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Lecture 2 Vectors

This document discusses vectors and scalars in electricity and magnetism. It defines a scalar as a number that may have units but no direction, while a vector has both magnitude and direction. The document shows how to calculate the sum of two vectors by adding their x and y components. It also examines two special triangles - the 45 degree triangle and equilateral triangle - to relate side lengths using trigonometry. Vector addition is demonstrated by summing the x and y components of two individual vectors to find the x and y components of the resulting vector.

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Victor Mbowura
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23 views

Lecture 2 Vectors

This document discusses vectors and scalars in electricity and magnetism. It defines a scalar as a number that may have units but no direction, while a vector has both magnitude and direction. The document shows how to calculate the sum of two vectors by adding their x and y components. It also examines two special triangles - the 45 degree triangle and equilateral triangle - to relate side lengths using trigonometry. Vector addition is demonstrated by summing the x and y components of two individual vectors to find the x and y components of the resulting vector.

Uploaded by

Victor Mbowura
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Electricity and Magnetism

Lecture 3: Vectors
Scalars & Vectors
• A scalar is a number
– it may have units e.g. kg (it may not)
– it does not have any direction
– it may have a sign +ve or -ve
– it may be real, or integer
• A vector has both
– magnitude/size
– direction
Vector Summation
CAB
B (parallel)

A
C

B
Note: B has direction and size, but starting point is arbitrary
Two special Triangles:
45º Triangle; Isosceles Triangle

b
2
b  a a  2 2

a 2
b  2a 2

45º b  2a

a
Two special Triangles:
Equilateral Triangle
30º,60º 2a   a 2  c 2 
2

2a 2a
2
4a  a  c 2 2

30º
2 2
c 3a  c
60º
c  3a
b=a
Vector Summation

B C  A B
A C  Axi  A y j  B xi  B y j
C
C xi  C y j  Axi  A y j  B xi  B y j
B
C xi  C y j  ( A x  B x )i  ( A y  B y ) j

C x  Ax  B x C y  Ay  B y

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