Vectors

Lesson 4.3
 What is a Vector?
 A quantity that has both
 Size

 Direction

 Examples
 Wind Terminal
point
 Boat or aircraft travel
 Forces in physics

 Geometrically
A directed line segment
Initial point
2
 Vector Notation
 Given by
 Angle brackets <a, b> a vector with
 Initial point at (0,0)
 Terminal point at (a, b)

 Ordered pair (a, b)

 As above, initial point at origin, terminal
point at the specified ordered pair
(a, b)

3
 Vector Notation
2
 An arrow over a letter V V
 or a letter in
bold face V
A
 An arrow over two letters
B
 The initial and terminal points
2

AB or both letters in bold face AB
 The magnitude (length) of a vector is
notated with double vertical lines

4
 Equivalent Vectors
 Have both same direction
(a, b)
and same magnitude

 Given points Pt xt , yt   Pi  xi , yi 
 The components of a vector
 Ordered pair of terminal point with initial point
at (0,0)

 xt  xi , yt  yi
5
 Find the Vector
 Given P1 (0, -3) and P2 (1, 5)
 Show vector2 representation in <x, y>
format for P1 P2
 <1 – 0, 5 – (-3)> = <1,8>

 Try these
P (4,2) and P2 (-3, -3)
1

P (3, -2) and P2(3, 0)

4

6
 Fundamental Vector Operations
Given vectors V = <a, b>, W = <c, d>

 Magnitude 2
V  a b 2

 Addition
V + W = <a + c, b + d>

 Scalar multiplication – changes the

magnitude, not the direction
 3V = <3a, 3b>
7
 Vector Addition
 Sum of two vectors is the single
equivalent vector which has same
effect as application of the two vectors
B

Note
Notethat
thatthe
thesum
sumof of
+

two
twovectors
vectorsisisthe
the
A

A
B diagonal
diagonalofofthe
the
resulting
resultingparallelogram
parallelogram

8
 Vector Subtraction
 The difference of two vectors is the
result of adding a negative vector
A – B = A + (-B)

A
B

A-B

-B
9
 Vector Addition / Subtraction
 Add vectors by adding respective
components
 <3,4> + <6, -5> = ?
 <2.4, - 7> - <2, 6.8> = ?

 Try these visually, A

draw the results C

A +C
B
B – A

 C + 2B
10
 Magnitude of a Vector
 Magnitude found using Pythagorean
theorem or distance formula
 Given A = <4, -7> A  42  ( 7) 2 

 Find the magnitude of these:

P (4,2) and P2 (-3, -3)
1

P (3, -2) and P2(3, 0)

4

11
 Unit Vectors
 Definition:
A vector whose magnitude is 1
 Typically we use the horizontal and
vertical unit vectors i and j
i = <1, 0> j = <0, 1>
 Then use the vector components to

express the vector as a sum

 V = <3,5> = 3i + 5j

12
 Unit Vectors
 Use unit vectors to add vectors
 <4, -2> + <6, 9>
4i – 2j + 6i + 9j = 10i + 7j
 Use to find magnitude
 || -3i + 4j || = ((-3)2 + 42)1/2 = 5
 Use to find direction
 Direction for -2i + 2j
2
tan   
2
3

4 13
 Finding the Components
 Given direction θ and magnitude ||V||
V 6 

b
6
a

 V = <a, b>
a  V cos 
b  V sin 

14
Assignment Part A

 Lesson 4.3A
 Page 325
 Exercises 1 – 35 odd

15
 Applications of Vectors
 Sammy Squirrel is steering his boat at
a heading of 327° at 18mph. The
current is flowing at 4mph at a
heading of 60°. Find Sammy's course

Note
Noteinfo
infoabout
aboutE6B
E6B
flight
flightcalculator
calculator

16
 Application of Vectors
 A 120 pound force keeps an 800
pound box from sliding down an
inclined ramp. What is the angle of
the ramp?

 What we have
is the force
the weight
creates
parallel to the
ramp 17
 Dot Product

Given vectors V = <a, b>, W = <c, d>

 Dot product defined as

V  W a c  b d
 Note that the result is a scalar
 Also known as
 Inner product or
 Scalar product

18
 Find the Dot (product)
 Given A = 3i + 7j, B = -2i + 4j, and
C = 6i - 5j
 Find the following:
A •B=?
B • C = ?

 The dot product can also be found

with the following formula

V  W  V W cos 
19
 Dot Product Formula
 Formula on previous slide may be
more useful for finding the angle 

V  W  V W cos 
V W
cos  
V W

20
 Find the Angle
 Given two vectors
V = <1, -5> and W = <-2, 3>

 Find the angle between them

 Calculatedot product
 Then magnitude W
 Then apply

formula
 Take arccos V

21
 Dot Product Properties (pg 321)
 Commutative
 Distributive over addition
 Scalar multiplication same over dot
product before or after dot product
multiplication
 Dot product of vector with itself
 Multiplicative property of zero
 Dot products of
i • i =1
j • j = 1
i • j = 0 22
Assignment B

 Lesson 4.3B
 Page 325
 Exercises 37 – 61 odd

23
 Scalar Projection
 Given two vectors v and w

v

w
projwv
The projection of v on w

 Projwv = v cos 
24
 Scalar Projection
 The other possible configuration for
the projection

w projwv
v cos  The projection of v on w

 Formula used is the same but result

will be negative because  > 90°
25
 Parallel and Perpendicular Vectors
V W
 Recall formula cos  
V W

 What would it mean if this resulted in a

value of 0??
 What angle has a cosine of 0?

V W
0   90
V W

26
 Work: An Application of the Dot
Product

 The horse pulls for 1000ft with a force

of 250 lbs at an angle of 37° with the
ground. The amount of work done is
force times displacement. This can be
given with the dot product

W F s
 F  s cos 
37°

27
 Assignment C
 Lesson 4.3C
 Page 326
 Exercises 63 - 77 odd
79 – 82 all

28