Vector Notes

VECTORS

Consider three points A, B and C. If B is 2 cm from A and C is 2 cm from B, then C is

not, in general.

AB, BC, and AC are displacements.

Each has a magnitude (eg. the magnitude of AB is the distance from A to B) and is
related to a definite direction in space.

The displacement from A to B (AB ) followed by the displacement from B to C (BC ) is

equivalent to the displacement from A to C ( AC ).

i.e. AB together with BC is equivalent to AC, which is written.

AC ≡ AB + BC
There are many other quantities which behave in the same way as these displacements
and they can all be represented by vectors.

A vector is defined as a quantity is one that has a magnitude and is also related to a
definite direction in space.

Scalars
A Scalar is defined as a quantity that has a magnitude but no direction.
As a result a scalar can be represented completely by a real number.

Scalar quantities can be be compounded using the familiar laws of algebra and in this
case two and two do make four.

Modulus of a Vector

The modulus of a vector a is the magnitude of a, i.e. the length of line representing a.
The modulus of a is written | a | or a.

Equal Vectors

Two vectors are equal if they have the same magnitude and direction.
 Vector Notes

i.e. a=b |a|=|b|

direction of a is the same as the direction b

It follows from this that a vector may be represented by any line of the right length and
direction, i.e. the location of the line in space does not matter.

Addition of Vectors

The addition of vectors is defined as follows:

If the sides AB and BC of triangle ABC represents the vector sum, or resultant, of a and
b and is denoted by a + b.

B b C

a a

A b D

ABCD is a parallelogram, therefore AB and DC both represent a

Similarly BC and AD both represent b

Cartesian Components

Calculations are greatly simplified when the base vectors for a plane are perpendicular
and both have a magnitude of unity.

 NB – Any vector whose magnitude is 1 unit is called a unit vector.

 Vector Notes

A frame of reference consisting of an origin O and a pair of perpendicular vectors has

an obvious similarity to the Cartesian xy plane.
The two are related formally by taking as base vectors the unit vector i in the positive
direction of the x – axis and the unit vector j in the positive direction of the y – axis.

j
x
O i
Thus if A is the position with coordinates (3, 2)

ON = 3, so ON = 3i

NA = 2, so NA = 3j
.
. . OA = ON + NA = 3i + 2j

i.e. the position vector of A(3, 2) is r = 3i + 2j

A (3,2)
y

r =3i + 2j
2j

x
O 3i N

SCALAR PRODUCT

Geometric analysis often involves the use of expressions containing the sine, cosine, of
an angle ( for example in the solution of triangles).

Now we’ll examine a vector operation between two vectors a and b which among other
things givre rise to cos θ where θ is the angle between a and b.
 Vector Notes

There is also another vector operation which involves sin θ. These two operations are
both called products.
(Being vector operations, they are in NO WAY related to the product of real numbers).

The 1st of these operation is known as the Scalar product of two vectors and results in a
scalar quantity.

The 2nd of these operations is known as the Vector product of two vectors and results in a
vector quantity.

A Distinction is made between the two processes by using :

The multiplication ‘dot’ symbol (a . b) exclusively for the Scalar product.

The multiplication ‘cross’ symbol (a × b) exclusively for the Vector product.

 NB – Please use brackets to ensure no confusion develops in vector analysis

questions.

Definition of a the Scalar Product (also called the Dot product)

The Scalar product of two vectors a and b is denoted by a.b and is defined as |a | |b| cos θ
where θ is the angle between a and b.

θ Thus a.b = ab cos θ

a

The Properties of Scalar Product

1) Parallel Vectors
If a and b are parallel
b b

a a

a.b = ab cos 0 or a.b = ab cos π

i.e. a . b = ab for like parallel vectors

 Vector Notes

or

i.e. a . b = – ab for unlike parallel vectors

 NB – In special cases when a = b, a . b = a . a = a2 or a2

2) Perpendicular Vectors.

If a and b are perpendicular

a . b = ab cos π =0
2

i.e. a.b = 0

 NB – In the special case of the Cartesian unit vectors these results give

i.i =j.j =k.k =1

i.j =j.k =k.i =0

3) Scalar Product is Commutative.

From the definition one gets a . b = ab cos θ and b . a = ba cos θ

But ab cos θ ≡ ba cos θ

Therefore a.b =b.a

4) The Scalar Product is distributive across Addition.

i.e. a . (b + c) = a . b + a . c

This property can be proof as follows

Vector Notes