Vector

Vector & Scalar

• A quantity which has a direction as well as a magnitude is
called a VECTOR. Ex: velocity, displacement, force,
momentum.
A vector is represented by an arrow. The arrow points the
direction of the vector and its length represents the
magnitude of the vector.

symbol: velocity: v (bold) or v

A quantity which has only a magnitude is called a SCALAR.

Ex: time, temperature, energy.

Which of the following are vector quantities and which are

scalar quantities? (a) your age (b) acceleration (c) speed
(d) mass (e) gravitational field.
 Addition of Vectors – Graphical method
Because the vectors are quantities that have direction as well as
magnitude, they must be added in a special way.

Adding vectors along the same line

Simple arithmetic is enough.
Ex: a person walks 8 km east, and 6 km 8 km 6 km
east. Thus, the person walks 8 + 6 = 14 km
east of the point of origin. We say that the Resultant = 14 km
net or resultant displacement is 14 km to the
east.
14 km
If the direction of the vectors are in
opposite, then the resultant is obtained 8 km
by subtracting them.
Resultant = 6 km
 Adding vectors that are at right angles:
Tail-To-Tip Method
The rules are:
1. On a diagram, draw one of the vectors to
scale.
2. Next draw the second vector to scale and
place its tail at the tip of the first vector
and be sure its direction is correct.
3. The arrow drawn from the tail of the first
vector to the tip of the second represents
the sum, or resultant, of the two vectors.
4. The length of the resultant can be
measured with a ruler and compared to
the scale. Angles can be measured with
a protractor.
It is not important in which order the vectors
are taken. V1 + V2 = V2 + V1
Adding vectors that are at right angles:
Tail-To-Tip Method
 Subtraction of vectors and
multiplication of a vector by a scalar
(- v) is a vector with the same magnitude as v
v
but opposite in direction.
-v
Note: no vector has negative magnitude.

Subtraction of vectors: A – B = A + (- B)
Multiplication of a vector, V, by a (+) scalar, c, changes the magnitude
of the vector (cV) but not the direction.

Question:
The magnitudes of two vectors A and B are A = 12 units and B = 8
units. Which of the following pairs of numbers represents the largest
and smallest possible values for the magnitude of the resultant
vector R = A + B? (a) 14.4 units, 4 units (b) 12 units, 8 units (c) 20
units, 4 units (d) none of these answers.
 Adding vectors that are at right angles:
Parallelogram Method
vR v2 vR

v1 v2 = v2 =
+ v1 v1
Tail-to-tip Parallelogram

vR2 = v12 + v22 + 2v1v2 cos 

Remember law of cosines?

a2 = b2 + c2 – 2bc cos 
b2 = a2 + c2 – 2ac cos 
c2 = a2 + b2 – 2ab cos 

Example:
A car travels 20.0 km due north and then 35.0 km in a direction 60.0°
west of north. Find the magnitude and direction of the car’s resultant
displacement. [48.2 km, 39.0o]
 Analytic Method for adding vectors: Components
Adding vectors graphically using a ruler
Resolving the vectors
and protractor is often not accurate, and is
into components.
not useful for vectors in three dimensions.

The components of vector A:

The components of vector B:
Ax = A cos  Ay = A sin 
Bx’ = B cos ’ By’ = B sin ’
1
Ay
θ  tan
A  A 2x  A 2y Ax

A vector A can be specified either with its components Ax and Ay or

with its magnitude and direction │A│and .
 Unit Vector
A unit vector is a dimensionless vector having a magnitude of
exactly 1. We shall use the symbols to represent unit
vectors pointing in the positive x, y, and z directions, respectively.

The unit vectors ˆi , ˆj ,kˆ form a set of

mutually perpendicular vectors in a right-
handed coordinate system.
The magnitude of each unit vector equals 1
ˆi  ˆj  k
ˆ 1

The unit–vector notation for the vector A is:


A  A x ˆi  A y ˆj
How to use components to add vectors when the graphical
method is not sufficiently accurate? 
A  A x ˆi  A y ˆj
Suppose we want to add vector B to vector A 
B  B x ˆi  B y ˆj
Add the x and y components separately.
The resultant vector R = A + B:

   
R  A x ˆi  A y ˆj  B x ˆi  B y ˆj


R  A x  B x ˆi  A y  B y ˆj 

Because R  R x ˆi  R y ˆj then the Rx = Ax + Bx
components of the resultant vector are: Ry = Ay + By

The angle R makes with

The magnitude of R is: the x axis is:

R  Rx  Ry 
2 2
A x  B x 2  A y  B y 2 tanθ 
Ry

A y  By
Rx A x  Bx
At times, we need to consider situations involving motion in three
component directions. We express the vector in the form:
 
A  A x ˆi  A y ˆj  A zkˆ B  B x ˆi  B y ˆj  B zkˆ The sum of A and B is

R  R x ˆi  R y ˆj  R zkˆ  A x  B x ˆi  A y  B y ˆj  A z  B z kˆ

The magnitude of the vector is: R  R x  R y  R z

2 2 2

Rx
The angle x that R makes with the x axis : cos θ x 
R

Question:

If A + B = 0, the corresponding components of the two vectors A and B

must be (a) equal (b) positive (c) negative (d) of opposite.
Example:
 
Tiga vektor seperti pada gambar mempunyai B
 A
satuan sembarang.
 Besar vektor A = 44,0,

besar vektor B = 26,5 dan besar vektor C = 56o 28o
31,0. Tentukan jumlahan (resultant) ketiganya. x
Nyatakan resultant tersebut dalam:

1. komponen-nya C
2. besar dan sudut terhadap sumbu x.

Example:
The helicopter view in Figure shows two people
pulling on a stubborn mule. Find (a) the single
force that is equivalent to the two forces shown,
and (b) the force that a third person would have
to exert on the mule to make the resultant force
equal to zero. The forces are measured in units
of newtons (abbreviated N).
 
 39.3î  181 ĵ N
 The Scalar Product of Two Vectors
The scalar product of vectors A and B as A.B
 
A  B  A B cosθ

Note that A and B need not have the same units

   
The scalar product obeys commutative. A B  B  A
The scalar product obeys
distributive law of multiplication,
  
 
   
A  B  C  A B  A  C

If A is perpendicular to B ( = 90°), then A.B = 0.

 The Cross Product of Two Vectors
The cross product of vectors A and B as AxB  
  C B
A  B  A B sinθ  
AB 
The vector product does
not obey commutative.
 
  
A B   B A  A

Vector A, B, and the product (vector C) is perpendicular to each other.

z z
î  ĵ  k̂ y ˆj  iˆ  kˆ y 
x x j
  
k  j i 
j i
 
i j  
i -k

ĵ  kˆ  iˆ kˆ  iˆ  ˆj
For vector u = u1 + u2 + u3 and vector v = v1 + v2 + v3, the cross
product of vector u x v:

i j k
u2 u3 ˆ u1 u3 ˆ u1 u2 ˆ
u  v  u1 u2 u3  i j k
v 2 v3 v1 v 3 v1 v 2
v1 v 2 v 3
u  v  u2v 3  v 2u3 î  u1v 3  v1u3  ĵ  u1v 2  v1u2 k̂

Example:
Let vector u = ‹1, – 2, –1› and v = ‹– 2, 4, 1›. Calculate u x v and v x u.
[ u x v = 2i + j ]
 Homework:
A man pushing a mop across a floor causes it to undergo two
displacements. The first has a magnitude of 150 cm and makes an angle
of 120° with the positive x axis. The resultant displacement has a
magnitude of 140 cm and is directed at an angle of 35.0° to the positive x
axis. Find the magnitude and direction of the second displacement.

A person going for a walk follows the

path shown in Fig. The total trip
consists of four straight-line paths. At
the end of the walk, what is the
person’s resultant displacement
measured from the starting point?

Vectors A and B have equal magnitudes of 5.00. If the sum of A and

B is the vector 6.00ˆj, determine the angle between A and B.