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Mechanics 1
EE1MEC
Lecture 2
Force vector
Dr. Khalid Anwar
[email protected]
Room 606
Tel: 2464-5(455)
Scalars and Vectors
We use two kinds of quantities in mechanics—scalars and vectors.
Scalar
quantities are those with which only a magnitude is associated.
Examples of scalar quantities are time, volume, density, speed, energy and
mass.

Vector
Vector quantities,
quantities
on the other hand, possess direction as well as magnitude
e.g.; displacement, velocity, acceleration, force, moment, and momentum.
Speed is a scalar. It is the magnitude of velocity, which is a vector. Thus
velocity is specified by a direction as well as speed.

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 Working with Vectors
➢ The direction of the vector V may be measured by an angle Ɵ from some
known reference direction as shown in Fig.
➢ The negative of V is a vector -V having the same magnitude as V but
directed in the sense opposite to V, as shown in Fig.

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Working with Vectors

➢ Vectors must obey the parallelogram law of combination.

➢ This law states that two vectors V1 and V2 may be replaced by
their equivalent vector V, which is the diagonal of the
parallelogram formed by V1 and V2 as its two sides, as shown in
figure
➢ This combination is called the vector sum, and is represented
by the vector equation
➢ 𝐕 = 𝐕𝟏 + 𝐕𝟐

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Working with Vectors

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Working with Vectors
•This can also be done with the tip to tail method, where one vector is connected to the
next, forming half of a parallelogram or a triangle:

•Collinear vectors are summed with a simple scalar addition:

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Working with Vectors
•Note that vector addition is commutative, meaning that:

•And associative:

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Working with Vectors
•Subtraction: The same rules of vector addition apply to subtraction, this is simply
adding a negative vector as shown below:

Most statics problems will involve looking at a number of forces acting on a rigid
body. You will be either asked to find the overall force acting on the body
(resultant force), or to resolve an overall force into its components. For both cases,
trigonometric rules will be applied.

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Finding a Resultant and Components Force

Resultant Force
Components of a Force.

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Addition of Several Forces
The resultant force FR on the hook
requires the addition of F1 + F2, then this
resultant is added to F3.

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Working with Vectors

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SAMPLE PROBLEM
For A hook carries two forces F1 and F2, which define the
angle α (shown in Figure). Determine the magnitude and
direction of the resultant.

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Solution:

Since the problem will be solved by trigonometry (and since the magnitudes of the
forces are not given numerically), a sketch of the force triangle is drawn, but not to
scale (Fig). We assume that the magnitudes of the forces F1 and F2 and the angle α
are known quantities in this force plan.

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 Then the magnitude of the resultant follows
from the law of cosines:

The angle β gives the direction of the resultant R with respect

to the force F2 . The law of sines yields

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Introducing the result for R and using the trigonometrical
relation sin (π − α) = sinα

we obtain

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SAMPLE PROBLEM 1/5
Example 2.2 An eyebolt is subjected to four forces (F1 = 12
kN, F2 = 8 kN, F3 = 18kN F4 = 4 kN) that act under given
angles (α1 = 45◦, α2 = 100◦, α3 = 205◦, α4 = 270◦) with respect
to the horizontal (shown in Fig.)
Determine the magnitude and direction of the resultant.

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Solution: The problem can be solved graphically. First, the layout plan is
drawn, showing the lines of action f1, . . . , f4 of the forces F1, . . . ,F4 with
their given directions α1, . . . ,α4 (Fig. below). Then the force plan is drawn
to a chosen scale by adding the given

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 vectors head-to-tail (see Fig. of force plan and
compare Fig. layout plan). Within the limits of
the accuracy of the drawing, the result

is obtained. Finally, the action line r of the resultant R is drawn into the layout plan.
There are various possible ways to draw the force polygon. Depending on the choice
of the first vector and the sequence of the others, different polygons are obtained.
They all yield the same resultant R.

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EXAMPLE

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EXAMPLE

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SOLUTION

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 ADDITION OF A SYSTEM
OF COPLANAR FORCES
Scalar Notation.

Here the y component is a negative

scalar since
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 ADDITION OF A SYSTEM
OF COPLANAR FORCES
Coplanar Force Resultants
Cartesian Vector Notation

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SAMPLE PROBLEM 1/3
For the vectors V1 and V2 shown in the figure,
(a) determine the magnitude S of their vector sum S V1 V2
(b) determine the angle between S and the positive x-axis
(c) write S as a vector in terms of the unit vectors i and j
and then write a unit
vector n along the vector sum S
(d) determine the vector difference D V1 V2
 Solution (a) We construct to scale the parallelogram shown
in Fig. for adding V1 and V2. Using the law of cosines, we
have
S2= 32 + 42 - 2(3)(4) cos 1050
S = 5.59 units Ans.
(b) Using the law of sines for the lower triangle, we have
(c) With knowledge of both S and , we can write the vector S as

Helpful Hints
A unit vector may always be formed
by dividing a vector by its magnitude.
Note that a unit vector is dimensionless.

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(d) The vector difference D is

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