Motion in a plane

 Polar coordinate system: the system with a angle

formed between two lines .
x= r cos Ø y= r sin Ø
r=√x2+y2
PRE-UNIVERSITY SYLLABUS
Types of vectors
In physics, we can classify quantities as scalars or vectors.
 Co-initial vectors: vectors which have the same
What is a scalar quantity? initial point.
 Co-terminal vectors: vectors which have the
A scalar quantity is a quantity with magnitude only. It is same terminal point
specified completely by a single number, along with the proper  Negative vectors: vectors which have same
unit. Examples are : the distance between two points, mass of magnitude with opposite direction
an object, the temperature of a body and the time at which a  Null or zero vectors: vector whose magnitude is
certain event happened. Scalars can be added, subtracted, zero.
multiplied and divided just as the ordinary numbers  Parallel vectors: vectors with same direction
 Anti-parallel vectors: vectors with opposite
What is vector quantity? directions
 Equal vectors: vectors with same magnitude in
A vector quantity is a quantity that has both a magnitude and
same directions
a direction and obeys the triangle law of addition or
 Unit vectors: vector of unit magnitude
equivalently. So, a vector is specified by giving its magnitude
by a number and its direction. Some physical quantities that
are represented by vectors are displacement, velocity,
Multiplication of vectors by real numbers
acceleration and force. Both v and ¯v represent the velocity
Multiplying a vector A with a positive number λ gives a vector
vector. The magnitude of a vector is often called its absolute
whose magnitude is changed by the factor λ but the direction
value, indicated by |v| = v.
is the same as that of A :
Position and Displacement Vectors
l λ A l= λ l A l if λ > 0.

Position vector:it is a vector of the length from the

Multiplying a vector A by a negative number −λ gives another
origin(reference point) to the final position of that object, with
vector whose direction is opposite to the direction of A and
the tail at the origin.
whose magnitude is λ times |A|.

Displacement vector:if that point further travels ,the vector of

The factor λ by which a vector A is multiplied could be a scalar
the length from that point to the final point of the second
having its own physical dimension. Then, the dimension of λ A
distance ,is called the displacement vector .(Refer to page 66
is the product of the dimensions of λ and A.
for more clarity of the picture)
Addition and subtraction of vectors — graphical
It is important to note that displacement vector is the straight
line joining the initial and final positions and does not depend method
on the actual path undertaken by the object between the two
Let us consider two vectors A and B that lie in a plane. The
positions. the magnitude of displacement is either less or equal lengths of the line segments representing these vectors are
to the path length of an object between two points. proportional to the magnitude of the vectors. To find the sum A
+ B, we place vector B so that its tail is at the head of the vector
How do we represent vectors? A. Then, we join the tail of A to the head of B ,arranged head to
tail, this graphical method is called the head-to-tail method.
 Fix a coordinate system The two vectors and their resultant form three sides of a
 Define the position of a point by a pair of numbers triangle, so this method is also known as triangle method of
called coordinates. vector addition. If we find the resultant of B + A, the vector R is
 In 3D ,the point is represented by traid obtained. Thus, vector addition is commutative: A + B = B + A
 Link all the physical quantities to this position or The addition of vectors also obeys the associative law as
change in position . illustrated .The result of adding vectors A and B first and then
adding vector C is the same as the result of adding B and C first
What are the different coordinate systems? and then adding vector A : (A + B) + C = A + (B + C)

 Cartesian coordinate system: the usual system with What is the result of adding two equal and opposite vectors ? a
x and y axis , x coordinate-abscissa y coordinate – null vector or a zero vector .A – A = 0 |0|= 0
ordinate
Subtraction of vectors can be defined in terms of addition of You must understand what the statement really means.
vectors. We define the difference of two vectors A and B as the Friction, force due to viscosity, air resistance are all dissipative
sum of two vectors A and –B : forces. In the presence of any of such forces opposing motion,
any object will lose some part of its initial energy and
A – B = A + (–B) consequently, momentum too. Thus, a projectile that traverses
a parabolic path would certainly show deviation from its
Ax= A cos θ Ay= A sin θ idealised trajectory in the presence of air resistance. It will not
hit the ground with the same speed with which it was
The average velocity (v) of an object is the ratio of the projected from it.
displacement and the corresponding time interval.
Uniform circular motion
The velocity(instantaneous velocity) is given by the limiting
value of the average velocity as the time interval approaches When an object follows a circular path at a constant speed, the
zero. motion of the object is called uniform circular motion. The
word “uniform” refers to the speed, which is uniform
The direction of velocity at any point on the path of an object is (constant) throughout the motion.
tangential to the path at that point and is in the direction of
motion. Centripetal acceleration
The acceleration (instantaneous acceleration) is the limiting Thus, the acceleration of an object moving with speed v in a
value of the average acceleration as the time interval circle of radius R has a magnitude v 2 /R and is always directed
approaches zero. towards the centre. This is why this acceleration is called
centripetal acceleration.
Note that in one dimension, the velocity and the acceleration
of an object are always along the same straight line (either
Question 1.
in the same direction or in the opposite direction).However, State, for each of the following physical quantities, if it is a
for motion in two or three dimensions, velocity and scalar or a vector: volume, mass, speed, acceleration, density,
acceleration vectors may have any angle between 0° and number of moles, velocity, angular frequency,displacement,
180° between them. angular velocity.
Answer:
Motion in a plane (two-dimensions) can be treated as two Scalars : volume, mass, speed, density, number of moles,
separate simultaneous one-dimensional motions with angular frequency.
Vectors: Acceleration, velocity, displacement, angular velocity.
constant acceleration along two perpendicular directions.

Relative velocity in two dimensions Question 2.

Pick out the two scalar quantities in the following lists : force,
It is the velocity of an object as described by another. angular momentum, work, current, linear momentum, electric
field,average velocity, magnetic moment, relative velocity.
Projectile motion Answer:
If Work and current are the scalar quantities in the given list.
An object that is in flight after being thrown or projected is
called a projectile. Such a projectile might be a football, a Question 3.
cricket ball, a baseball or any other object. The motion of a Pick out the only vector quantity in the following
projectile may be thought of as the result of two separate, list : Temperature, pressure, impulse, time, power, total path
simultaneously occurring components of motions. One length, energy, gravitational potential, coefficient of friction,
component is along a horizontal direction without any charge.
acceleration and the other along the vertical direction with Answer:
Since, Impulse = change in momentum = force x time. As
constant acceleration due to the force of gravity.
momentum and force are vector quantities, hence impulse is a
vector quantity, hence impulse is a vector quantity.
Horizontal range of a projectile

The horizontal distance travelled by a projectile from its initial Question 4.

position (x = y = 0) to the position where it passes y = 0 during State with reasons, whether the following algebraic operations
its fall is called the horizontal range, R. with scalar and vector physical quantities are meaningful:
(a) adding any two scalars.
(b) adding a scalar to a vector of the same dimensions
Neglecting air resistance (c) multiplying any vector by any scalar.
(d) multiplying any two scalar.
What does the assumption really mean? While treating the (e) adding any two vectors.
topic of projectile motion, we have stated that we assume that (f) adding a component of a vector to the same vector.
the air resistance has no effect on the motion of the projectile. Answer:
(a) No, adding any two scalars is not meaningful because only
the scalars of same dimensions (i.e. of same nature) can be
added.
(b) No, adding a scalar to a vector of the same dimension is not
meaningful because a scalar cannot be added to a vector.
(c) Yes, multiplying any vector by any scalar is meaningful
algebraic operation. It is because when any vector is multiplied
by any scalar, then we get a vector having magnitude equal to
scalar number times the magnitude of the given vector, g. when
acceleration a is multiplied by mass m, we get force F = ma
which is a meaningful operation.
(d) Yes, the product of two scalars gives a meaningful result g.
when power P is multiplied by time t, then we get work done
(W) i.e. W = Pt, which is a meaningful algebraic operation.
(e) No, as the two vectors of same dimensions (i.e. of the same
nature) can only be added, so addition of any two vectors is not
a meaningful algebraic operation.
(f) No, a component of a vector can be added to the same
vector only by using the law of vector addition. So, the addition
of a vector to the same vector is not a meaningful operation.

Question 5.
Read each statement below carefully and state with
reasons, if it is true or false:
(a) The magnitude of a vector is always a scalar.
(b) Each component of a vector is always a scalar.
(c) The total path length is always equal to the magnitude of
the displacement vector of a particle,
(d) The average speed of a particle (defined as total path length
divided by the time taken to cover the path) is either greater or
equal to the magnitude of average velocity of the particle over
the same interval of time,
(e) Three vectors not lying in a plane can never add up to give a
null vector.”
Answer:
(a) True; because magnitude of a vector is a pure number.
(b) False; as each component of a given vector is always a
vector.
(c) True; only if the particle moves along a straight line in the
same direction otherwise false.
(d) True; because the total path length is either greater than
or equal to the magnitude of the displacement vector, so the
average speed is greater or equal to the magnitude of average
velocity.
(e) True; as they cannot be represented by the three sides of a
triangle taken in the same order. Here the resultant of any two
vectors will be in the plane of these two vectors only and it
cannot balance the third vector which is in a different plane.
Two vectors can cancel each other’s effect only if they are equal
in magnitude and opposite in direction.

Question 6.
Establish the following vector inequalities geometrically
or otherwise:
(a) |a + b|<|d| + |b|
(b) |o + b|>||d| + |b||
(c) |d-b|<|a| + |b|
(d) |a-b|>||d|-|b||
When does the equality sign above apply? Answer:
Consider that the two vectors 5 and b are represented by OP
and OQ. The addition of the two vectors e. a +b is given by OR
as shown in figure (i).
Question 7.
Given + + + = 0, which of the following statements are
correct
(a) + + and must each be a null vector,
(b) The magnitude of ( ) equals the magnitude of (
+ ),
(c) The magnitude of can never be greater than the sum of
the magnitudes of , and ,
(d) + must lie in the plane of and , if and are
not collinear, and in the line of and , if they are collinear?
Answer:
 .’. Displacement vector for each girl =
So the magnitude of the displacement vector for each girls
=| |
Diameter of the circular ice ground
= 2 x 200 = 400 m.
From figure, it is clear that for girl B, the magnitude of the
displacement vector is equal to the actual length of the path
skated. Question 9.
A cyclist starts from the center O of a circular park of radius 1
km, reaches the edge P of the park, then cycles along the
circumference, and returns to the center along QO as shown in
figure. If the round trip takes 10 min, what is the
(a) net displacement,
(b) average velocity, and
(c) average speed of the cyclist

Answer:
(a) Net displacement is zero as both initial and final positions
are same.

Question 8.
Three girls skating on a circular ice ground of radius 200 m
start from a point P on the edge of the ground and reach a
point Q diametrically opposite to P following different paths as
shown in figure. What is the magnitude of the displacement
vector for each? For which girl is this equal to the actual length
of path skate?

Question 10.
On an open ground, a motorist follows a track that turns to his
left by an angle of 60° after every 500 m. Starting from a given
turn, specify the displacement of the motorist at the third, sixth
and eighth turn. Compare the magnitude of the displacement
with the total path length covered by the motorist in each case.

Answer: Answer:
Let the three girls be A, B and C. Let PAQ, PBQ and PCQ be the Suppose that the motorist starts from the point O along the
paths followed by A, B and C respectively. Radius of the circular initial direction OX. After covering OA = 500 m, he turns to his
track = 200 m. left through 60° along AL and takes the first turn at the point A.
As all the girls start from point P and reach at After travelling a distance AB = 500 m along AL, he turns to his
left through 60° and takes the second turn at the point B

(1) At the third turn : The displacement of the motorist at the

third turn is OC. From the points A and B, draw AN1 and
BN2 perpendiculars to OC. Then,

Question 11.
A passenger arriving in a new town wishes to go from the
station to a hotel located 10 km away on a straight road from
the station. A dishonest cabman takes him along a circuitous
path 23 km long and reaches the hotel in 28 min. What is
(a) the average speed of the taxi,
(b) the magnitude of average velocity? Are the two equal?
Answer:
Magnitude of the displacement = 10 km
Distance covered = 23 km
Time taken = 28 min

(2) At the sixth turn : Since at the sixth turn, the motorist
reaches the starting point, the displacement of the motorist is a
null vector e. if S2 is path length upto the sixth turn, then S2 = 6
x 500 = 3,000m.

(3) At the eighth turn : At the eighth turn, the displacement of

the motorist will be OB. From the point A, draw
AN3 perpendicular to . Then,
Clearly, the average speed and the magnitude of average
velocity are not equal. They are equal only for a straight path.
Question 12.
Rain is falling vertically with a speed of 30 m s-1. A woman
rides a bicycle with a speed of 10 m s-1 in the north to south
direction. What is the direction in which she should hold her
umbrella?
Answer:
In figure, the rain is falling along OA with speed 30 m s-1 and
woman rider is moving along OS with speed 10 m s-1 i.e. OA =
30 m s-1 & OB = 10 m s-1. The woman rider can protect herself
from the rain if she holds her umbrella in the direction of
relative velocity of rain w.r.t. woman. To do so apply equal and
opposite velocity of woman on the rain i.e. impress the velocity
10 m s-1 due North on rain which is represented by OC.
 boat and β be the angle between wb and . Refer Fig.
w

Question 13.
A man can swim with a speed of 4.0 km h-1 in still water. How
long does he take to cross a river 1.0 km wide if the river flows
steadily at km h_1 and he makes his strokes normal to the river
current? How far down the river does he go when he reaches
the other bank? Question 15.
Answer: The ceiling of a long hall is 25 m high. What is the maximum
Speed of man, υx = 4 km h-1 horizontal distance that a ball thrown with a speed of 40 m s-
Distance travelled = 1 km 1
can go without hitting the ceiling of the hall?
Speed of river = 3 km h-1 Answer:

Question 14.
In a harbour, wind is blowing at the speed of 72 km h-1 and the
flag on the mast of a boat anchored in the harbour flutters
along the N-E direction. If the boat starts moving at a speed of
51 km h-1 to the north, what is the direction of the flag on the
mast of the boat?
Answer:
When the boat is anchored in the harbour, the flag flutters
along the N-E direction. It shows that the velocity of wind is
along the north-east direction. When the boat starts moving, Question 16.
the flag will flutter along the direction of relative velocity of A cricketer can throw a ball to a maximum horizontal distance
wind w.r.t. boat. Let wb be the relative velocity of wind w.r.t.
of 100 m. How much high above the ground can the cricketer
throw the same ball?
Answer:

Question 19.
Read each statement below carefully and state, with
reasons, if it is true or false:
(a) The net acceleration of a particle in circular motion is
always along the radius of the circle towards the center.
(b) The velocity vector of a particle at a point is always along
the tangent to the path of the particle at that point.
Question 17. (c) The acceleration vector of a particle in uniform circular
A stone tied to the end of a string 80 cm long is whirled in a motion averaged over one cycle is a null vector.
horizontal circle with a constant speed. If the stone make 14 Answer:
revolutions in 25 s, what is the magnitude and direction of the (a) The statement is false since the centripetal acceleration is
acceleration of the stone? towards the center only in the case of uniform circular motion
Answer: (constant speed) for which it is true.
(b) True, the velocity of a particle is always the tangent to the
path of the particle at the point either in rectilinear or circular
or curvilinear motion.
(c) True, because the direction of acceleration vector is always
changing with time, always being directed towards the center
of the path followed in the uniform circular motion, so the
resultant of all these vectors will be a null vector.

Question 20.
The direction of centripetal acceleration is along the string The position of a particle is given by r = 3.0 t -2.0t2 +4.0 m
directed towards the center of circular path. where t is in seconds and the coefficients have the proper units
for r to be in meters.
(a) Find the and of the particle?
Question 18. (b) What is the magnitude and direction of velocity of the
An aircraft executes a horizontal loop of radius km with a particle at t = 2.0 s?=
steady speed of 900 km h_1 Compare its centripetal Answer:
acceleration with the acceleration due to gravity (a) Velocity
Answer:
Question 21.
A particle starts from the origin at t = 0 s with a velocity of

10.0 m/s and moves in the x-y plane with a constant

acceleration of (8.0 + 2.0 )

ms-2.
(a) At what time is the x-coordinate of the particle 16 m? What
is the y-coordinate of the particle at that time ?
(b) What is the speed of the particle at the time?
Answer:

Question 22.

and are unit vectors along x and y-axis respectively. What

is the magnitude and direction of the vectors + and – ?

What are the components of a vector A = 2 + 3 along the

directions of +hat {j} [/latex] and –

Answer:
Question 23.
For any arbitrary motion in space, which of the following
relations are true:

(The’average’stands for average of the quantity over the time

interval t1 to t2)
Answer:
Relations (b) and (e) are true for any arbitrary motion in space.
Relations (a), (c) and (d) are false as they hold for uniformly
accelerated motion. For arbitrary motion, acceleration is not
uniform.

Question 24.
Read each statement below carefully and state, with
reasons and examples, if it is true or false:
A scalar quantity is one that
(a) is conserved in a process
(b) can never take negative values
(c) must be dimensionless
(d) does not vary from one point to another in space
(e) has the same value for observers with different
orientations of axes.
Answer:
(a) The statement is false, as several scalar quantities are not
conserved in a process.
For example energy being a scalar quantity is not conserved
during inelastic collisions.
(b) The statement is false, because there are some scalar
quantities which can be negative in a process.
For example, temperature being scalar quantity can be
negative (-30°C, -4°C), charge being scalar can also be negative.
(c) The statement is false, there are large number of scalar
quantities which may not be dimensionless.
For example, mass, density, charge etc. being scalar quantities
have dimensions.
(d) The statement is false as there are some scalar quantities
which vary from one point to another in space.
For example, temperature, gravitational potential, density of a
fluid or anisotropic medium, charge density vary from point to
point.
(e) The statement is true, orientation of axes does not change
the value of a scalar quantity.
For example, mass is independent of the coordinate axes.

Question 25.
An aircraft is flying at a height of 3400 m above the ground. If
the angle subtended at a ground observation point by the
aircraft positions 10.0 s apart is 30°, what is the speed of the
aircraft?
Answer:
Suppose that O is the observation point on the ground. The
aircraft is flying along XY at a height OC = 3,400 m from the
ground. Let A and B be two positions of the aircraft 10 s apart.
Thus, the aircraft goes from the point A to C (or from the point
C to B) in 5 s. If the angle subtended by AB is 30° at the point O,
then the angle subtended by AC (distance covered in 5 s) at O is
15°
From the right angled Δ OAC. (a) the length of a wire bent into a loop,
(b) a plane area,
(c) a sphere? Explain.
Answer:
(a) No, we cannot associate a vector with the length of the wire
bent into a loop.
(b) Yes, we can associate a vector with a plane area. The area
vector is directed along normal to the plane area.
(c) No, we cannot associate a vector with a sphere.

Question 29.
A bullet fired at an angle of 30° with the horizontal hits the
ground 3.0 km away. By adjusting its angle of projection, can
one hope to hit a target 5.0 km away? Assume the muzzle
speed to be fixed, and neglect air resistance.
Answer:

Question 26.
A vector has magnitude and direction. Does it have a location
in space? Can it vary with time? Will two equal vectors a and b
at different locations in space necessarily have identical
physical effects? Give examples in support of your answer. Question 30.
Answer: A fighter plane flying horizontally at an altitude of 1.5 km with
speed 720 km h-1 passes directly overhead an anti-aircraft gun.
At what angle from the vertical should the gun be fired for the
1. A vector in general has no definite location in space shell with muzzle speed 600 m s-1 to hit the plane? At what
because a vector remains unaffected whenever it is minimum altitude should the pilot fly the plane to avoid being
displaced anywhere in space provided its magnitude hit? (Take g=10m s-2)
and direction do not change. However a position Answer:
vector has a definite location in space. Suppose that the fighter plane is flying horizontally with a
2. A vector can vary with time e.g. the velocity vector of speed υ at the height OA = 1.5 km. The point O represents the
an accelerated particle varies with time position of the anti-aircraft gun.
3. Two equal vectors at different locations in space do
not necessarily have same physical effects. For
example, two equal forces acting at two different
points on a body which can cause the rotation of a
body about an axis will not produce equal turning
effect.

Question 27.
A vector has both magnitude and direction. Does it mean that
anything that has magnitude and direction is necessarily a
vector? The rotation of a body can be specified by the direction
of the axis of rotation, and the angle of rotation about the axis. Let u be the velocity of the shell and 0, its inclination with the
Does that make any rotation a vector? vertical. The shell hits the fighter plane at the point B as shown
Answer: in Fig. Suppose that the shell hits the plane after a time f. Then,
Generally, rotation is not considered a vector, despite the fact the horizontal distance travelled by the fighter plane in time t
that it has the magnitude and direction. The reason is that the with velocity v is equal to the horizontal distance covered by
addition of two finite rotations does not obey the commutative
law. Since addition of vectors should obey the commutative
law, a finite rotation cannot be regarded as a vector, However,
infinitesimally small rotations obey the commutative law for
addition and hence an infinitesimally small rotation is a vector.

Question 28.
Can you associate vectors with
the shell in time t with ux, the r-component of its velocity i.e.

where the symbols have their usual meaning.

Answer:
(a) Let υox and υoy be the initial component velocity of the
projectile at O along OX direction and OY direction
respectively, where OX is horizontal and the OY is vertical. Let
the projectile go from O to P in time t and υx υy be the
component velocity of projectile at P along horizontal and
vertical directions respectively. Then, υy = υoy– gt and υx = υox If
0 is the angle which the resultant velocity makes with
horizontal direction, then

Question 31.
A cyclist is riding with a speed of 27 km h-1. As he approaches a
circular turn on the road of radius 80 m, he applies brakes and
reduces his speed at the constant rate of 0.5 m s-1 every second.
What is the magnitude and direction of the net acceleration of
the cyclist on the circular turn?
Answer:
Here, υ=27 km h-1 = 7.5 m s-1; r = 80 m Centripetal acceleration,

Suppose that the cyclist applies brakes at the point A of the

circular turn. Then, retardation produced due to the brakes,
say aT will act opposite to the velocity, υ figure.

Question 32.
(a) Show that for a projectile the angle between the velocity
and the x-axis as a function of time is given by

(b) Shows that the projection angle θO for a projectile launched

from the origin is given by