MATHSWATCH CLIP

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L.O. To be able to
 Understand and use vector notation
 Complete basic calculations with vectors
 Multiply a vector by a scalar
Key Words
vector, scalar, magnitude, direction, resultant

Starter
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NOTATION AND BASICS

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Coordinates
On your grid, plot the following coordinates:
A(2, 3) B(6, -1) C(-4, 0) D(-5, 3)
How many units do you have to move in each direction (x and y) to
journey between the following coordinates?
y
a) From A to B?
6
4
b) From D to A?
2

–6 –4 –2 0 2 4 6 x
c) From C to D?
–2
–4
d) From B to A?
–6
Is there a better way to describe these journeys?
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Comparing
  coordinates with vectors
Coordinates
 Tell us about POSITION – where is something located, relative to a fixed origin

 Refer to a single FIXED point. If you place it elsewhere on the grid, the
coordinate would need to change
 On a grid, looks like a • or a little x
Vectors
 Tell us about a DISPLACEMENT – how far is being moved and in which
direction

 Can MOVE and be positioned anywhere on the grid and still mean the same
thing, without changing the vector
 On a grid, looks like a line with an arrow on
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Vectors
 Have a magnitude and a direction
 MAGNITUDE is the size, or length, of the vector
 Use a column vector to show and components
 Don’t put a line in the vector, it’s not a fraction!
 Can be written in three different ways
 B
 a (must be in bold when typed) a
 (must be underlined like this when hand-written)
A
a
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 MATHSWATCH CLIP
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Two vectors are equal if they have the same magnitude and
direction.

All of the following vectors are equal:

d
a g
e
c
f
b

They are the same length and parallel to each other.

 MATHSWATCH CLIP
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B
5 a
Here is the vector AB =
2
A
B
Suppose the arrow went in the
opposite direction:
A

How can we describe this vector?

–5
BA –a or
–2
 MATHSWATCH CLIP
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 MATHSWATCH CLIP
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Task – Write down the column vector for each of the vectors
shown on this diagram
f  5 
 2
a 1  
   3
 3   b
 2

c 0 
d  
 3
   3
 3   4
 
e  0 

h
g 3
 5  
  4
 2
 MATHSWATCH CLIP
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A vector with a magnitude of 0 is called the zero vector.

The zero vector is written as 0 or hand-written as 0

A vector with a magnitude of 1 is called a unit vector.

The most important unit vectors are those that are horizontal and
vertical. These are called unit base vectors.

1
The horizontal unit base vector, , is called i.
0

0
The vertical unit base vector, , is called j.
1
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The unit base vectors, i and j, can be represented in a

diagram as follows:

j
i
Any column vector can easily be written in terms of i and j.

5
For example, = 5i – 4j
–4

The number of i’s tells us how many units are moved horizontally
and the number of j’s tell us how many units are moved vertically.
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Task
Write the following in terms Write the following in terms
of unit base vectors. of column vectors.

7 4
= 7i + 2j 4i + j =
2 1

1 0
= i – 3j –7j =
–3 –7

–5 –1
= –5i –i + 8j =
0 8
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ADDING AND
SUBTRACTING
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 Adding vectors
 Add two vectors and you get a RESULTANT vector
 On a grid, just stick them end to end, one after the other
 From a column vector, just add the components, then add the
components

b
a

a+b

5 3 8
a = and b = a+b =
3 –2 1
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 MATHSWATCH CLIP
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 Subtracting vectors
 On a grid, reverse the direction arrow on the vector you want
to take away, then just stick them end to end, one after the
other
 From a column vector, just subtract the components, then
subtract the components
4 –2 6
a = and b = a–b =
4 3 1

a b –b a –b

a–b
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 MATHSWATCH CLIP
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MULTIPLYING BY A SCALAR
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Multiplying a vector by a scalar
 A scalar is just a number
 Multiply a scalar by a vector and you get a PARALLEL vector
 On a grid, just multiply the length of the line by the scalar
quantity, keeping it in the same direction
 From a column vector, just multiply each element in the vector
by the scalar number
The vector 2a has the same
direction but is twice as long.
a 2a 3
a=
2
6
2a =
4
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 MATHSWATCH CLIP
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 MATHSWATCH CLIP
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Task – Vectors a, b and c are shown below. For the vectors 2a, -3b and 4c
a) draw these vectors anywhere on your page
b) determine their new column form
a
2a

b
 2  4
2a = 2   =  
 - 1  - 2
4c
-3b  3 
-3b = -3   = 
1 
3
    9 

  1  4
4c = 4   =  
 2  8
c
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MIXED VECTOR
CALCULATIONS
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Example
5 –2 –1
a= b= and c=
3 6 4
Find
5 –1 5 + –1 4
1) a + c a+c= + = =
3 4 3+4 7

–2 3 × –2 –6
2) 3b 3b = 3 × = =
6 3×6 18

–1 –2 –2 – –2 0
3) 2c – b 2c – b = 2 × – = =
4 6 8–6 2
 MATHSWATCH CLIP
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Task
 1  2   1   2
p    q    r    s   
 3   5   2    7 
Work out (i) 3p (ii) 4r (iii) q + 3p (iv) 5r - 3s (v) 5p + q - 2s
1   3
(i) 3 p  3    
 3 9 

  1   4 
(ii) 4 r  4     
 2  8 

 2  1   2   3  5 
(iii) q  3 p     3          
 5   3   5   9   14 

  1   2    5    6   1 
(iv) 5 r  3 s  5    3          
 2    7   10    21   31 

 1   2    2   5   2    4   11 
(v) 5p  q  2 s  5       2             
3 5  7
           15 5  14   34 