Vectors and

Vectors operations
Ing. Alberto Enrique Loaiza García, M.Sc.
alberto.loaiza@correounivalle.edu.co
Universidad del Valle, Facultad de Ingeniería
Escuela de Ingeniería Mecánica, 2021I
 Vectors
Definitions

 Scalar → magnitude (or numerical value) alone.

 Vector → magnitude and a direction.

Vector → 𝔸𝔸 = 𝐴𝐴⃗
Vector magnitude → 𝐴𝐴⃗

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 Vectors
Scalar operation
be 𝛼𝛼 (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) scalar and 𝐴𝐴 vector

Positive and negative vector

 𝛼𝛼 � 𝐴𝐴 = 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼
 −𝛼𝛼 � 𝐴𝐴 = −𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼
 −𝛼𝛼 � (−𝐴𝐴) = 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼

multiplication and division

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 Vectors
Sum
 be 𝑃𝑃 and Q vectors

Parallelogram
law

Conmutative
Triangular
𝑅𝑅 = 𝑃𝑃 + 𝑄𝑄 = 𝑄𝑄 + 𝑃𝑃
construction

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 Vectors
Trigonometric
 Pythagoras theorem

ℎ2 = 𝐴𝐴2 + 𝐵𝐵 2 ⟹ ℎ = 𝐴𝐴2 + 𝐵𝐵 2

 Trigonometric functions

𝐴𝐴 𝐵𝐵 𝐴𝐴
sin 𝑎𝑎 = , cos 𝑎𝑎 = , tan 𝑎𝑎 =
ℎ ℎ 𝐵𝐵

𝐵𝐵 𝐴𝐴 𝐵𝐵
sin 𝑏𝑏 = , cos 𝑏𝑏 = , tan 𝑎𝑎 =
ℎ ℎ 𝐴𝐴

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 Vectors
Trigonometric

 Law of cosine → Magnitude

𝐴𝐴 = 𝐵𝐵 2 + 𝐶𝐶 2 − 2𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 cos 𝑎𝑎

𝐵𝐵 = 𝐴𝐴2 + 𝐶𝐶 2 − 2𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 cos 𝑏𝑏

𝐶𝐶 = 𝐴𝐴2 + 𝐵𝐵 2 − 2𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 cos 𝑐𝑐

 Law of sines → Direction

𝐴𝐴 𝐵𝐵 𝐶𝐶 � ∠𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 180°
= =
sin 𝑎𝑎 sin 𝑏𝑏 sin 𝑐𝑐

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 Vectors problems
Example 1
Determine the magnitude of the resulting vector.

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 𝐴𝐴 = 𝐵𝐵 2 + 𝐶𝐶 2 − 2𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 cos 𝑎𝑎
𝐴𝐴 𝐵𝐵 𝐶𝐶
= =
sin 𝑎𝑎 sin 𝑏𝑏 sin 𝑐𝑐

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 Vectors problems
Example 1
Using the law of cosines, we obtain,
where 𝑐𝑐 = 115°:

𝐶𝐶 = 𝐴𝐴2 + 𝐵𝐵 2 − 2𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 cos 𝑐𝑐

⟹ 𝐶𝐶 = 32 + 52 − 2 � 3 � 5 cos 115°

⟹ 𝐶𝐶 = 9 + 25 − 30 cos 115°

⟹ 𝑪𝑪 = 𝟔𝟔. 𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌

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 Vectors problems
Example 2
Determine the magnitude and direction of the resulting vector.

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 Vectors problems
Example 2
Using the law of cosines & sines, we obtain:

𝐶𝐶 = 𝐴𝐴2 + 𝐵𝐵 2 − 2𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 cos 𝑐𝑐

⟹ 𝐶𝐶 = 1002 + 702 − 2 � 100 � 70 cos 120°
⟹ 𝐶𝐶 = 10000 + 4900 − 14000 cos 120°
⟹ 𝑪𝑪 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝑵𝑵

100 149.99
=
sin 𝑎𝑎 sin 120

100 ∗ sin 120

⟹ sin 𝑎𝑎 = ⟹ sin 𝑎𝑎 = 0.58
149.99

⟹ 𝑎𝑎 = sin−1 0.58 ⟹ 𝒂𝒂 = 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑. 𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒

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 Vectors problems
Example 3
a) Tension in the ropes
Using the law of cosines & sines, we obtain:

𝑇𝑇1 𝑇𝑇2 5000 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙

= =
sin 45° sin 30 sin 105°

5000 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 � sin 45°

⟹ 𝑇𝑇1 = = 3660 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙
sin 105°
5000 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 � sin 30°
𝑇𝑇2 = = 2590 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙
sin 105°

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 Vectors problems
Example 3
b) Minimum tension in rope 2
The minimum value of Rope 2 occurs when
T1 and T2 are perpendicular

𝑇𝑇1 = (5000 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙) sin 30° = 2500 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙

𝑇𝑇2 = 5000 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 cos 30° = 4330 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙

𝛼𝛼 = 90° − 30° = 60°

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