VECTORS

Addition of Vectors

To add vector B to vector A, draw B so that its tail is at the head of A. The vector sum A+ B is the vector
R that joins the tail of A and the head of B. Usually, R is called the resultant of A and B. The order in
which A and B are added is not significant so that A+B = B+A.

The same procedure is used when more than two vectors of the same kind are to be added. The vectors
are strung together head to tail (ensuring preservation of lengths and directions) and the resultant R is
the vector drawn from the tail of the first vector to the head of the last. The order of the vector addition
does not matter.

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Example

A woman walks eastward for 5 km and then northwards for 10 km. how far is she from her starting
point? If she had walked directly to her destination in, what direction would she have headed.

One can use a graphical method to determine it.

From Fig. I-4, the length of the resultant vector R corresponds to a distance of 11.2 km and a protractor
shows that its direction is 27° east of north. Though we can obtain the magnitude and direction of two
or more vectors with a ruler and protractor, this method is not very accurate. Trigonometry can give
accurate results.

Reminder

−1
if sin θ=x , thenθ=sin x

−1
if cos θ= y , thenθ=cos y

2
 −1
if tan θ=z , thenθ=tan z
Please note

−1 1
sin x ≠
sin x

Ex

Find the values of sin θ , cosine θ and tangent θ∈Fig . I −6

opposite side 3 cm
sin θ= = =0.6
hypotenuse 5 cm

adjacent side 4 cm
cos θ= = =0.8
hypotenuse 5 cm

opposite side 3 cm
sin θ= = =0.75
adjacent side 4 cm

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Consider a Fig. I-9 above. The force F may be resolved into two component vectors Fx and Fy

Fx = horizontal component of F
Fy = vertical component of F
The magnitudes of these components are
Fx = F cos θ and Fy = F sin θ
The component Fx is responsible for the wagon motion

The force F lies in a vertical plane and the two components Fx and Fy are enough to describe it. In
general, three mutually perpendicular components vectors are required to completely describe
the magnitude and direction of a vector quantity.

Ex: If the man in Fig. I-9 exerts a force of 100 N on the wagon at an angle θ=30° above the
horizontal. Find the horizontal and vertical component of this force.

Soln

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The magnitudes of Fx and Fy are

F x =Fcosθ=( 100 ) ( cos 30 ) =86.6 N

F x =Fsinθ=( 100 )( sin 30 ) =50.0 N

The resultant

F=√ F x + F y = √ ( 86.6 ) + ( 50 ) =100 N

2 2 2 2

When vectors to be added are not perpendicular, the methods of addition by components can
be used. To add two or more vectors A, B, C .. by the component method follow this method:
1. Resolve the initial vectors into components in x, y, and z directions.
Add the components in the x direction to give Rx, add the components in the y direction to give
Ry, and Add the components in the z direction to give Rz. thus the magnitudes of Rx, Ry, and Rz,
are
R x =A x + B x +C x + …

R y =A y + B y +C y + …

R z= A z + B z+ C z +…

The magnitude and direction can be calculated by using Pythagoras theorem.

R=√ R 2x + R2y + R2z

If the vector being added all lie in the same plane only two components need to be considered.
Example
A car travels 20.0 km due north and then 35.0 km in a direction 60.0° west of north, as shown in
Figure 3.12a. Find the magnitude and direction of the car’s resultant displacement.
Solution

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There are two ways to analyze the problem of finding the resultant of two vectors. The first way
is to solve the problem geometrically, using graph paper and a protractor to measure the
magnitude of R and its direction in Figure 3.12a. With an ordinary ruler and protractor, a large
diagram typically gives answers to two-digit but not to three-digit precision.
The second way to solve the problem is to analyze it algebraically. The magnitude of R can be
obtained from the law of cosines as applied to the triangle.
With θ= 180° - 60° = 120°
And
2 2 2
R = A + B −2 ABcosθ
2 2
R=A +B −2 ABcosθ

R=√ A 2+ B2−2 ABcosθ

R=√ ( 20.0 km ) + ( 35.0 km ) −2 ( 20.0 km ) ( 35.0 km ) cos 120 °

2 2

¿ √ 400 km2 +1225 km2−1400 x (−0.5 )

¿ √ 400 km2 +1225 km2 +700 km2 ¿ √ 2325 km2 = 48.2 km

The direction of R measured from the northerly direction can be obtained from the law of sines

sin β sin θ B 35.0 km

= thus sin β= sin θ= x sin 120 °
B R R 48.2 km
35.0 km
sin β= x 0.866=0.6288
48.2 km
−1
β=sin ( 0.6288 )=39.0 °

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Suppose we have two unit vectors
^ A y ^j
A = A x i+
B = Bx i+^ B y ^j
^ A y ^j + B x i+
The R = A + B = A x i+ ^ B y ^j=( A x + B x ) i+
^ ( A y +B y ) ^j

R=√ ( A ¿ ¿ x + Bx )2+( A ¿ ¿ y + B y )2 ¿ ¿

R y ( A ¿¿ y + B y )
tanθ= = ¿
Rx ¿¿¿
Ex
Figure 3-17a shows the following three vectors:
^ ( 1.5 m ) ^j
a⃗ =( 4.2 m ) i−

⃗ (−1.6 m ) i+
b= ^ ( 2.9 m ) ^j

c⃗ = (−3.7 m ) ^j

What is their vector sum r⃗ which is also shown?

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Vectorr⃗ is the vector sum of the other three vectors

We can add the three vectors by components, axis by axis, and then combine the components
to write the vector sum.
Calculations: For the x axis, we add the x components of a⃗ , b⃗ and c⃗ to get the x component of
the vector sum r⃗

r x =a x + b x + c x =4.2m−1.6 m+0=2.6 m

Similarly for the y-axis

r y =a y +b y +c y =−1.5 m+2.9 m−3.7 m=−2.3 m

We then combine these components of to write the vector in unit-vector notation:

^ ( 2.3 m ) ^j
r⃗ =( 2.6 m ) i−

Where( 2.6 m ) I^ is the vector component of along the x axis and −( 2.3 m ) ^j is that along the y axis
The magnitude is given as
r =√ (2.6 m) + (−2.3 m )
2 2

¿ √ 6.76 m+ 5.29 m = √ 12.05 =3.47 m ≈ 3.5 m.

and the angle (measured from the +x direction) is

−2.3 m −1
tanθ= thusθ=tan (−0.8846 )=−41 °
2.6 m

where the minus sign means clockwise.

MULTIPLYING VECTORS

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Figure 1(a) Two vectors a⃗ and b⃗ , with an angle φ between them. (b) Each vector has a component along
the direction of the other vector.

The scalar product of the vectors a⃗ and b⃗ in Fig. 3-18a is written as and defined to be
a⃗ . ⃗b=abcos φ
where a is the magnitude of a⃗ , b is the magnitude of b⃗ , and φ is the angle between a⃗ and b⃗

a⃗ . ⃗b is also known as product

˙

a⃗ . ⃗b=( acos φ ) ( b )= ( a ) ( bcos φ )

The commutative law applies to a scalar product, so we can write
a⃗ . ⃗b=⃗b . ⃗a

When two vectors are in unit-vector notation, we write their dot product as
a⃗ . ⃗b=( ax i+
^ a ^j +a k^ ) . ( b i+
y z x
^ b ^j +b k^ )
y z

a⃗ . ⃗b=a x b x +a y b y + a z b z

The vector product of the vectors a⃗ and b⃗ is written as a⃗ x ⃗b produces a third vector c⃗ whose
magnitude is
c=absin φ
Where φ is the smaller of the two angles between a⃗ and b⃗ . Since
sin φ∧sin ( 360−φ ) differ∈algebraic signuse the smaller anglebetween the vectors .
b⃗ x ⃗a=− ( ⃗a x b⃗ )

In a unit vector notation, we write

a⃗ x ⃗b=( a x i+a
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
y j+ a z k ) x ( b x i+b y j+b z k )

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 | ||
i^ ^j k^
a a a a
| | | | |
a ay
a⃗ x ⃗b=− ( ⃗b x ⃗a )= a x a y a z =i^ y z − ^j x z + k^ x
bx b y bz
b y bz b x bz bx b y

^ ( a z b x −a x b z ) ^j+(a x b y −a y b x ) k^
¿ ( a y b z −b y a z ) i+

^ ^j. ^j=k^ . k=1

i^ . i= ^

^ k^ . i=0
i^ . ^j= ^j . k= ^

^ ^j x ^j=k^ x k=0
i^ x i= ^

i^ x ^j= k^ , ^j x k^ =i,
^ k^ x i=
^ ^j

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