FORCE VECTORS

LECTURER: ENG. YUNUS ALI HAMDANI

2.1 Scalars and Vectors
Many physical quantities in engineering mechanics are measured using
either scalars or vectors.
Scalar is any positive or negative physical quantity that can be completely
specified by its magnitude. Examples of scalar quantities include length,
mass, and time.
Vector is any physical quantity that requires both a magnitude and a
direction for its complete description.
Examples of vectors encountered in statics are force, position and
moment. A vector is shown graphically by an arrow. The length of the
arrow represents the magnitude of the vector, and the angle between the
vector and a fixed axis defines the direction of its line of action.
The head or tip of the arrow indicates the sense of direction of the vector,
Fig. 2.1
2.2 Vector Operations
Multiplication and Division of a Vector by a Scalar
If a vector is multiplied by a positive scalar, its magnitude is increased by
that amount. Multiplying by a negative scalar will also change the
directional sense of the vector. Graphic examples of these operations
are shown in Fig. 2.2
Vector Addition
When adding two vectors together it is important to account for both
their magnitudes and their directions. To do this we must use the
parallelogram law of addition. To illustrate, the two component vectors A
and B in Fig. 2.3a are added to form a resultant vector R = A + B using the
following procedure:
First join the tails of the components at a point to make them
concurrent.
From the head of B, draw a line parallel to A. Draw another line from the
head of A that is parallel to B. These two lines intersect at point P to form
the adjacent sides of a parallelogram. diagonal of this parallelogram that
extends to P forms R, which then represents the resultant vector R = A +
B, Fig2.3
We can also add B to A, Fig. 2.4a, using the triangle rule, which is a special case
of the parallelogram law, whereby vector B is added to vector A in a “head-to-
tail” fashion, i.e., by connecting the head of A to the tail of B, Fig. 2.4b. The
resultant R extends from the tail of A to the head of B. In a similar manner, R
can also be obtained by adding A to B, Fig. 2.4c. By comparison, it is seen that
vector addition is commutative; in other words, the vectors can be added in
either order.
As a special case, if the two vectors A and B are collinear, i.e., both have
the same line of action, the parallelogram law reduces to an algebraic or
scalar addition R = A + B, as shown in Fig. 2.5.
Vector Subtraction
The resultant of the difference between two vectors A and B of the same
type may be expressed as
R = A - B = A + (-B)
This vector sum is shown graphically in Fig. 2.6. Subtraction is therefore
defined as a special case of addition, so the rules of vector addition also
apply to vector subtraction.
2.3 Vector Addition of Forces

A force is a vector quantity since it has a specified magnitude, direction,

and sense and it adds according to the parallelogram law.
Two common problems in statics involve either finding the resultant
force, knowing its components, or resolving a known force into two
components.
Finding a Resultant Force
The two component forces F1 and F2 acting on the pin in Fig. 2.7a can be
added together to form the resultant force FR = F1 + F2, as shown in Fig. 2.7b.
From this construction, or using the triangle rule, Fig. 2.7c, we can apply the
law of cosines or the law of sine to the triangle in order to obtain the
magnitude of the resultant force and its direction.
Addition of Several Forces
If more than two forces are to be added, successive applications of the
parallelogram law can be carried out in order to obtain the resultant force.
For example, if three forces F1, F2, F3 act at a point O, Fig. 2.9, the resultant
of any two of the forces is found, say, F1 + F2 and then this resultant is added
to the third force, yielding the resultant of all three forces; i.e., FR = (F1 + F2) +
F3.
Using the parallelogram law to add more than two forces, as shown here,
often requires extensive geometric and trigonometric calculation to
determine the numerical values for the magnitude and direction of the
resultant.
• Instead, problems of this type are easily solved by using the “rectangular
component method,”
From this triangle, the magnitude of the resultant force can be
determined using the law of cosines, and its direction is determined from
the law of sine. The magnitudes of two force components are
determined from the law of sine. The magnitudes of two force
components are determined from the law of sine.
The formulas are given from Fig. 2.10 (c) using:
Cosine rule:

Sine rule:
2.4 Addition of a System of Coplanar Forces
When a force is resolved into two components along the x and y axes, the
components are then called rectangular components.
For analytical work we can represent these components in one of two
ways, using either scalar or Cartesian vector notation.
Scalar Notation
The rectangular components of force F shown in Fig. 2.11a are found
using the parallelogram law, so that

Because these components form a right triangle, they can be determined

from
Instead of using the angle u, however, the direction of F can also be
defined using a small “slope” triangle, as in the example shown in Fig.
2.11b. Since small triangle and the larger triangle are similar, the
proportional length of the sides gives
Cartesian Vector Notation
It is also possible to represent the x and y components of a force in terms
of Cartesian unit vectors i and j.
They are called unit vectors because they have a dimensionless magnitude
of 1, and so they can be used to designate the directions of the x and y
axes, respectively, Fig. 2.12. Since the magnitude of each component of F is
always a positive quantity, which is represented by the (positive) scalars Fx
and Fy, then we can express F as a Cartesian vector,
Coplanar Force Resultants
We can use either of the two methods just described to determine the
resultant of several coplanar forces, i.e., forces that all lie in the same
plane. To do this, each force is first resolved into its x and y components,
and then the respective components are added using scalar algebra since
they are collinear.
The resultant force is then formed by adding the resultant components
using the parallelogram law. For example, consider the three concurrent
forces in Fig. 2.13a, which have x and y components shown in Fig. 2.13b.
Using Cartesian vector notation, each force is first represented as a
Cartesian vector, i.e.
The vector resultant is therefore

We can represent the components of the resultant force of any number

of coplanar forces symbolically by the algebraic sum of the x and y
components of all the forces, i.e.
The magnitude of the resultant force is given by:

Also, the angle which specifies the direction of the resultant force, is
determined from trigonometry:
2.5 Cartesian vector
The operations of vector algebra, when applied to solving problems in
three dimensions, are greatly simplified if the vectors are first
represented in Cartesian vector form.
Right-Handed Coordinate System
We will use right-handed coordinate system to develop the theory of
vector algebra that follows. A rectangular coordinate system is said to
be right-handed if the thumb of the right hand points in the direction of
the positive z axis when the right-hand fingers are curled about this axis
and right directed from the positive x towards the positive y axis, Fig.
2.14.
Rectangular Components of a Vector
A vector A may have one, two, or three rectangular components along
the x, y, z coordinate axes, depending on how the vector is oriented
relative to the axes. In general, though, when A is directed within an
octant of the x, y, z frame, Fig. 2.15, then by two successive applications
of the parallelogram law, we may resolve the vector into components as

Combining these equations, to eliminate A’, A is represented by the

vector sum of its three rectangular components,
2. Cartesian Unit Vectors
In three dimensions, the set of Cartesian unit vectors, i, j, k, is used to
designate the directions of the x, y, z axes, respectively. As stated above
the sense (or arrowhead) of these vectors will be represented analytically
by a plus or minus sign, depending on whether they are directed along the
positive or negative x, y, or z.
The positive Cartesian unit vectors are shown in Fig. 2.16.
Cartesian Vector Representation
Since the three components of A in Eq. 2–2 act in the positive i, j, and k
directions,
Fig. 2.17, we can write A in Cartesian vector form as

There is a distinct advantage to writing vectors in this manner. Separating

the magnitude and direction of each component vector will simplify the
operations of vector algebra, particularly in three dimensions.
Magnitude of a Cartesian Vector
It is always possible to obtain the magnitude of A provided it is
expressed in Cartesian vector form.
and from the horizontal right triangle,

Combining these equations to eliminate A’ yields

Hence, the magnitude of A is equal to the positive square root of the

sum of the squares of its components.
Coordinate Direction Angles
We will define the direction of A by the coordinate direction angles (alpha),
(beta), and (gamma), measured between the tail of A and the positive x, y,
z axes provided they are located at the tail of A. See Figure 2.18. Note that
regardless of where A is directed, each of these angles will be between 0°
and 180°. To determine , and , consider the projection of A onto the x, y, z
axes,
Using trigonometry, “direction cosines” are found using

These angles are independent. It must satisfy the following equation

Worked examples

Example 1: Determine the and scalar components of and acting at

point A of the bracket shown in Figure 1 and hence find the resultant
force act on point A.
The direction of the resultant force, is given by: