GHORAHI-DANG

ACADEMIC YEAR:2080-81

PHYSICS PROJECT

A Project work on “VECTOR”

SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:

Yojana Acharya Mr. Swotantra Hamal
CLASS: XI GIPSS GHORAHI-14
 CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

This is to certify that Yojana Acharya, student

of class XI(DALTON) has been successfully completed the
project work entitled “Vectors” under Mr. Swotantra Hamal
guidance and supervision.

_______________
External Examiner Mr. Swotantra Hamal
SUPERVISOR
(Coordinator)
 LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION

This is to certify that the project had been carried

out by "Yojana Acharya" on" Vectors"
under my Supervision. To the best of my knowledge,
this work has not been Submitted other
purpose in this institute.

_______________
Mr. Swotantra Hamal

Physics Teacher
Gorkha School
Ghorahi-14, Dang
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the work

present here in is genuine work done originally
by me and has not been published or submitted
elsewhere for the requirement of a grade XI.
Any literature, data or works done by other
presented in this dissertation are cited, has
been given due to acknowledgement and
listed in the reference section.

_____________________________

Name: Yojana Acharya

Grade: XI
Email: [email protected]
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my sincere gratitude and deep

respect to my supervisor " Mr. Swotantra Hamal", Our
computer teacher for his continuous inspiration and
constructive guidance.

I would like to express my deep respect and gratitude to

Department of science "GORKHA SCHOOL" for
providing me an opportunity to conduct this project work in
this department, I would like to extend my deep regards to
all my respectful faculty members and non-teaching staffs
of the department of science.

I cannot forget endless love, support and encouragement

of my parents. Without them, I wouldn’t have been the
person I am today.
 ABSTRACT

Vectors are fundamental mathematical entities used in

various fields, including physics, mathematics, engineering,
and computer science. They represent quantities that have
both magnitude and direction, such as displacement,
velocity, force, and acceleration. Visually, vectors are often
depicted as arrows, where the length of the arrow
corresponds to the magnitude of the vector, and the
direction of the arrow indicates its direction in space.
Vectors play a crucial role in describing the physical world
and understanding the relationships between different
quantities. They are used to analyze motion, describe
forces acting on objects, and solve problems in mechanics,
electromagnetism, and other branches of physics. In
mathematics, vectors are essential for linear algebra,
providing a framework for representing and manipulating
geometric quantities.
Overall, vectors serve as powerful tools for describing and
analyzing quantities with both magnitude and direction,
playing a central role in numerous scientific and
technological applications.
VECTOR
TABLES OF CONTENTS:

1. INTRODUCTION

▪ Vector

▪ Types of Vectors

2. Addition of Vectors
a) Tringle law of Vector addition
b) Parallelogram law of Vector addition
c) Polygon law of Vector addition
3. Resolution of Vectors
4. Multiplication of two vectors
i. Scalar product or dot product of two vector
• Properties of Scalar Product
ii. Vector product or cross product of two vector
5. CONCLUSION
6. REFERENCES
Introduction:
Vector, in physics, a quantity that has both magnitude and
direction. It is typically represented by an arrow whose
direction is the same as that of the quantity and whose length is
proportional to the quantity’s magnitude. Although a vector has
magnitude and direction, it does not have position. That is, as
long as its length is not changed, a vector is not altered if it is
displaced parallel to itself. Vectors play an important role in
physics. For example, velocity, displacement, acceleration, force
are all vector quantities that have a magnitude as well as a
direction.
Representation of a Vector
A vector is represented by a line with
an arrowhead. The point O from
which the arrow starts is called the
tail or initial point, or origin of the
vector. Point A, where the arrow
ends, is called the tip or head or terminal point of the
vector. A vector displaced parallel to itself remains
unchanged. If a vector is rotated through an angle other
than 3600, it changes.

A vector can be replaced by another when its direction

and magnitude are the same
Types of Vectors
The vectors are termed as different types based on their
magnitude, direction, and their relationship with other vectors.
Let us explore a few types of vectors and their properties:

Zero Vectors
Vectors that have 0 magnitude are called zero vectors, denoted
by = (0,0,0). The zero vector has zero magnitudes and no
direction. It is also called the additive identity of vectors.

Unit Vectors
Vectors that have magnitude equals to 1 are called unit vectors,
denoted by
It is also called the multiplicative identity of vectors. The
magnitude of a unit vectors is 1. It is generally used to denote
the direction of a vector.

Position Vectors
Position vectors are used to determine the position and
direction of movement of the vectors in a three-dimensional
space. The magnitude and direction of position vectors can be
changed relative to other bodies. It is also called the location
vector.

Equal Vectors
Two or more vectors are said to be equal if their corresponding
components are equal. Equal vectors have the same magnitude
as well as direction. They may have different initial and terminal
points but the magnitude and direction must be equal.

Negative Vector
A vector is said to be the negative of another vector if they have
the same magnitudes but opposite directions. If vectors A and B
have equal magnitude but opposite directions, then vector A is
said to be the negative of vector B or vice versa.

Parallel Vectors
Two or more vectors are said to be parallel vectors if they have
the same direction but not necessarily the same magnitude. The
angles of the direction of parallel vectors differ by zero degrees.
The vectors whose angle of direction differs by 180 degrees are
called antiparallel vectors, that is, antiparallel vectors have
opposite directions.

Orthogonal Vectors
Two or more vectors in space are said to be orthogonal if the
angle between them is 90 degrees. In other words, the dot
product of orthogonal vectors is always 0. a.b = |a|·|b|cos90° =
0.

Co-initial Vectors
Vectors that have the same initial point are called co-initial
vectors.

Triangle Law of Vector Addition

Triangle law of vector addition states that when two
vectors are represented as two sides of the triangle with
the order of magnitude and direction, then the third side
of the triangle represents the magnitude and direction of
the resultant vector.

Derivation of Parallelogram Law of Vector Addition

Consider two vectors, P and Q respectively represented by
arrows with directions and magnitudes.

Derivation of Parallelogram Law of Vector Addition

Parallelogram Law of Vectors Addition
Parallelogram Law of Vector Addition states when two vectors
are added together and their sum is represented by the
diagonal of the parallelogram.

It is a mathematical principle that tells about how to add two

vectors geometrically to find their resultant vector.

Derivation of Parallelogram Law of Vector Addition

Consider two vectors, P and Q respectively represented by
arrows with directions and magnitudes.

Let θ be the angle between P and Q and R be the resultant

vector. Then according to Parallelogram Law of Vector Addition,
diagonal OC represent the resultant vector of P and Q.
So we have,

R=P+Q

Now expand A to D and draw a perpendicular CD to OD.

From triangle ODC,

(OC)2= (OD)2 + (CD)2 [By Pythagoras theorem]

⇒ (OC)2= (OA + AD)2 + (CD)2 . . . (1)

In triangle ADC

Cosθ = AD/AC or AD = AC Cosθ or AD = OB Cosθ = Q Cosθ

Also,

Sinθ = CD/AC or CD = AC Sinθ or CD = OB Sinθ = Q Sinθ

Magnitude of resultant-
Substituting the value of AD and CD in equation-1

(OC)2= (OA + AD)2 + (CD)2

⇒ (R)2 = (P + QCosθ)2 + (QSinθ)2

⇒ R2 = P2 + 2PQCosθ + Q2Cos2 + Q²Sinθ2

⇒ |R| = √(P2 + Q2 + 2PQCOsθ)

Hence, Proved.
Polygon law of Vector Addition

Resolution of Vectors
The process of splitting a vector into various parts is called the
resolution of vectors. These parts of a vector act in different directions
and are called “components of vector“. We can resolve a vector into
many components.

Generally, there are three components of the vector which are as

follows:

o Component along x-axis

o Component along y-axis
o Component along z-axis

We will here discuss only two components x-component & y-

component which are perpendicular to each other. These components
are known as rectangular components of the vector.
Method of Resolving a Vector into Rectangular Components
Consider a vector v acting at a point that makes an angle q with the positive x-
axis. Vector v is represented by a line OA. Draw a perpendicular AB from point A
on the x-axis. Suppose OB and BA represent two vectors. Vector OA is parallel
to the x-axis and vector BA is parallel to the y-axis. The magnitude of these
vectors is Vx and Vy respectively. We notice that the sum of these vectors is
equal to vector v. Thus the rectangular components of the vector are Vx and Vy.

The magnitude of the horizontal component

Consider the above right-angled triangle OAB
The magnitude of the vertical component
Consider the above right-angled triangle OAB

Scalar or Dot product

The scalar product is the multiplication of corresponding components
of two or more vectors. As the name suggests, a scalar product gives a
scalar quantity, that is, a real number as a result. The scalar product
can also be calculated by taking the product of the magnitude of the
vectors and the cosine of the angle between them. Now, let us see the
scalar product formula for two and three vectors.

Scalar Product of Two Vectors Formula

The scalar product of two vectors is given by the product of the modulus of the first
vector, the modulus of the second vector, and the cosine of the angle between them. In
other words, the scalar product is the product of the magnitude of the first vector and
the projection of the first vector onto the second vector. The scalar product formula for
two vectors a and b is:
a.b = |a| |b| cosθ

Scalar Product Properties

Now, that we have understood the concept of scalar product, let us go
through some of the important properties of the scalar product of
vectors a and b that will help us in solving various problems:
i. Commutative Property - Scalar product is commutative, that is,
a.b = b.a

ii. Distributive Property - Scalar product of vectors follow the

distributive property:
a.(b + c) = a.b + a.c
(a + b).c = a.c + b.c
a.(b - c) = a.b - a.c
(a - b).c = a.c - b.c

iii. Two vectors are said to orthogonal if their scalar product is zero,
that is, vectors a and b are orthogonal if a.b = 0
Cross Product Definition
If A and B are two independent vectors, then the result of the
cross product of these two vectors (Ax B) is perpendicular to
both the vectors and normal to the plane that contains both the
vectors. It is represented by:
A x B= |A| |B| sin θ

We can understand this with an example that if we have two vectors

lying in the X-Y plane, then their cross product will give a resultant
vector in the direction of the Z-axis, which is perpendicular to the XY
plane. The × symbol is used between the original vectors. The vector
product or the cross product of two vectors is shown as:
 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, vectors play a crucial role in physics,

providing a powerful mathematical framework for
describing quantities with both magnitude and
direction. They are used extensively in various branches
of physics, including mechanics, electromagnetism,
thermodynamics, and quantum mechanics. Some key
points to consider about vectors in physics include:

1. Representation: Vectors are represented by arrows or

boldface letters, with the length of the arrow
indicating magnitude and the direction indicating
direction.
2. Mathematical Operations: Vectors can be added,
subtracted, multiplied by scalars, and subjected to dot
and cross products, allowing for the manipulation and
analysis of physical quantities in multiple dimensions.
3. Components: Vectors can be broken down into
components along specified axes, facilitating analysis
in different coordinate systems.
4. Applications: Vectors are used to describe various
physical quantities such as force, velocity,
acceleration, electric and magnetic fields, and more.
They are essential for formulating equations, solving
problems, and predicting the behavior of physical
systems.
5. Vector Calculus: In advanced physics, vectors are
employed in vector calculus to study functions of
multiple variables and analyze phenomena in three-
dimensional space.
6. Geometric Interpretation: Vectors have geometric
interpretations, allowing for intuitive understanding
of physical phenomena and relationships between
quantities.
Overall, vectors provide physicists with a powerful
toolset for describing, analyzing, and understanding
the fundamental laws and principles that govern the
behavior of the universe. Their versatility and
applicability make them indispensable in virtually all
areas of physics, contributing to the advancement of
scientific knowledge and technological innovation.
REFERANCES:

• www.cuemath.com
• byjus.com
• www.techopedia.com
• testbook.com
• www.vedantu.com