sheriff (aas3563) HW1-a li (55140)

This print-out should have 9 questions.

Multiple-choice questions may continue on
the next column or page find all choices
before answering.
001 (part 1 of 3) 10.0 points
The dot or scalar product of two (3d) vectors ~a = ha1 , a2, a3 i and ~b = hb1 , b2, b3 i is
defined as
~a ~b =

3
X

a i bi = a 1 b1 + a 2 b2 + a 3 b3 .

i=1

Explanation:
From the definition, this is simply calculated by
~a ~b = a1 b1 + a2 b2 + a3 b3
= 10 3.3 + 7.5 6.75 + 0 0
= 83.625 .
002 (part 2 of 3) 10.0 points
Determine , the angle between ~a and ~b. Express your answer in degrees.
Correct answer: 27.0766.
Explanation:
From the geometric interpretation of the
scalar product,
!
~b
~
a

= cos1
k~a kk~b k

In 3d Euclidean space, the scalar product

has a geometric interpretation, given by
~a ~b =k~a kk~b k cos ,

~
~a b

q
= cos1 q
2
2
2
2
2
2
a 1 + a 2 + a 3 b1 + b2 + b3


83.625
1
= cos
12.5 7.51349
= 27.0766 .
003 (part 3 of 3) 10.0 points

where is the angle between ~a and ~b and the

norm(length) of a vector k~a k is defined by

k~a k= ~a ~a .

If two vectors are perpendicular, what is their

In words, the scalar product of two vectors can

be thought of as the product of the magnitude
of ~a with the magnitude of the projection of ~b
onto the direction of ~a. It is used to calculate
the product of vector quantities when only the
parallel components of each vector contribute
(e.g., Work = Force Displacement).

Correct answer: 0.

Let ~a = h10, 7.5, 0i and ~b = h3.3, 6.75, 0i.

Calculate ~a ~b.

Correct answer: 83.625.

scalar product?

Explanation:
From the geometric interpretation, one can
see that when = 90 , the scalar product is
equal to zero.
004 (part 1 of 3) 10.0 points
Recall that, in a 2d plane polar coordinate
system, a point in space is described by its
radial distance r from the origin and the angle

sheriff (aas3563) HW1-a li (55140)

between the +x-axis and a line drawn from

the origin to the point. For example, the point
(3, /4) looks like:

The relations between cartesian (x, y) coordinates and plane polar (r, ) are given by
x = r cos , y = r sin , x2 + y 2 = r 2 .
Question: A circle of radius R centered at
the origin is described in plane polar coordinates by r = R. What are the Cartesian (i.e.,
(x,y)) coordinates of a point on the circle at
some arbitrary angle , expressed in terms of
polar quantities? (Note: you will frequently
parametrize a point on a circle in this way.)
1. (R, )
2. (R sin , R cos )
 
2
2
1 y
3. (x + y , tan
)
x
4. (x, y)
5. (x cos , y sin )
6. (R cos , R sin ) correct
Explanation:
From the Cartesian/plane polar relations given above, the x-coordinate is
R cos and the y-coordinate is R sin , so
(R cos , R sin ) is the correct choice.
005 (part 2 of 3) 10.0 points
In 3d, we may extend this idea to cylindrical
coordinates (r, , z), which you may think of
as a plane polar coordinate system with the
z-dimension tacked on.

This coordinate system is useful when dealing with problems that have radial symmetry
about some central axis.
Question: You are given a hollow cylinder
of radius R whose central axis is the z-axis
and whose base rests on the xy-plane. What
are the Cartesian coordinates of an arbitrary
point on the surface of the cylinder in terms
of cylindrical quantities?
 
2
2
1 y
1. (x + y , tan
, z)
x
2. (R sin , R cos , z)
3. (R cos , R sin , z) correct
4. (R, , z)
5. (x cos , y sin , z)
6. (x, y, z)
Explanation:
Since the cylindrical coordinate system is
just a plane polar system with the z-axis appended to it, the correct answer is the same as
in 1 above, but with the z coordinate added:
(R cos , R sin , z)
006 (part 3 of 3) 10.0 points
In cases where we have radial symmetry about
the origin (usually called spherical symmetry), it is most useful to use spherical coordinates (r, , ). In the spherical coordinate
system, a point is defined by: its radial distance from the origin r; the azimuthal angle
, defined as the angle between the +x-axis
and the projection on the xy-plane of the line

sheriff (aas3563) HW1-a li (55140)

drawn from the origin to the point; the polar angle , defined as the angle between the
+z axis and the line drawn from the origin
to the point. Note that for the polar angle,
0 .

A particle undergoes two displacements.

The first has a magnitude of 189 cm and
makes an angle of 110 with the positive x
axis. The resultant displacement has a magnitude of 155 cm and is directed at an angle
of 31.6 to the positive x axis.
Find the magnitude of the second displacement.
Correct answer: 219.009 cm.
Explanation:
Let :

R1 = 189 cm
R = 155 cm

Question: You are given a solid sphere of

radius R centered at the origin. What are the
Cartesian coordinates of an arbitrary point
within the sphere in terms of spherical quantities. You will need to use the figure to
determine the x,y, and z coordinates in terms
of their spherical counterparts.

r1

3. (r sin cos , r sin sin , r cos ) correct

4. (r sin cos , r sin sin , r cos )
5. (R sin cos , R sin sin , R cos )
6. (r cos cos , r cos sin , r sin )
Explanation:
Examining the figure, the projection onto
the xy plane of the line drawn from the origin
to an arbitrary point is seen to be r sin . The
component of this projection along the x-axis
is r sin cos , and the projection along the
y-axis is r sin sin . Finally, the projection
onto the z-axis of the line drawn from the origin to the arbirary point is seen to be r cos .
Combining everything, the correct answer is
(r sin cos , r sin sin , r cos ).
007 (part 1 of 2) 10.0 points

1 = 110 and
= 31.6 .

r2

R = R1 + R2
R2 = R R1 ,

1. (x, y, z)
2. (r sin sin , r sin cos , r cos )

at
at

so

R2x = (155 cm) cos 31.6 (189 cm) cos 110

= 196.659 cm , and
R2y = (155 cm) sin 31.6 (189 cm) sin 110
= 96.3841 cm ,
and the magnitude is
q
2 + R2
R2x
2y
q
= (196.659 cm)2 + (96.3841 cm)2

|R2 | =

= 219.009 cm .

008 (part 2 of 2) 10.0 points

What is the direction of the second displacement (with positive measured counterclockwise from the x axis, and between the limits
of 180 and +180 )?
Correct answer: 26.1098 .
Explanation:

sheriff (aas3563) HW1-a li (55140)

tan =

s2y
s2x

2.


s2y
= arctan
s
 2x

96.3841 cm
= arctan
196.659 cm


= 26.1098 .
009 10.0 points
~
~
~ D,
~ and E
~ are shown in
Vectors A, B, C,
the figure. For convenience, the tails of each
vector are arbitrarily located at (0,0).
y
A
5
4
C
3
2
1
x
0
1
E
2
3
D
4
5
5 3 B 1 0 1 2 3 4 5
Identify
~ = A
~ B
~ C
~ D
~ E
~,
R
1.
y
5
4
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
4
5
5

R
3

1 0 1 2 3 4 5

5
4
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
4
5
5

R
3

1 0 1 2 3 4 5

3.
y
5
4
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
4
5
5

1 0 1 2 3 4 5
y

5
4
3
2
1
4.
0
1
2
3
4
5
5
correct

R
x

1 0 1 2 3 4 5

5. None of these figures is correct.

Explanation:

sheriff (aas3563) HW1-a li (55140)

Let :

(xa , ya ) = (5, 5) ,
(xb , yb ) = (2, 5) ,
(xc , yc ) = (1, 3) ,
(xd , yd ) = (2, 3) , and
(xe , ye ) = (3, 1) .

xr = (5) (2) (1) (2) (3) = 3 and

yr = (5) (5) (3) (3) (1) = 1 ,
so (xr , yr ) = (3, 1) .
y
5
4
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
4
5
A
5

D
E

C
3

1 0 1 2 3 4 5