Components of a

Vector
LESSON 2.1

1
Objectives
• At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
1. Find the x and y components of a vector.
2. Determine the resultant of two or more vectors by
using the components of the given vector.

2
Components of a Vector
• In the composition of vectors, we try to find a single
vector which is equivalent to two or more given
vectors.
• The reverse can be done, given a vector we can find
two or more vectors which, when added together, give
back the original vector.
• Thus, in the vector equation
x + y = r,
given r, we can find the vectors x and y whose sum is
equal to r.
• The vectors x and y are known as the components of r.
• The process of finding the components of a vector is 3
called resolution of a vector into components.
 Illustration:
• A car is moving along a straight line from
start to finish.
finish
• The displacement of the car is given by the
vector r.
r
• The car can also arrive at the final position if y
it first moved due east and then turned 90°
due north to the final point.
• The displacement vectors x and y are start x
associated to the alternative paths that could
be taken to arrive at the same finish point.
• These two vectors x and y are called the x-
vector component and the y-vector
component of r, respectively.
• In the illustration, it can be seen that the
components added together gives the original 4
vector r.
𝒓=𝒙+𝒚
Vector Addition by Component Method (Steps)

1. Resolve all the given vectors into their x- and y-

components.
2. Find the algebraic sum of all the x-components, X,
and the algebraic sum of all the y-components, Y. X
and Y are the x- and y-components, respectively, of
the resultant.
3. Find the magnitude of the resultant 𝑹 = X 𝟐 + Y 𝟐 .
4. Let  be the angle made by the resultant with the x-
Y
axis. 𝐓𝐚𝐧 𝜶 =
X
The quadrant in which the resultant lies is determined
from the signs of X and Y.
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 y-axis

𝑨𝒚

𝜃
x-axis
𝑨𝒙
• x-component or horizontal • y-component or horizontal
component of a vector component of a vector
𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒
cos 𝜃 = sin 𝜃 =
ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒

𝐴𝑥 𝐴𝑦
cos 𝜃 = sin 𝜃 =
𝐴 𝐴

𝑨𝒙 = 𝑨 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝜽 𝑨𝒚 = 𝑨 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝜽

6
Example:
• Find by the component method, the resultant of the following three
vectors: A=30 units at 30° with the x-axis, B=20 units at 120 ° with
the x-axis, and C = 10 units at 225 ° with the x-axis.
• Solution:
1. Resolving the vectors into their x- and y-components:
For A: x-component = 30 cos 30°
= 30 x 0.866
= 26.0
y-component = 30 sin 30°
= 30 x 0.5
= 15.0
For B: x-component = 20 cos 120°
= 20 x (–0.5)
= –10
y-component = 20 sin 120°
7
= 20 x 0.866
= 17.3
 For C: x-component = 10 cos 225°
= 10 x (–0.707)
= –7.07
y-component = 10 sin 225°
= 10 x (–0.707)
= –7.07
y-axis
𝑩𝒚

B = 20

𝑨𝒚

120° A = 30

𝑩𝒙 225° 30°
x-axis
𝑪𝒙 𝑨𝒙
𝑪𝒚
C = 10
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Rectangular components of given vector
2. 𝐗 = 26.0 − 10 − 7.1 = 𝟖. 𝟗

𝐘 = 15.0 + 17.3 − 7.1 = 𝟐𝟓. 𝟐

3. 𝑹 = 8.92 + 25.22
Y = 25.2units
= 79.21 + 635.04
= 714.25
𝜶 = 𝟕𝟎. 𝟓𝟓°
= 𝟐𝟔. 𝟕𝟑
X = 8.9units
𝑌 25.2
4. tan 𝛼 = = = 2.8315
X 8.9
𝜶 = 𝟕𝟎. 𝟓𝟓°
∴ 𝑹 = 𝟐𝟔. 𝟕𝟑𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝟕𝟎. 𝟓𝟓°

Since both X and 𝒀are positive, the resultant is in the first quadrant.