Mechanics

Lecture 8
21.9.16
Enrollment key - ZCA101B

Vectors
To describe the location in space
In two dimensions, description is based on the Cartesian coordinate
system
called rectangular coordinates

To represent a point in a plane also possible by

coordinates (r, )

plane polar

is the angle between a fixed axis and a line drawn from the origin to the
point.
is usually measured counterclockwise

starting with the plane polar coordinates

can obtain the Cartesian coordinates

definitions of trigonometry

Pythagorean theorem

 conversions between Cartesian and polar coordinates done by modern calculators

Problem 13
The polar coordinates of a point are r = 5.50 m and = 240. What are the Cartesian
coordinates of this point?
Answer
the polar coordinates (r, ) of a point P are known

Properties of Vectors

Net displacement;
(Commutative law)
More than two vectors;
(associative law).

Home work
A fly lands on one wall of a room. The lower left-hand corner of the wall is selected as the
origin of a two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system. If the fly is located at the point having
coordinates (2.00, 1.00) m, (a) how far is it from the origin? (b) What is its location in polar
coordinates?
Adding two vectors with same magnitude and having opposite direction
this property can be used to define the difference between two vectors
(vector subtraction);
Components of Vectors
A component of a vector is the projection of the vector on an
axis.
The process of finding the components of a vector is called
resolving the vector

 To resolve b vector,
a positive component bx and a negative component by

Vector has 3 components, x, y and z,

if you shift a vector without changing its direction, its components
do not change
Finding the Components geometrically
vector can be expressed as the sum of two other component vectors Ax and Ay
Three vectors form a right triangle

Ax represents the projection of vector A in x axis

Ay represents the projection of vector A in y axis
Can be positive or negative

the definition of sine and cosine

cos = Ax/A

sin = Ay/A.

 The magnitude and direction of vector A are related to

its components
A unit vector is a dimensionless vector having a
magnitude of exactly 1
to specify a given direction
i, j, and k are representing unit vectors pointing in the
positive x, y, and z
form a set of mutually perpendicular vectors in a righthanded coordinate system
The magnitude of each unit vector equals 1

The product of the component Ax and the unit vector i

has magnitude |Ax|

the unit-vector notation for the vector A

The position vector in unit vector form

For addition of two vectors;

Components of Resultant vector

in the component method, add all the x components together

Magnitude of vector R and the angle it makes with the x axis

involving motion in three component directions

If vector A, and vector B both have x, y, and z components

Magnitude of R
angle x that R makes with the x axis

Problem 13
In a maze, a person undergo three displacements as indicated, where the last segment is
parallel to the superimposed x axis. when the person reach pint c,
a) What are the magnitude?
b) Angle of the person displacement from point i ?
Solution
a) To find the net displacement dnet
b) first evaluate this sum for the x components alone and than y components
c) Finally, we construct dnet from its x and y components
Draw the components for the first displacement, second and third respectively in x and
y directions
For x component,
Net displacement

For y component,

Net displacement in y direction

construct the vector using these values

form the legs of a right triangle
the vector forms the hypotenuse

Find the magnitude and angle using

The angle is negative because it is measured clockwise from positive x.