

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Example 3(b) – Solution cont’d

The difference of w and v is

A sketch of w – v is shown in
Figure 6.25. Note that the figure
shows the vector difference
w – v as the sum w + (– v).

Figure 6.25
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Example 3(c) – Solution cont’d

The sum of v and 2w is

A sketch of v + 2w is shown in
Figure 6.26. Read slide 24, but do
not copy it down.
Figure 6.26
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Vector Operations

24
Unit Vectors

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Unit Vectors
In many applications of vectors, it is useful to find a unit
vector that has the same direction as a given nonzero
vector v. To do this, you can divide v by its length to obtain

Unit vector in direction of v

Note that u is a scalar multiple of v. The vector u has a

magnitude of 1 and the same direction as v. The vector u is
called a unit vector in the direction of v.

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Example 4 – Finding a Unit Vector
Find a unit vector in the direction of .

Solution:
The unit vector in the direction of v is

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Example 4 – Solution cont’d

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Unit Vectors
The unit vectors and are called the standard
unit vectors and are denoted by

and

as shown in Figure 6.27.(Note that

the lowercase letter is written in
boldface to distinguish it from the
imaginary number )

Figure 6.27
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Unit Vectors
These vectors can be used to represent any vector
as follows.

The scalars v1 and v2 are called the horizontal and vertical

components of v, respectively. The vector sum
is called a linear combination of the vectors
i and j. Any vector in the plane can be written as a linear
combination of the standard unit vectors i and j.
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Example 5 – Writing a Linear Combination of Unit Vectors

Let u be the vector with initial point (2, –5) and terminal
point (–1, 3). Write u as a linear combination of the
standard unit vectors i and j.

Solution:
Begin by writing the component form of the vector u.

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Direction Angles

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Direction Angles
If u is a unit vector such that  is the angle (measured
counterclockwise) from the positive x-axis to u, then the
terminal point of u lies on the unit circle and you have as

shown in Figure 6.29. The

angle  is the direction
angle of the vector u.
Read slides 33 & 34, but
do not copy them down.

Figure 6.29 33
Direction Angles
Suppose that u is a unit vector with direction angle . If
is any vector that makes an angle  with the
positive x-axis, then it has the same direction as u and you
can write

For instance, the vector v of length 3 that makes an angle

of 30 with the positive x-axis is given by

where
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Direction Angles
Because it follows
that the direction angle  for v is determined from

Quotient identity

Multiply numerator and

denominator by

Simplify.

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Example 7 – Finding Direction Angles of Vectors

Find the direction angle of the vector.

u = 3i + 3j

Solution:
The direction angle is

So,  = 45, as shown in Figure 6.30.

Figure 6.30

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