VIRTUAL EXPERIMENT 2 – VECTOR ADDITION

NAME: DATE:
STUDENT NUMBER: SECTION:

PREPARATIONS:
Before the experiment, the students must have researched/studied on the following:
1. Three methods of vector addition

OBJECTIVE/S:
1. To determine the resultant displacement by the component method, polygon method, and parallelogram method.
2. To show that vector addition is commutative and associative.

MATERIALS/LINKS REQUIRED:
1. PhET Interactive Simulations – Vector Addition (https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/vector-
addition/latest/vector-addition_en.html).

PROCEDURE:
Activity 1 – Component Method
1. Given the following 4 displacements, determine the magnitude and direction of the resultant vector using the
component method.
A=5units , E
⃗
B=10 units , N
⃗
C =12 units ,30 ° N of W
⃗
D=4 units , SE
⃗
2. The magnitude and direction of your resultant in the component method will be your standard value for later.

Activity 2 – Polygon method.

1. Open PhET Interactive Simulations – Vector Addition, click “Lab”. Using the same 4 displacements above,
determine the magnitude and direction of the resultant vector via polygon method in the following order:
C+⃗
⃗ A +⃗
D +⃗
B
2. Compute for the percentage error for magnitude and direction using the values you obtained from Activity 1 as your
standard value.

Activity 3 – Parallelogram method.

1. Open PhET Interactive Simulations – Vector Addition, click “Lab”. Using the same 4 displacements above, obtain
the magnitude and direction of the resultant vector via parallelogram method in the following order:

[ ( ⃗C + ⃗B ) + ⃗
D ]+ ⃗
A
2. Compute for the percentage error for magnitude and direction using the values you obtained from Activity 1 as your
standard value.
Page 1 of 4
VIRTUAL EXPERIMENT 2 – VECTOR ADDITION

NAME: DATE:
STUDENT NUMBER: SECTION:

POST LABORATORY QUESTIONS:

1. Vector addition is commutative and associative. How can you show these two properties in our experiment?
2. Is it possible to have no displacement even if you traveled a great distance?
3. You are given only the magnitudes of two vectors: 3 units and 4 units. What is the range of magnitude of the
resultant? What must be the angle between these vectors to get A) maximum resultant B) minimum resultant C) a
resultant of magnitude 5 units D) a resultant of 6 units?

REFERENCES:
- University of Colorado (2020). Vector Addition. Retrieved from
https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/vector-addition
- Silverio, A. (2019). Selected Physics Experiments Manual.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE
"Please be informed and reminded that all handouts, materials, and videos posted and uploaded in the course site are
copyrighted documents and contain copyrighted contents that are prepared for you as part of your privileges as an
enrolled student of UST. Kindly avoid and refrain from posting or sharing in any social media platform and/or
emailing it to other individuals or entities outside of the course."

DATA AND RESULTS SHEET

Page 2 of 4
VIRTUAL EXPERIMENT 2 – VECTOR ADDITION

NAME: DATE:
STUDENT NUMBER: SECTION:

REMINDERS ON SUBMITTING THE DATASHEET FOR THE EXPERIMENTS:

1. Fill-in every detail on the datasheet.
2. Write your answers/data with their corresponding units.
3. Don’t forget to take screenshots of your activity.
4. Submit your datasheet in PDF form.

Activity 1:

x-component y-component
A
⃗
B
⃗
C
⃗
D
⃗
Summed components
Magnitude of the
Resultant
Direction of the
Resultant

Computations:

Activity 2:

Page 3 of 4
VIRTUAL EXPERIMENT 2 – VECTOR ADDITION

NAME: DATE:
STUDENT NUMBER: SECTION:

Magnitude of the Resultant Direction of the Resultant

Percentage Error =__________________ =__________________

(Put your screenshot/s here)

Activity 3:

Magnitude of the Resultant Direction of the Resultant

Percentage Error =__________________ =__________________

(Put your screenshot/s here)

Page 4 of 4