Core - Physics and | phy. ical el a eDrEe Vectors and scalars Quantities in physics are either scalars (i.e. they just have magnitude) or vectors (i.e. they have magnitude and direction). The tools for dealing with vectors are presented in this chapter. Objectives By the end of this chapter you should be able to: + describe the difference between vector and scalar quantities and give examples of each; + add and subtract vectors by a graphical technique, such as the parallelogram rule; + find the components of a vector along a given set of axes: + reconstruct the magnitude and direction of a vector from its given components; + solve problems with vectors. Vectors Some quantities in physics, such as time, distance, mass, speed, temperature, etc,, just need one number to specify them. These are called scalar quantities. For example, it is sufficient to say that the mass of a body is 10 kg or that the temperature today is 18°C. On the other hand, many quantities are fully specified only if, in addition to a number, a direction is given. Examples are velocity, acceleration, force, etc. These are called vector quantities. For example, when describing the velocity of an object, it is necessary to specify both the magnitude of velocity (speed) and the direction in which the object is moving. Table 4.1 lists some examples of vectors and scalars. Avvector is represented by a straight line with an arrow at one end, as shown in Figure 4.1a, The direction of the arrow represents the direction of the vector and the length of the line represents the magnitude of the vector. To Distance Speed Mass F Time Electric poter Magne! Energy Gravitational potential Gravitational field Torque “Temperature hee AS ws Volume Momentum Electric charge “Angular velocity Work ‘Table 4.1 Examples of vectors and scalars. say that two vectors are the same means that both magnitude and direction are the same. Two vectors with the same direction are not necessarily along the same line. As long as they are parallel to each other and have the same22 Core - Physics and physical measurement — a —— @ (o) pegs Figure 4.1 (a) Representation of vectors by arrows. (b) These three vectors are equal to each other. magnitude, they are the same. Thus, the vectors in Figure 4.1b are all equal to each other. This ability to shift a vector around parallel to itself (called parallel transport) is very important in what follows. Vectors are represented symbolically either with an arrow on top of the symbol for the vector or in bold type. Thus, both d and a represent a vector, and its magnitude is denoted by |al. lal or justa. Two vectors that have the same magnitude but are opposite to each other in direction are the negatives of one another (see Figure 4.2). a = Ay << A Figure 4.2 Two opposite vectors that are equal in magnitude. Multiplication of a vector by a scalar Avector can be multiplied by a scalar (i number) in a simple way. If the vector d is | multiplied by the number k, then the resulting vector kd has the same direction asd if k > 0 and opposite tod if k < 0. The magnitude of the vector kd is simply k |d|. Thus, if the vector @ has a magnitude of 10 units, multiplying @ by | the number —0.5 results in a vector of magnitude 5 units in the opposite direction to @. (See Figure 4.3,) Figure 43 Multiplication of vectors by a scalar, Addition of vectors Figure 4.4 shows vectors @ and b. We want to find the vector that equals @ +5. Adding two or more vectors together gives the vector sum, which is the combined effect of the vectors acting on a body. Thus, if two forces act on a mass, their vector sum is the one force whose effect on the mass is the same as the effects of the two forces together. For this reason, the sum of a number of vectors is called the net vector or the resultant vector. There are two equivalent graphical methods for adding two vectors, The first is the parallelogram method (see Figure 4.4): 1. Shift b parallel to itself so that its beginning point coincides with the beginning point of @. 2 Complete the parallelogram whose two sides are @ and b. 3. Draw the diagonal of the parallelogram. which starts at the beginning of @ and b. This diagonal is d +b. The second method is the head-to-tail method (see Figure 4.5): 1. Shift 5 parallel to itself so that its beginning point touches the end point of @. 2. Join the beginning point of d to the end point of b. This is vector d +5. You might ask if we would have obtained a different answer if, instead, we had shifted a to 3B = 36.87? © 37° Here is another example. We need to find the magnitude and direction of the vector with components F, = —2.0 and F, = —4.0. From Figure 4.20, it follows that the vector lies in the third quadrant. ‘The magnitude is P= JRO +R = VORP? J20 = 4.47 24.5144 Vectors and scalars 27 es Figure 4.20 The vector is in the third quadrant. We expect the angle it makes with the positive x- axis to be between 180 and 270 degrees. The direction is found from iy =4 6 = arctan ¢ = arctan =z =arctan2 The calculator gives @ = tan~' 2 = 63°. Here we must be careful. Our vector is in the third quadrant, so the angle it makes with the positive x-axis must be between 180° and 270°. We now realize that there is another angle whose tangent is 2. It is the angle 180° + 63° = 243° and this is what we want. Thus, in finding the direction, first make a diagram to see what quadrant your vector lies in so that you know what angles to expect. Never blindly take what the calculator gives. Of course if you denote the angle as in Figure 4.20, you still give a complete description of the vector and that is fine, Asa final example consider the vector with Fy =5.0 and Fy = —4.0. It lies in the fourth quadrant. Its magnitude is F = /5? + (—4? = 644 and its direction is 6 = arctan = —39°. The calculator gives the angle from the x-axis to the vector in the clockwise direction. We are expecting an angle between 270 and 360 degrees. The angle is 60° — 39° = 521°. Adding vectors by components Adding vectors whose components are given is straightforward. IfG = (a,, ay) and b = (b,. by), then ¢ = +5 implies that ¢ has components y + by C=O +be, 6 For example, if@ = (1, 1) and b = (-3,2) then a@+5 =(1 -3,14+2)=(-2,3); thatis, the x component of the sum is the sum of the x components of the individual vectors and so on. Similarly if d = — b, then d, =a, - d, —b, Example questions qv ETAT RS ST EET a TET 1, 1), b= (1, ~1), Find the magnitude of & and Band the magnitude of 4 + 5. Answer a=y2 y2 = (2,0) so the magnitude is 2. Q) RE SRT (1,3), b = (2, -2). Find the vector @ such that a+b+ a+ 0. Answer =-G+5) -G8,1) =(-3.-1). If the components are not given, then we have to find them. Figure 4.21 shows two vectors F; and F2 of magnitude 10 and 14, respectively. Vector F; makes an angle of 60° with the x-axis and vector F) an angle of 30°. We want to find the magnitude and direction of the vector Fy + F 2. Figure 4.21 Finding the sum of two vectors using components. (Not to scale.) The components of the vectors are 1 COS 60° .028 Core - Physics and physical measurement Fry = Fy sin 60° 8.660 Fo. = Fo.cos3” 12.124 Fay = Fasin30° 7.0 Hence the components of the vector F = F, + Fe are ty + Fax | 7.124 y = Fry + Fay = 15.660 ‘The vector F = Fa /fhe+h? = V17.124 + 15.6602 = 23.2 = 23 ‘The direction of F = F, + fy is given by 1 + Fo thus has magnitude 5 tand = 15.660 17.124 = 0.9145 so that arctan 0.9145 = 42,4 = 42° Example question (QU Ree REREAD TE id the sum of the vectors shown in Figure 4.22. F, has magnitude 8.0 units and F, magnitude 12 units, Their directions are as indicated. Figure 4.22 (Not to scale). sin 42° = 5.353 Fay = Fa Cos 28° 10.595, F, sin 28° 634 The sum F =F, + F; then has components Fy = Fy Fax 4.650 Fiy+ Fay 10.987 Thus, the magnitude of the sum is F = /4.650? + 10.987? =11.9%12 and its direction is ‘i= area 10.987 1 A body is acted upon by the two forces shown in Figure 4.23. In each case draw the one force whose effect on the body is the same as the two together. fy Figure 423 For question 1. 2 Vector A has a magnitude of 12.0 units and makes an angle of 30° with the positive a-axis. Vector B has a magnitude of 8.00 units and makes an angle of 80° with the positive x-axis. Using a graphical method, find the magnitude and direction of the vectors (a) A+ 6 (b) A-B () A-28.3 Repeat the previous problem, this time using components. 4 A person walks 5.0 km due east, then 3.0 km due north and finally stops after walking an additional 2.0 km due north-east. How far and in what direction relative to her starting point is she? 5 Find the magnitude and direction of the vectors with components (a) Ay=—4.0em, Ay = ~4.0em (b) Ay =124km, Ay = —158 km (©) Av=0, Ay=-5.0m (d) A,=8.0N, Ay=0. 6 The components of vectors A and B are as follows: (A, = 2.00, A, = 3.00), (B, = -2.00, B, = 5.00). Find the magnitude and direction of the vectors: 7 Vectors A and B have components (A, = 3.00, A, = 4.00), (B, = 1.00, By = 5.00). Find the magnitude and direction of the vector C such that A-B+C=0. 8 The displacement vector of a moving object has components (r, = 2, r, = 2) initially. After a certain time the displacement vector has components (r, = 4,1, = 6). Whal vector represents the change in the displacement vector? 9 Figure 4.24 shows the velocity vector of a particle moving in a circle with speed 10 ms“! at two separate points. The velocity vector is tangential to the circle. Find the vector representing the change in the velocity vector. final initial TN 7 Ficure 4.24 For question 9. 1.4 Vectors and scalars 29 al 10 Ina certain collision, the momentum vector of a patticle changes direction but not magnitude. Let j be the momentum vector of a particle suffering an elastic collision and changing direction by 30°. Find, in terms of Pp (=I), the magnitude of the vector representing the change in the momentum vector. 11 Points P and Q have coordinates P = (x, yi), Q= (%, yr). (a) Find the components of the vector from P toQ. (b) What are the components of the vector from Q to P? (€) What is the magnitude of the vector from the origin to P? 12 The velocity vector of an object moving on a circular path has a direction that is tangent to the path (see Figure 4.25). If the speed (magnitude of velocity) is constant at 4.0 ms“! find the change in the velocity vector as the object moves ia) from A to B and (b} from B to C. (c) What is the change in the velocity vector from A to C? How is this related to your answers to (a) and (b)? Figure 4.25 For question 12. 13 Amolecule with a velocity of 352 ms collides with a wall as shown in Figure 4.26 and bounces back with the same speed. (a) What is the change in the molecule’s velocity? (b) What is the change in the speed? o— icure 4.26 For question 9.30 Core - Physics and physical measurement 14 Find the components of the vectors shown along the axes indicated by a + in Figure 4.27. Take the magnitude of each vector to be 10.0 units. @) @ Figure 4.27 For question 14. 15 Vector A has a magnitude of 6.00 units and is directed at 60° to the positive x-axis. Vector B has a magnitude of 6.00 units and is directed at 120° to the positive x-axis, Find the magnitude and direction of vector C such that A+ B+ € =0. Place the three vectors so that one begins where the previous ends. What do you observe? 16 Plot the following pairs of vectors on a set of x- and y-axes, The angles given are measured counter-clockwise from the positive x-axis. Then, using the algebraic component method, find their sum in magnitude and direction: (a) 12.0 N at 20° and 14.0 N at 50” (b) 15.0 N at 15° and 18.0 N at 105° (©) 20.0 N at 40° and 15.0N at 310° (ie. -50”).