AP Physics Vectors 101

Good Stuff on Vectors: Weve briefly mentioned vectors and scalars. The time has now come
to undertake a thorough study of the things.
Of the two, scalars are the easiest to understand and deal with. See, when you deal with scalars, its all
very simple, theyre just like everyday numbers just use the regular arithmetic stuff that you
have laboriously mastered during the past !" # !$ years. %ike adding apples with apples.
&ealing with vectors is a whole 'nuther thang. (ts more like adding apples and pork bellies together
or something.
When you add scalars you simply do this) $ kg * + kg , - kg.
.ut with vectors, $ * + might e/ual 01 %ord, how can this be1
Well, your basic vectors have both magnitude and direction. (f you add two velocities, one that is
north at !" m2s and the other is south at !" m2s, you end up with 3ero m2s. 4an you see why this is so5
The classic way to add vectors is to represent them with arrows, draw them to scale, and then measure
out things with a ruler and protractor to see what the answer would be.
6 vector is represented as an arrow. The arrowhead points in the
vectors direction and the length represents the vectors
magnitude. To represent the magnitude, you have to use a scale to
figure out how long to draw the thing. 7ach vector has a head and a
tail.
The graphical vector addition method is sometimes called the 8headtotail9 method. :ou draw one
vector, then draw the second vector with its tail on the head of the first. The ne;t vector would be
drawn with its tail on the head of the second and so on. The final answer, known as the resultant
vector, is found by drawing a vector form the tail of the first vector to the head of the last.
(t makes no difference in what order you add the vectors as you can see by the drawing above.
++
R = A + B
A
B
t a i l
h e a d
a
b
:ou will not be re/uired to add vectors graphically # its a lot of trouble and not very accurate and
there are better ways to do it. <ere are some other e;amples.
So how do we go about doing this5 . (ts way too much trouble. :ou need to measure things super
accurately, draw angles precisely, etc. This is all very tedious stuff. (ts far easier to add them utili3ing
other, better methods. Thus we will not use the head to tail thing.
<eres what you should be able to do with the head to tail bit) you should be able to make a rough
drawing of the vector addition. This is very useful because it will give you an idea of what the
appro;imate direction and magnitude of the resultant vector ought to look like.
Trigonometry: So how do we solve vector problems5 Well, gosh, thanks for asking. <eres how
we do the thing we use trigonometry1
6ctually, youre going to get to use a heck of a lot of trigonometry in this course, you lucky devil.
<ere is a right triangle.
(n reference to angle , side a is called the opposite side =it is farthest away from the angle>, side b is
called the adjacent side =it is 8adjacent9 to the angle, i.e., right ne;t to it>, and side c is called the
hypotenuse.
This is what trigonometry is based upon # the ratio of the sides of similar triangles. We will be using
three trigonometry functions, that is, three ratios? the sine, cosine, and tangent.
These functions are defined as)
sin
side opposite
hypotenuse

= cos
side adjacent
hypotenuse

= tan
side opposite
side adjacent

=
+0
R = A + B
A
B
R = A + B
B
A
a
b
c
d
r
=
a
+
b
+
c
+
d
c
a
b
@or our original triangle)
sin
a
c
= cos
b
c
= tan
a
b
=
6 plane travels east -+- km, then flies north, then flies back to its takeoff point a distance of A!B
km. =a> <ow far north did it travel5 =b> What is the angle 5
=a> 6 simple way to find the distance the plane traveled north would be to use the Cythagorean
theorem.
$ $ $
c a b = +
solve for a)
( ) ( )
$ $
$ $
A!B -+- 0AD a c b km km km = = =
=b> To find the angle we can use the tangent function =opposite side over adjacent side>)
o
0AD
tan 0!.B
-+-
a km
b km
= = =
This is actually a vector problem # it may be your very first vector problem. Wow1 &ont you feel all
warm and fu33y inside5
Vector Components: 6ny vector can be drawn as the resultant of two perpendicular vectors,
one along the x a;is and the other along the y a;is. The two vectors are perpendicular to each
other and are called component vectors. Turning a single vector into two component vectors
is called 8resolving the vector into its ; and y component vectors9. This is done using
trigonometry. <eres an e;ample)
+-
a
5 3 5 k m
c
a
b
Eector 6 is the one we start with. (t is made up of two vectors that lie in the ; and y plane. We call the
one along the ; a;is 86;9 and the one along the y a;is is 86y9. Fsing trig we see that)
cos
x
A A = sin
y
A A =
The angle can also be easily found)
!
tan
Y
X
A
A

=


6 ball is thrown with a velocity of $$.- m2s at an angle of $+." to the hori3on. What are its
vertical and hori3ontal velocity components5
The components look like this)
Fsing trig to solve the thing we get)
cos $$.- cos $+." $".A
x x
m m
v v v
s s
= = =
sin $$.- sin $+." B.AD
y y
m m
v v v
s s
= = =
+G
A
A
A
x
y

v
2 3 . 0
o
v

v
x
v
y
More Vector Problems:
6 velocity vector has the following components) vy is !$.0 m2s and vx is !-.0 m2s, find the angle
.
!
tan
Y
X
v
v

=


!
!$.0
tan +B.B
!-.0
o
m
s
m
s

= =




6 boat is traveling north directly across a river that is -." km across. The current is to the east at
+." km2h. The boat travels at -." km2h. =a> What is the boats resultant velocity5 =b> <ow long
does it take to cross the river5 =c> <ow far down the bank does it drift before it reaches the far
side5
=a> <ere is a vector addition drawing? it gives one a basic idea of what the answer looks like.
@irst we find resultant velocity)
$ $ $
c a b = +
$ $
c a b = +
$ $
+." -." -.B
r
km km km
v
h h h

= + =


=b> @ind the time to cross) the velocity component that is in the direction to cross the river determines
how /uickly the boat crosses, so use
b
v .
x
v
t
=
x
t
v
=
! !
-""." ".!""
!"""
-."
km
t m h
km
m
h



= =




=c> @ind distance in hori3ontal direction)
x
v
t
= x vt =
( )
+." ".!" ".+"
km
x h km
h
= =
+A
v
b
v
c
v
r

Hourmet .rownie Iecipe

! bo; brownie mi; and bake as directed11
OJ7 Ao3 jar marshmallow crKme
Spread crKme onto baked brownies appro;imately !" # !- minutes after they come out of the oven.
6s it melts it is easier to spread.
@rosting)
$ cups powdered sugar,
L cup butter at room temperature,
!2+ cup cocoa,
!2+ cup evaporated milk
Mi; all the ingredients on high using a mi;er and spread on top of marshmallow creme
+B