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General Physics 1: Phys100

This document discusses vectors and their properties in 3 dimensions. It covers: 1) Unit vectors i, j, k which have a magnitude of 1 and define the x, y, z axes. 2) The magnitude of a vector is calculated as the square root of the sum of the squares of its x, y, z components. 3) Dot and cross products are ways to multiply vectors - dot products yield scalars, cross products yield vectors perpendicular to the originals.

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87 views20 pages

General Physics 1: Phys100

This document discusses vectors and their properties in 3 dimensions. It covers: 1) Unit vectors i, j, k which have a magnitude of 1 and define the x, y, z axes. 2) The magnitude of a vector is calculated as the square root of the sum of the squares of its x, y, z components. 3) Dot and cross products are ways to multiply vectors - dot products yield scalars, cross products yield vectors perpendicular to the originals.

Uploaded by

Ahven Embestro
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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General Physics 1

Phys100
Vectors
• Unit vector is a vector that has the magnitude
equal to 1. The unit vectors are denoted by
the "cap" symbol ^. In most cases, unit vectors
are employed to indicate a vector's direction.
Despite having a magnitude of one unit, a unit
vector has the same direction as the supplied
vector;
• 𝒊, 𝑗, and 𝑘 are the unit vectors in the
directions of the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis
respectively in a 3-dimensional plane. i.e.,

|i| = 1
|j| = 1
|k| = 1
Vectors in 3D
• The magnitude of a vector formula summarizes the
individual measures of the vector along the x-axis, y-
axis, and z-axis. The magnitude of a vector A is |A|.
For a given vector with the direction along the x-axis,
y-axis, and z-axis, the magnitude of the vector can be
obtained by calculating the square root of the sum of
the squares of its direction ratios.
• For a vector 𝐴→ = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖 + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗 + 𝐴𝑧 𝑘 its magnitude is:
𝐴 𝑥2 + 𝐴 𝑦2 + 𝐴 𝑧2
𝐴 =
• Two dogs exert a biting force to a stick from end to end. The
1st dog exert a force of 𝐹1 = 2𝑖 − 2𝑗 − 2𝑘 and the 2nd dog
exert a force of 𝐹2 = −4𝑗 + 2𝑘. What is the total force
exerted on the stick? Find its magnitude.

Solution 1: Solution 2:
𝑭𝑻 = 𝑭𝟏 + 𝑭𝟐 𝑭𝑻 = 𝒙𝟐 + 𝒚𝟐 + 𝒛𝟐
𝑭𝑻 = 𝟐𝒊 − 𝟐𝖩 − 𝟐𝒌 + (−𝟒𝖩 + 𝟐𝒌)
𝑭𝑻 = 𝟐𝟐 + (−𝟔)𝟐
𝑭𝑻 = 𝟐𝒊 − 𝟔𝖩
𝑭𝑻 = 𝟐𝟏𝟎
Multiplication of Vectors
• The two ways in multiplying vector are; The
dot product of two unit vectors is always a
scalar quantity. And the cross-product of two
given unit vectors gives a third vector
perpendicular (orthogonal) to both of them.
Dot Product
• Dot product/Scalar Product, is a way of
multiplying vectors but the result is a scalar
quantity. The operation is represented by a
dot (.). Dot product is represented by this
equation:
𝐴→ ∙ 𝐵 = 𝐵 cos 𝜃
Properties of Dot Product
• If 𝜃 = 0 then 𝒂 ∙ 𝒃 = 𝑎𝑏 [Two vectors
are parallel in the same direction ⇒ θ = 0 ]
.
• If 𝜃 = 180 , 𝒂 ∙ 𝒃 = −𝑎𝑏 [Two vectors are
anti-parallel⇒ θ = 180].
• If 𝜃 = 90, then 𝒂 ∙ 𝒃 = 0 [Two vectors
are perpendicular ⇒ θ = 90]
• If 0 < 𝜃 < 90, then cos 𝜃 is positive and
hence 𝒂 ∙ 𝒃 is positive.
• If 90 < 𝜃 < 180 then cos 𝜃 is negative and
hence 𝒂 ∙ 𝒃 is negative
General Laws of Dot Product
• Dot product is distributive.

𝐴→ ∙ 𝐵 + 𝐶→ = 𝐴→ ∙ 𝐵 + 𝐴→ ∙ 𝐶→
• Commutative,

𝐴→ ∙ 𝐵 = 𝐵 ∙ 𝐴→
• The dot product of the unit vector to itself is
just equal to one, and the dot product to two
different unit vector is equal to zero.

𝑖∙𝑖=𝑗∙𝑗 =𝑘∙𝑘 =1

𝑖∙𝑗 =𝑖∙𝑘 =𝑗∙𝑖 =𝑗∙𝑘 =𝑘∙𝑖=𝑘∙𝑗 =0


Dot Product of Unit Vectors
• So in a unit vector, the dot product of the
two vectors would be equal to,
𝐴→ ∙ 𝐵 = 𝐴𝑥 𝐵𝑥 + 𝐴𝑦 𝐵𝑦 + 𝐴𝑧 𝐵𝑧
• And the angle would be equal to,
−1
𝐴→ ∙ 𝐵
𝜃 = cos 𝐴𝐵

−1 𝐴𝑥𝐵𝑥 + 𝐴𝑦𝐵𝑦 + 𝐴𝑧𝐵𝑧


𝜃 = cos
(𝐴 𝑥2 + 𝐴 𝑦2 + 𝐴 𝑧2)(𝐵𝑥2 + 𝐵𝑦2 + 𝐵𝑧2)
Find the angle between the two vectors 2i + 3j +
k, and 5i -2j - 3k.

Solution:

𝑨𝒙𝑩𝒙 + 𝑨𝒚𝑩𝒚 + 𝑨𝒛𝑩𝒛


𝜽 = 𝐜𝐨𝐬 −𝟏

(𝑨𝒙𝟐 + 𝑨𝒚𝟐 + 𝑨𝒛𝟐)(𝑩𝒙𝟐 + 𝑩𝒚𝟐 + 𝑩 𝒛𝟐 )

−𝟏
(𝟐)(𝟓) + (𝟑)(−𝟐) + (𝟏)(−𝟑)
𝜽 = 𝐜𝐨𝐬 ( 𝟐𝟐 + 𝟑𝟐 + 𝟏𝟐)( 𝟓𝟐 + (−𝟐)𝟐+(−𝟑)𝟐)
𝟏
−𝟏
𝜽 = 𝐜𝐨𝐬 ( )
𝟐 𝟏𝟑𝟑
𝜽 = 𝟖𝟕. 𝟓𝟐°
Cross Product
• Cross product of two vectors is the method of
multiplication of two vectors. A cross product is
denoted by the multiplication sign (x) between
two vectors. The cross product of two vectors is
the third vector that is perpendicular to the two
original vectors. Its magnitude is given by the
area of the parallelogram between them and its
direction can be determined by the right-hand
thumb rule. The Cross product of two vectors is
also known as a vector product as the resultant
of the cross product of vectors is a vector
quantity.
• If A and B are two independent vectors, then
the result of the cross product of these two
vectors is perpendicular to both the vectors
and normal to the plane that contains both
the vectors. It is represented by:
𝐴→ × 𝐵 = 𝐴𝐵 sin 𝜃 𝑛^
Properties of Cross Product

• If 𝜃 = 0 or 𝜃 = 180 then 𝒂 × 𝒃 = 0
• If 𝜃 = 90 then 𝒂 × 𝒃 = 𝑎𝑏 𝒏^
• Anti-commutative property; 𝒂 × 𝒃 = −𝒃 × 𝒂
• Distributive property
• So in a unit vector,
𝑖×𝑖 =𝑗×𝑗 =𝑘×𝑘 =0
𝑖×𝑗 =𝑘
𝑖 × 𝑘 = −𝑗
𝑗×𝑘 =𝑖
𝑗 × 𝑖 = −𝑘
𝑘×𝑖 =𝑗
𝑘 × 𝑗 = −𝑖
• So the cross product of the two vector in
unit vectors would be,

𝐴→ × 𝐵 𝐴𝑦𝐵𝑧− 𝐴𝑧𝐵𝑦 𝑖 + 𝐴𝑧𝐵𝑥− 𝐴𝑥𝐵𝑧 𝑗 + (𝐴𝑥𝐵𝑦 − 𝐴𝑦𝐵𝑥)𝑘


=
Direction of Cross Product
• The direction for the resultant vector is a cross
product can be determine by using Right-hand rule.
We can follow the following procedure to find out
the direction of the result of the cross product of
two vectors:
– Align your index finger towards the direction of the first
vector(𝐴→).
– Align the middle finger in the direction of the
second vector(𝐵).
– Now the thumb points in the direction of the cross product
of two vectors.
• Find the cross product of 𝐴→ = 3𝑖 + 4𝑗 + 𝑘 and
𝐵 = 2𝑖 − 𝑗 + 5𝑘 ?

Solution:
𝐴→ × 𝐵 𝐴𝑦𝐵𝑧 − 𝐴𝑧𝐵𝑦 𝑖 + 𝐴𝑧𝐵𝑥 − 𝐴𝑥𝐵𝑧 𝑗 + (𝐴𝑥𝐵𝑦 − 𝐴𝑦𝐵𝑥)𝑘
= 𝑖 + (1)(2) − (3)(5) 𝑗 + ((3)(−1) − (4)(2))𝑘
𝐴→ ×−𝐵(1)(−1)
𝐴→ × 𝐵 = (4 )(5) 20 + 1 𝑖 + 2 − 15 𝑗 + −3 − 8 𝑘
=
𝐴→ × 𝐵 = 21𝑖 − 13𝑗 − 11𝑘

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