PHYSICS 101AH: LESSON 2SCALARS AND VECTORS 2.1.

General Categories of Physical QuantitiesScalar quantities are those quantities which are completely specified by their magnitude,expressed in some convenient units. easy to handle since they can be manipulated by ordinary laws of algebra(Usually can be added, subtracted, multiplied, divided directly) Examples: length, mass , area, volume, time, density Vector quantities are those which require for complete specification, both magnitude anddirection. Direction is just as important as the magnitude when specifying quantities It always represented by an arrow. Examples: displacement, force, acceleration, velocity, momentum The sum of the vectors is called the RESULTANT vector. 2.2. Addition of VectorsMethods in Adding Vectors A. Graphical Method also known as Geometrical Method and require no computation. a. Parallelogram Method (Tail to Tail Method) used to add only two vectors b. Triangle Method (Head to Tail Method) use to add only two vectors c. Polygon Method (Head to Tail Method) use to add more than 2 vectorsAn illustration will help for Head to Tail method: Note that we can move vectors around as we wish on the graph paper, because only themagnitude and direction matter. The location does not. Also note thatt h i s i s t h e w a y w e w o u l d a d d t o g e t h e r d i s p l a c e m e n t s i f I s a y " g o along vector A and then along B ", then in the end we would end up inthe same place as if we had just gone along vector R , the resultant. Inthat sense, R is the sum of A and B . We take this as a general definitionof adding any two vectors together, whether they are displacements,v e l o c i t i e s , o r s o m e o t h e r q u a n t i t i e s . To do this accurately, we need to use a ruler and protractor. The general technique for adding two vectors on graph paper is as follows:1.Start at the origin and draw the first vector (based on the numbers given you) 2 . A t t h e e n d o f t h e f i r s t v e c t o r , m a k e a n e w o r i g i n 3.Draw the second vector starting at the new origin4.Connect the tail of the first vector to the head of the secondW h e n y o u a r e f i n i s h e d , t h e l a s t l i n e y o u h a v e d r a w n i s t h e r e s u l t a n t . Y o u c a n t h e n measure the length and angle of this vector using a protractor and rule