Example 1: Using the cosine function to determine a side of the triangle.

If the hypotenuse c is equal to 10.0 cm and the angle is equal to 60.0°,

find the length of side a.

The Hypotenuse is found by Pythagorean theorem from elementary

geometry which says that the square of hypotenuse of a right triangle
is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. Hence

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Example 2: Finding the components of a vector. The magnitude of vector
a is 15.0 units and the vector makes an angle of 35.0° with the x-axis.
Find the components of a.

Example 3: Finding a vector from its components. The components of a

certain vector as ax = 13.5 and ay = 7.45. Find the magnitude of the
vector and the angle that it makes with the X-axis.

Example 4: The Addition of vector by the component method. Find the

resultant of the following four vectors:

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Home Work
1.

2.

3.

4.

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 More About Components
 The components are the legs of the
right triangle whose hypotenuse is A

 Ax = A cos( )

 Ay = A sin( )

 A = ( A )2 + (A )2
 x y

 Ay −1 
Ay 
tan ( ) = or  = tan  
 Ax  Ax  

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 Unit Vectors
 Components
 of a vector
 are vectors
A = Ax + Ay
 Unit vectors i, j, k
iˆ → x ˆj → y kˆ → z
  Unit vectors used to specify direction
 Unit vectors have a magnitude of 1
y  Then
A = Ax iˆ + Ay ˆj
j i

A =Magnitude
A x + A+y Sign Unit vector
x
k
z

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 Adding Vectors Algebraically
 Consider two vectors

A = Ax iˆ + Ay ˆj

B = Bx iˆ + B y ˆj
 Then
 
A + B = ( Axiˆ + Ay ˆj ) + ( Bxiˆ + By ˆj )
= ( Ax + Bx )iˆ + ( Ay + By ) ˆj
   A = Ax + Ay
 If C = A + B = ( Ax + Bx )iˆ + ( Ay + B y ) ˆj
 so C = A + B C y = Ay + By
x x x

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 Example : Operations with Vectors
❑ Vector A is described algebraically as (-3, 5), while vector
B is (4, -2). Find the value of magnitude and direction
of the sum (C) of the vectors A and B.
 
A = −3iˆ + 5 ˆj B = 4iˆ − 2 ˆj
  
C = A + B = (−3 + 4)iˆ + (5 − 2) ˆj = 1iˆ + 3 ˆj
Cx = 1 Cy = 3
C = (C x + C y )1/ 2 = (12 + 32 )1/ 2 = 3.16
2 2

Cy
 = tan −1
= tan −1 3 = 71.56
Cx
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11/16/2022 Mechanics First Class 8
 Vector Addition is Commutative
We can see in the figure
that the vector sum is
commutative, the result
being the same if the order
in which the vectors are
added is reversed; this is a
direct consequence of the
geometry of the method.
The geometrical relation of figure
is expressed algebraically by:

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Mechanics First Class 11
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Home Work

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More About the Components of Vector

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Rectangular Components of a Vector in Three Dimensions

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 Mechanics First Class 18
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