Jonah Bengt Enrique December 20, 2007

BSCS 2 Physics

Scalar
- is a simple physical quantity that does not depend on direction, and is
therefore not changed by coordinate system rotations (in Newtonian mechanics), or
by Lorentz transformations (in relativity).

Examples:

For example, the distance between two points in space is a scalar, as are the mass,
charge, and kinetic energy of an object, or the temperature and electric potential at
a point inside a medium. On the other hand, the electric field at a point is not a
scalar in this sense, since to specify it one must give three real numbers that
depend on the coordinate system chosen. The speed of an object is a scalar (e.g.
180 km/h), while its velocity is not (i.e. 180 km/h north). The gravitational force
acting on a particle is not a scalar, but its magnitude is.

Examples of scalar quantities in Newtonian mechanics:

• electric charge and charge density

• mass and mass density

• speed, but not velocity or momentum

• temperature

• energy and energy density

• time

• pressure

• entropy

• negentropy
Jonah Bengt Enrique December 20, 2007

BSCS 2 Physics

Vector
- is a concept characterized by a magnitude and a direction, and which sums
with other vectors according to the Parallelogram law. A vector can be thought of as
an arrow in Euclidean space, drawn from an initial point A pointing to a terminal

point B. This vector is commonly denoted by indicating that the arrow points
from A to B. In this way, the arrow holds all the information of the vector quantity —
the magnitude is represented by the arrow's length and the direction by the
direction of the arrow's head and body. This magnitude and direction are those
necessary to carry one from A to B.

Vectors have a variety of algebraic properties. Vectors may be scaled by

stretching them out, or compressing them. They can be flipped around so as to
point in the opposite direction. Two vectors sharing the same initial point can also
be added or subtracted.

Informally, a vector is a quantity characterized by a magnitude (in

mathematics a number, in physics a number times a unit) and a direction, often
represented graphically by an arrow. Sometimes, one speaks of bound or fixed
vectors, which are vectors whose initial point is the origin. This is in contrast to free
vectors, which are vectors whose initial point is not necessarily the origin.

Vectors are fundamental in the physical sciences. They can be used to

represent any quantity that has both a magnitude and direction, such as velocity,
the magnitude of which is speed. For example, the velocity 5 meters per second
upward could be represented by the vector (0,5). Another quantity represented by a
vector is force, since it has a magnitude and direction. Vectors also describe many
other physical quantities, such as displacement, acceleration, electric and
magnetic fields, momentum, and angular momentum.
Jonah Bengt Enrique December 20, 2007

BSCS 2 Physics

Addition of Vectors
• Graphical Method

- Polygon Method

- Parallelogram Method

• Analytical Method

- Pythagorean Method

- Sine & Cosine Law

- Component Method

Resultant Vector – summation of all vectors

A. Vectors in the same direction

A = 5 cm, E B = 3 cm, E

Resultant Vector = 8
cm, E
 Graphical Method – Polygon Method (uses head-to-tail method)

- the Resultant Vector is drawn/illustrated by connecting the TAIL of the

first vector to the HEAD of the last vector.

 Analytical Method

Resultant Vector = A + B Note: The sum of two vectors in

= 5 cm, E + 3 cm, the same direction to the length
E of the resultant vector
= 5 cm + 3 cm
Resultant Vector = 8 cm, E
Jonah Bengt Enrique December 20, 2007

BSCS 2 Physics

B. Vectors in Opposite Directions

A = 5 cm, E R=A+B Note: When vectors are in

= 5 cm, E + 3 cm, opposite directions, the resultant
W vector is the difference of the
R = 2 cm, E B = 3 cm, W = 5 cm + (-3 cm) given vectors. Its direction is the
= 2 cm same as the direction of the
greater vector.
R = 2 cm, E

C. Vectors at an Angle

Examples: A = 30 units, E
B = 40 units, N
Scale: 1 segment = 10 units

1. Graphical Method

• Polygon Method (uses head-to-tail method)

- Magnitude is measured according to the scale used. Its direction is measured

using a protractor.

Resultant
B = 40 units, N

A = 20 units, E

• Parallelogram Method (uses tail-to-tail method)

Jonah Bengt Enrique December 20, 2007

BSCS 2 Physics

- Using the vectors as the sides, construct a parallelogram by drawing parallel

lines to the vectors. The drawn diagonal line of the parallelogram represents
the magnitude of the resultant vector.
A1

B R B1

• Analytical Method

Sine and Cosine Law – magnitude direction

Cosine Law (magnitude) Sine Law

c2 = a2 + b2 – 2ab cos C c/sin C = a/sin A = b/sin B

a2 = c2 + b2 – 2bc cos A

b2 = a2 + c2 – 2ac cos B

Component Method

• X component – projection of vector at the x-axis

-X +X

• Y component – projection of vector at the y-axis

+Y

-Y