CE 231/ES 033

SCALAR AND VECTOR

QUANTITIES AND FREE
BODY DIAGRAMS
 FREE BODY
DIAGRAMS
• A sketch of the isolated body
showing only the external forces
acting on the body.
• The body is shown completely
separated from all other bodies.

• The action on the body of each

body removed in the isolating
process is shown as a force or forces
on the diagram.
FREE BODY
DIAGRAMS
• A sketch of the isolated body
showing only the external forces
acting on the body.

Free Body Diagram

FREE
BODY
DIAGRAMS
• A sketch of the isolated
body showing only the Free Body
external forces acting on Diagram
the body.
Scalar and Vector Quantities

• The scalar quantity is only one dimensional and vector

quantity is multi-dimensional.
• Scalar quantity changes if its magnitude changes,
but vector quantity changes when magnitude or direction
or both changes.
• There are normal algebra rules for the scalar quantity
and also for vector quantity there
separate vector algebra.
Example of Scalar Quantities

• Time - Scalar quantities often refer to time; the measurement of years,

months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, seconds, and even milliseconds.
• Volume - Scalar quantity can refer to the volume of the medium, as in how
much of the medium is present. Everything from tons to ounces to grams,
milliliters and micrograms are all scalar quantities, as long as they are
applied to the medium being measured and not the movement of the
medium.
• Speed and temperature - Two more commonly used scalar quantities in
physical calculations are speed and temperature. As long as they are not
associated with a directional movement, they remain scalar quantities. For
instance, the measurement of speed in miles or kilometers-per-hour or the
measurement of the temperature of the medium both remain scalar
quantities as long as they aren't associated with the direction of the
medium's travel.
Example of Vector Quantities

• Increase/Decrease in Temperature - The measurement of the

medium's temperature is a scalar quantity; the measurement
of the increase or decrease in the medium's temperature is a
vector quantity.

• Velocity - The measurement of the rate at which an object

changes position is a vector quantity. For example:

• If a person quickly moves one step forward and then one step
backward there would certainly be a lot of activity; but, there
would be "zero velocity."
Parallelogram Law
• If two vectors acting simultaneously at
a point can be represented both in
magnitude and direction by the
adjacent sides of a parallelogram
drawn from a point, then the resultant
vector is represented both in
magnitude and direction by the
diagonal of the parallelogram passing
through that point.
• In the figure, A and B are the forces
used to draw the parallel side of the
parallelogram. The diagonal of the
parallelogram is then the resultant of
the two forces A and B.

Please watch from this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT7U
uEgGGSk
Triangle Law

• If 2 vectors acting simultaneously

on a body are represented both
in magnitude and direction by 2
sides of a triangle taken in an
order then the resultant(both
magnitude and direction) of
these vectors is given by 3rd side
of that triangle taken in opposite
order.
• In the figure, the forces are P
and Q, then place tail to tip to
form the sides of a triangle. The
third side R is then the resultant of
the two forces P and Q.
More Problem Example

Visit this site for problem

examples:

http://www.ce.siue.edu/examples/Worked_example
s_Internet_text-only/Data_files-Worked_Exs-
Word_&_pdf/Add_forces_par_law.pdf