VECTOR AND SCALAR QUANTITES

Lecture 2

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 Vector vs. Scalar Review
A library is located 0.5 mi from you.
Can you point where exactly it is?
You also
need to
know the
direction in
which you
should
walk to the
library!

• A vector quantity has both magnitude (value + unit) and

direction
• A scalar is completely specified by only a magnitude (value +
unit)
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 Vector and Scalar Quantities
 Vectors  Scalars:
 Displacement  Distance
 Velocity (magnitude and  Speed (magnitude of
direction!) velocity)
 Acceleration  Temperature
 Force  Mass
 Momentum  Energy
 Time
To describe a vector we need more information than to describe
a scalar! Therefore vectors are more complex!

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 Vector Notation
 To describe vectors we will use:
 The bold font: Vector A is A

 Or an arrow above the vector: A 
A
 Vectors as arrows pointing the direction

 Magnitude of a vector

 absolute value sign: A or just A,

 always positive

 equal to the length of a vector

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 Properties of Vectors
• Equality of Two Vectors
– Two vectors are equal if they have the same
magnitude and the same direction
• Movement of vectors in a diagram
– Any vector can be moved parallel to itself
without being affected 
A 
 Negative Vectors B
 Two vectors are negative if they have the same magnitude
but are 180°apart (opposite directions)
 
A  B; A   A  0 Education for a Fast Changing World
 Adding Vectors
• When adding vectors, their directions must be taken
into account
• Units must be the same
• Geometric Methods
– Use scale drawings
• Algebraic Methods
– More convenient

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 Adding Vectors Geometrically (Triangle Method)

• Draw the first vector A with the
appropriate length and in the direction  
specified, with respect to a coordinate A B 
system. B

• Draw the next vector B with the
appropriate length and in the direction
specified, with respect to a coordinate  
system whose origin is the end of vector A A
andparallel to the coordinate system used
for A : “tip-to-tail”. 
• The resultant is drawn from the
 origin of
A
to the end of the last vector B
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 Adding Vectors Graphically
• When you have many vectors, just
keep repeating the process until  
A B

all are included

  
A BC
• The resultant is still drawn from
the origin of the first vector to the  
A B
end of the last vector

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 Adding Vectors Geometrically (Polygon Method)
  
• Draw the first vector A with the appropriate A B
length and in the direction specified, with
respect to a coordinate system
 
• Draw the next vector B with the appropriate B
length and in the direction specified, with
respect to the same coordinate system
• Draw a parallelogram 
• The resultant is drawn as a diagonal from the A
origin
   
A B  B A
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 SAMPLE PROBLEM 1
• 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.

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 SAMPLE PROBLEM 2
• Use the graphical technique for adding vectors to
find the total displacement of a person who walks
the following three paths on a flat field. First, she
walks 25.0 m in direction 49.0° north of east.
Then, she walks 23.0 m heading 15.0° north of
east. Finally, she turns and walks 32.0 m in a
direction 68.0° south of east.
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 SAMPLE PROBLEM 3

• A bird flies 100 m due east from a tree,

then 50 m northwest. What is the bird’s
net displacement?

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 Vector Subtraction
• Special case of vector addition
–Add the negative of the subtracted 
B
vector
 
A  B  A  B

A 
• Continue with standard vector addition   B
A B
procedure

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 Describing Vectors Algebraically
Vectors: Described by the number, units and direction!

Polar Rectangular

Vectors: Can be described by their magnitude and direction. For example: Your
displacement is 1.5 m at an angle of 250.
Can be described by components? For example: your displacement is 1.36 m in
the positive x direction and 0.634 m in the positive y direction.
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 Components of a Vector
• It is useful to use rectangular components
• These are the projections of the vector along the x- and y-axes
• The x-component of a vector is the projection
along the x-axis
Ax
cos q  Ax  A cos q
A
• The y-component of a vector is the projection
along the y-axis
a
sin q 
Ay Ay  A sin q
q A
q • Then,
  
A  Ax  Ay
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 Components of a Vector
• The previous equations are valid only if θ is measured with
respect to the x-axis
• The components can be positive or negative and will have the
same units as the original vector
θ=0, Ax=A>0, Ay=0
θ=45°, Ax=A cos 45°>0, Ay=A sin 45°>0
Ax < 0 Ax > 0
θ=90°, Ax=0, Ay=A>0
Ay > 0 Ay > 0
θ θ=135°, Ax=A cos 135°<0, Ay=A sin 135°>0
Ax < 0 Ax > 0 θ=180°, Ax=A<0, Ay=0
Ay < 0 Ay < 0 θ=225°, Ax=A cos 225°<0, Ay=A sin 225°<0
θ=270°, Ax=0, Ay=A<0
θ=315°, Ax=A cos 315°<0, Ay=A sin 315°<0

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 More About Components
• The components are the legs of the right triangle whose
hypotenuse is A

 Ax  A cos(q )

 Ay  A sin(q )

 A   A 2  A 2
 x y

 Ay 1 
Ay 
tan q   or q  tan  
 Ax  Ax 
q

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 SAMPLE PROBLEM 4
• A hiker begins a trip by first walking 25.0 km southeast from her car. She
stops and sets up her tent for the night. On the second day, she walks 40.0
km in a direction 60.0° north of east, at which point she discovers a forest
N
ranger’s tower. Ax = ?
Tower

a) Determine the Ay = ?
R
components of the hiker’s Bx = ?

displacement for each By = ?

day. W Car E

b) Determine the 45° B =40km

components of the hiker’s Rx = ? A

=25km
resultant displacement R Ry = ? 60°

for the trip. Tent

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 SAMPLE PROBLEM 4: Solution  Ax  A cos(q )

 Ay  A sin(q )

 A   A 2  A 2
𝐴𝑥 = 𝐴 cos 𝜃 = 25𝑘𝑚 cos(315°) = 17.68𝑘𝑚  x y

N   Ay 
Tower
𝐴𝑦 = 𝐴 sin 𝜃 = 25𝑘𝑚 sin(315°) = −17.68𝑘𝑚  q  tan 1  
  Ax 
Note: θ is measured from
𝐵𝑥 = 𝐵 cos 𝜃 = 40𝑘𝑚 cos(60°) = 20𝑘𝑚 +x axis counterclockwise
R =41.32km
𝐵𝑦 = 𝐵 sin 𝜃 = 40𝑘𝑚 sin(60°) = 34.64𝑘𝑚

24.23°
Car E 𝑅𝑥 = 𝑥 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑅𝑦 = 𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡
W 45° B =40km
𝑅𝑥 = 𝐴𝑥 + 𝐵𝑥 = 17.68𝑘𝑚 + 20𝑘𝑚 𝑅𝑦 = 𝐴𝑦 + 𝐵𝑦 = −17.68𝑘𝑚 + 34.64𝑘𝑚
A
=25km 𝑅𝑥 = 37.68𝑘𝑚 𝑅𝑦 = 16.96𝑘𝑚
60°

𝑅= 𝑅𝑥 2 + 𝑅𝑦 2 = (37.68)2 +(16.96)2 = 41.32𝑘𝑚

Tent
S
𝑅𝑦 −1
16.96
𝜃= tan−1 = tan = 24.23°
𝑅𝑥 37.68
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 SAMPLE PROBLEM 5
• A pilot wishes to fly his plane to an airport north of his current
N
location. The plane has a speed of 290 m/s. B Airport
=50 m/s

a) If he is confronted by a wind
A
blowing east at 50 m/s, in what =290 m/s
θ
800km
direction will he need to head in
order to reach the desired E
W
destination?
b) How long will it take him to reach
the airport if it is 800 km away?

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 SAMPLE PROBLEM 5: Solution
N a) Use trigonometric function to calculate the angle

B Airport
𝑂 𝐵
sin 𝜃 = =
=50 m/s 𝐻 𝐴
𝐵 50
A 𝜃 = sin−1 = sin−1
=290 m/s
θ
C 𝐴 290
800km
𝜽 = 𝟗. 𝟗𝟑° W of N
b) Solve for the resultant vector C, then use velocity formula to solve for time
W 𝐴2 = 𝐵2 + 𝐶 2
E
𝐶= 𝐴2 − 𝐵 2 = (290)2 −(50)2 = 285.66𝑚/𝑠

𝑑 𝑑 800𝑘𝑚 103 𝑚
𝑠= 𝑡= =
𝑡 𝑠 285.66𝑚/𝑠 1𝑘𝑚
S 𝒕 = 𝟐𝟖𝟎𝟎. 𝟓𝟔𝒔
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 SAMPLE PROBLEM 6
• A ship at sea is due into a port
N

500.0 km due south in two days.

However, a severe storm comes
in and blows it 100.0 km due
east from its original position. W 100.0km E

How far is the ship from its θ

destination? In what direction A

500.0km
must it travel to reach its
destination?
Port

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 SAMPLE PROBLEM 6: Solution
N
a) Use Pythagorean theorem to compute for A

𝐴2 = 5002 + 1002
100.0km
W E 𝐴= 5002 + 1002 = 𝟓𝟎𝟗. 𝟗𝟎𝒌𝒎
θ

b) Use trigonometric function to solve for θ

A
500.0km
𝑂 500
tan 𝜃 = =
𝐴 100
500
𝜃 = tan−1
Port 100
𝜽 = 𝟕𝟖. 𝟔𝟗° S of W
S

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 SAMPLE PROBLEM 7
• On a hot summer day a
N

person goes for a walk to see B

4.2km
if they can find a 7-Eleven to C
1.4km
buy a Slurpee. He first walks A
3.5km

3.5 km [N], then 4.2 km [E] , R

W θ E
and finally 1.4 km [S] before
getting to the 7-Eleven.
Determine the displacement
of the person.
S

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 SAMPLE PROBLEM 7: Solution
N
a) Use component method to get Rx and Ry then solve for the resultant vector

𝑅𝑥 = 𝑥 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑅𝑦 = 𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡
B
4.2km

C
𝑅𝑥 = 𝐴𝑥 + 𝐵𝑥 + 𝐶𝑥 𝑅𝑦 = 𝐴𝑦 + 𝐵𝑦 + 𝐶𝑦
1.4km
A 𝑅𝑥 = 𝐴𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝐴 + 𝐵𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝐵 + 𝐶𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝐶 𝑅𝑦 = 𝐴𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝐴 + 𝐵𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝐵 + 𝐶𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝐶
3.5km
𝑅𝑥 = 3.5𝑐𝑜𝑠90 + 4.2𝑐𝑜𝑠0 + 1.4𝑐𝑜𝑠270 𝑅𝑦 = 3.5𝑠𝑖𝑛90 + 4.2𝑠𝑖𝑛0 + 1.4𝑠𝑖𝑛270
R
θ 𝑅𝑥 = 0 + 4.2 + 0 = 4.2𝑘𝑚 𝑅𝑦 = 3.5 + 0 + (−1.4) = 2.1𝑘𝑚
W E

𝑅= 𝑅𝑥 2 + 𝑅𝑦 2 = (4.2)2 +(2.1)2 = 𝟒. 𝟕𝒌𝒎

𝑅𝑦 −1
2.1
𝜃= tan−1 = tan N of E
𝑅𝑥 4.2 = 𝟐𝟔. 𝟓𝟕°

S b) Use trigonometric function to solve for θ

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 SAMPLE PROBLEM 8
• What is the net force acting on the ring in the figure?

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 Unit vectors
Unit vector is a vector that has a magnitude of 1, with no
units.
Its purpose is to point (to describe a direction in space).
Unit vectors uses hat or caret ( ˆ ) in the symbol to
distinguish it from ordinary vectors.

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 Unit vectors
Unit vectors 𝑖 can be defined as vectors pointing the x-
axis and unit vectors 𝑗 as vectors pointing the y-axis.

For example, using component method, vector A can be

expressed as:

𝐴 = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗

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 Unit vectors
𝑦
𝐴 = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗

𝐴
𝐴𝑦 𝑗

𝑗
𝑥
𝑂 𝑖 𝐴𝑥 𝑖

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 Unit vectors
When two vectors are presented: 𝐴 and 𝐵, their components can
be expressed as:
𝐴 = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗
𝐵 = 𝐵𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐵𝑦 𝑗
Their resultant, 𝑅, can be expressed as: 𝑅 = 𝐴 + 𝐵
𝑅 = (𝐴𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗) + (𝐵𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐵𝑦 𝑗)
𝑅 = (𝐴𝑥 + 𝐵𝑥 )𝑖 + (𝐴𝑦 + 𝐵𝑦 )𝑗
𝑅 = 𝑅𝑥 𝑖 + 𝑅𝑦 𝑗
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 𝑦
𝐴 𝐴 = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗
𝐴𝑦 𝑗 𝐵 = 𝐵𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐵𝑦 𝑗
𝐵𝑥 𝑖 𝑂
𝑥
𝑅𝑥 𝑖 𝐴𝑥 𝑖
𝑅𝑦 𝑗
𝑅

𝐵𝑦 𝑗 𝑅 =𝐴+𝐵

𝐵 𝑅 = (𝐴𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗) + (𝐵𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐵𝑦 𝑗)
𝑅 = (𝐴𝑥 + 𝐵𝑥 )𝑖 + (𝐴𝑦 + 𝐵𝑦 )𝑗
𝑅 = 𝑅𝑥 𝑖 + 𝑅𝑦 𝑗
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 Unit vectors
If all the unit vectors are not pointing on x-axis or y-
axis but pointing on z-axis, that is called unit vector
𝑘.
For example, using component method, vector A can
be expressed as:

𝐴 = 𝐴 𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗 + 𝐴𝑧 𝑘
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 Unit vectors
𝐴
𝑧
𝑦

𝐴𝑦 𝑗

𝐴𝑧 𝑘
𝑗
𝑘 𝐴 = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗 + 𝐴𝑧 𝑘

𝑥
𝑂 𝑖 𝐴𝑥 𝑖
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 Unit vectors
The magnitude of a vector expressed in unit vectors is the square root
of the sum of the square of each unit vector.
For example,
𝐴 = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗 + 𝐴𝑧 𝑘
The magnitude of 𝐴 is expressed as:
2
A= 𝑖 2 + 𝑗 2 + 𝑘

2 2 2
A= 𝐴𝑥 + 𝐴𝑦 + 𝐴𝑧
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 𝑧
𝐴
𝑦

𝐴𝑦 𝑗

𝐴𝑧 𝑘 𝐴 = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗 + 𝐴𝑧 𝑘
𝑗
𝑘 2 2 2
A= 𝐴𝑥 + 𝐴𝑦 + 𝐴𝑧
𝑥
𝑂 𝑖 𝐴𝑥 𝑖

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 Unit vectors
The unit vector of the direction for any given vector
is the ratio of that vector to its magnitude.
For example,
𝐴 = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗 + 𝐴𝑧 𝑘

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 Unit vectors
The unit vector of the direction (𝐴) of 𝐴 is expressed as:
𝐴
𝐴=
𝐴
𝐴𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗 + 𝐴 𝑧 𝑘
𝐴=
𝐴
𝐴𝑥 𝐴𝑦 𝐴𝑧
𝐴= 𝑖 + 𝑗 + 𝑘
𝐴 𝐴 𝐴

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 Unit vectors
When two vectors are presented: 𝐴 and 𝐵, their components can
be expressed as:
𝐴 = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗 + 𝐴𝑧 𝑘
𝐵 = 𝐵𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐵𝑦 𝑗 + 𝐵𝑧 𝑘
Their resultant, 𝑅, can be expressed as: 𝑅 = 𝐴 + 𝐵
𝑅 = (𝐴𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗 + 𝐴𝑧 𝑘) + (𝐵𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐵𝑦 𝑗 + 𝐵𝑧 𝑘)
𝑅 = 𝐴𝑥 + 𝐵𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐴𝑦 + 𝐵𝑦 𝑗 + 𝐴𝑧 + 𝐵𝑧 𝑘
𝑅 = 𝑅𝑥 𝑖 + 𝑅𝑦 𝑗 +𝑅𝑧 𝑘
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 Example
 Vector A is described algebraically as (-3, 5), while vector B is (4, -2).
Find the value of magnitude and direction of the sum (C) of the
vectors A and B.
 
A  3iˆ  5 ˆj B  4iˆ  2 ˆj
  
C  A  B  (3  4)iˆ  (5  2) ˆj  1iˆ  3 ˆj
Cx  1 Cy  3
C  C x  C y  (12  32 )  3.16
2 2

Cy
q  tan 1
 tan 1 3  71.56 
Cx
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 Example
Two displacements are given:
𝐴 = 13𝑖 − 2𝑗 + 5𝑘 𝑚
𝐵 = −10𝑖 + 8𝑗 + 3𝑘 𝑚

(i) Find the sum of the two vectors, 𝐴 + 𝐵.

(ii) Find the magnitude of the displacement, 2𝐴 − 𝐵.
(iii) Find the unit vector of direction, 𝐴 + 𝐵.

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 Example
A sledge is being pulled by two reindeers, Jovette and Aeron, on
a flat terrain. The net force on the sledge has a force of 𝐹 =
(−2980.0 𝑖 + 8200.0 𝑗 ) N, where 𝑖 and 𝑗 denote directions to
the east and north respectively.
(i) Find the magnitude of the pull.
(ii) Find the direction of the pull.

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 Summary
 Ax  A cos(q )

• Polar coordinates of vector A (A, q)  Ay  A sin(q )

• Cartesian coordinates (Ax, Ay)    y
2
 
2
 A Ax A
• Relations between them:  A A 
 tan q   y or q  tan 1  y 
– Beware of tan 180-degree ambiguity  Ax  Ax 
A  Axiˆ  Ay ˆj  Az kˆ
• Unit vectors:   
• Addition of vectors: C  A  B  ( Ax  Bx )iˆ  ( Ay  By ) ˆj
C x  Ax  Bx C y  Ay  By
aA  aAxiˆ  aAy ˆj
• Scalar multiplication of a vector:
• Multiplication of two vectors? It is possible, and we will introduce it later as it
comes up.

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 Next Session
• PRELIM Exercise 2: Vector and Scalar Quantities

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