Lecture 2

Chapter 2

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Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Describe the difference between vector and scalar quantities.

• Describe how one-dimensional vector quantities are added or subtracted.
• Describe vectors in two and three dimensions in terms of their components.
• Explain how the magnitude of a vector is defined in terms of the components of a
vector.
• Explain the connection between polar coordinates and Cartesian coordinates in a plane.

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 Scalars and Vectors

Scalar quantities have magnitudes and can be Vector quantities have magnitudes and direction.
negative or positive but have no sense of direction. • Examples: displacement, velocity, acceleration,
• Examples: mass, density, time, speed, distance,
work, energy, electric charge linear momentum, force, torque, electric field
Notation
 For Vectors: Or (Bold)
 For Magnitudes:

Magnitudes of vectors are always positive scalars

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 Example: Displacement is a Vector
Displacement is the difference between a start location and an ending location – magnitude and direction

Brown vectors have the same magnitude and direction. They

are the same.
P2 P10 Blue vector has the same magnitude but opposite direction
⃗
𝐀 P4 ⃗
𝐁 to the others.
P1
⃗𝐀
P3 P9
P6 P8
⃗
𝐀 ⃗
𝐀
P5 P7

Displacement vector does NOT dependent on the path.

As a particle moves from to
along an arbitrary path, its
displacement is a vector
quantity shown by the arrow
drawn from A to B.
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 Various relations between two vectors and

(𝐚) ⃗
𝐀≠⃗
𝐁 because 𝐴≠ 𝐵 .

because they are not parallel and .

(c) because they have different directions.

because they are parallel and have

identical magnitudes .

(e) because they have different directions;

here, their directions differ by 90°—meaning,
they are orthogonal.

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 Adding Vectors Properties
Given vectors and is called the “resultant”
• Order is NOT important because the addition of vectors is…
 Commutative
,
 Associative

 multiplication by a scalar is distributive

• Subtraction

• Magnitude: is the length of vector

Magnitude:

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 Adding vectors geometrically Parallelogram rule
• To sum of two vectors in a plane 𝐁
⃗

1. If the head of is located at the tail of , then is the diagonal starting from ⃗
𝐀

⃗
the tail of the to the head of .
𝐀
⃗ 𝐑
2. If you have two vectors and are at the arbitrary positions, e.g., with
different origins and cannot apply head and tail rule, we follow the
parallelogram rule
𝐁
⃗

a) Make both vectors have their origins at the same point by drawing
parallel vectors. (we obtain a parallelogram)
b) From the origin of the two vectors, we draw a diagonal that is the
𝐑
⃗
resultant of the two vectors.
c) The length (magnitude) of a diagonal cannot be
expressed as a simple sum of side lengths A and B –
see the Next slides
Any number of vectors can be added

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 Coordinate Systems
Cartesian coordinate system Polar coordinate
Any point in this system is labeled with the • A point is specified by the distance r from the origin
coordinates (x, y). to the point and by the angle between the reference
line and a line drawn from the origin to the point.
• The standard reference line is usually selected to be
the positive x-axis.
• The angle is considered positive when measured
counterclockwise from the reference line.

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 Adding and Subtraction vectors: Method of
components
• A vector in a plane (Cartesian -coordinate) is described by a pair
of its vector components:
-component
-component
• In the Cartesian system, the and vector components of a vector
are the orthogonal projections of this vector onto the - and -axes, ⃗
𝐀
respectively. 𝒚

• Using the parallelogram rule, a vector on a Cartesian

plane can be expressed as the vector sum of its vector
components:

• The positive direction on the x-axis is donated by the

unit vector and the positive direction on the y-axis is
donated by the unit vector .
• We can write the vector in terms of the unit vector
as follows:

where and are the scalar components of vector .

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 Method of components: Magnitude of a
vector
• If we know we can find the magnitude of and its direction
angle.
• The direction angle (or direction) is the angle between the
vector and the positive direction on the x-axis.
• The angle is measured in the counter-clockwise direction from
the +ve x-axis to the vector
• This forms a right triangle (): Using Pythagorean
theorem we have :

𝐴𝑦
tan 𝜃 𝐴=
𝐴𝑥
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 Coordinates conversion
To convert between polar and cartesian coordinate one may use
the basic trigonometric functions.
( 𝑥 , 𝑦 ) 𝐎𝐑 (𝑟 , 𝜙)
In terms of , the basic trigonometric functions are as follows:

Another important relationship, called the Pythagorean theorem, exists between the lengths of the
sides of a right triangle:

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Vectors in 3 D, right-handed coordinates
• The order x-y-z, which is equivalent to the order --, defines the standard right-
handed coordinate system (positive orientation).
• Vector in three-dimensional space is the vector sum of its three vector
components ⃗ ^ ^ ^
𝐀 = Ax 𝒊+ A y 𝒋+ A z 𝒌

• Magnitude A is obtained by

• We always use right-handed coordinate systems.

• In 3D the right-hand rule determines the positive direction for axes.
• Curl the fingers of your RIGHT HAND so they go from x to y.
• Your thumb will point in the positive z direction.
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 Vector addition
Example
 If and ; find:
• (a) the component of along y-axis,
• (b) the magnitude of ,
• (c) a unit vector along .

Solution:
(a) the component of A along y-axis is – 4
(b)
Magnitude of

(c) Let

Unit vector:
Unit vector:

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Check your understanding

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 1) same magnitude, but can be in any direction
If two vectors are given such that
2) same magnitude, but must be in the same direction
A + B = 0, what can you say about
3) different magnitudes, but must be in the same
the magnitude and direction of direction
vectors A and B? 4) same magnitude, but must be in opposite directions
5) different magnitudes, but must be in opposite directions
 Answer
1) same magnitude, but can be in any direction
If two vectors are given such that
2) same magnitude, but must be in the same direction
A + B = 0, what can you say about
the magnitude and direction of 3) different magnitudes, but must be in the same
direction
vectors A and B?
4) same magnitude, but must be in opposite directions
5) different magnitudes, but must be in opposite directions

The magnitudes must be the same, but one vector must be pointing in the opposite
direction of the other in order for the sum to come out to zero. You can prove this with the
tip-to-tail method.
 1) they are perpendicular to each other
Given that A + B = C, and that lAl 2
+ lBl 2 = lCl 2, how are vectors A 2) they are parallel and in the same direction
and B oriented with respect to 3) they are parallel but in the opposite direction
each other? 4) they are at 45° to each other
5) they can be at any angle to each other
 Answer

Given that A + B = C, and that lAl 2 1) they are perpendicular to each other
+ lBl 2 = lCl 2, how are vectors A 2) they are parallel and in the same direction
and B oriented with respect to 3) they are parallel but in the opposite direction
each other? 4) they are at 45° to each other
5) they can be at any angle to each other

Note that the magnitudes of the vectors satisfy the Pythagorean Theorem. This suggests
that they form a right triangle, with vector C as the hypotenuse. Thus, A and B are the legs
of the right triangle and are therefore perpendicular.
Given that A + B = C, and 1) they are perpendicular to each other
that lAl + lBl = lCl , how are 2) they are parallel and in the same direction
vectors A and B oriented 3) they are parallel but in the opposite direction
with respect to each other?
4) they are at 45° to each other
5) they can be at any angle to each other
 Answer
Given that A + B = C, and 1) they are perpendicular to each other
that lAl + lBl = lCl , how are 2) they are parallel and in the same direction
vectors A and B oriented 3) they are parallel but in the opposite direction
with respect to each other?
4) they are at 45° to each other
5) they can be at any angle to each other

The only time vector magnitudes will simply add together is when the direction does not
have to be taken into account (i.e., the direction is the same for both vectors). In that
case, there is no angle between them to worry about, so vectors A and B must be pointing
in the same direction.
 1) 30°
A certain vector has x and y components that are equal
2) 180°
in magnitude. Which of the following is a possible angle
3) 90°
for this vector in a standard x-y coordinate system?
4) 60°
5) 45°
 Answer
1) 30°
A certain vector has x and y components that are equal
2) 180°
in magnitude. Which of the following is a possible angle
3) 90°
for this vector in a standard x-y coordinate system?
4) 60°
5) 45°

The angle of the vector is given by tan ɵ = y/x. Thus, tan ɵ = 1 in this case if x and y
are equal, which means that the angle must be 45°.
You are adding vectors of length 20 and 40 1) 0

units. What is the only possible resultant 2) 18

3) 37
magnitude that you can obtain out of the
4) 64
following choices?
5) 100
 Answer

You are adding vectors of length 20 and 40 1) 0

units. What is the only possible resultant 2) 18

3) 37
magnitude that you can obtain out of the
4) 64
following choices?
5) 100

The minimum resultant occurs when the vectors are opposite, giving
20 units. The maximum resultant occurs when the vectors are
aligned, giving 60 units. Anything in between is also possible for
angles between 0° and 180°.
Useful links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBSCMTYaH1s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_21erD-nBg&list=PL0h9jlLEdduOAyrst-S-ulUuCBbOdJKsm

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Thank you for listening
See you next Lecture!

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