General Physics 1

Prepared by: ARLEIGH D. ALALAY, LPT, MAT

INTRODUCTION:
we come into contact with many physical quantities in
the natural world on a daily basis. For example, things
like time, mass, weight, force, and electric charge, are
physical quantities with which we are all familiar. We
know that time passes and physical objects have mass.
Things have weight due to gravity. We exert forces
when we open doors, walk along the street and kick
balls. We experience electric charge directly through
static shocks in winter and through using anything
which runs on electricity.
There are many physical quantities in nature, and we
can divide them up into two broad groups
called vectors and scalars.
Scalar
A scalar is a physical quantity that has
only a magnitude (size).
For example, a person buys a tub of
margarine which is labelled with a mass
of 500 g. The mass of the tub of
margarine is a scalar quantity. It only
needs one number to describe it, in this
case, 500 g.
Vectors are different because they
are physical quantities which have a
size and a direction. A vector tells
you how much of something there
is and which direction it is in.
Vector
A vector is a physical quantity that
has both a magnitude and
a direction.
For example, a car is travelling east along a
freeway at 100 km/h. What we have here is
a vector called the velocity. The car is
moving at 100 km/h (this is the magnitude)
and we know where it is going – east (this is
the direction). These two quantities, the
speed and direction of the car, (a magnitude
and a direction) together form a vector we
call velocity.
Examples of scalar quantities:
mass has only a value, no direction
electric charge has only a value, no direction
Examples of vector quantities:
force has a value and a direction. You push or pull something with
some strength (magnitude) in a particular direction
weight has a value and a direction. Your weight is proportional to your
mass (magnitude) and is always in the direction towards the center of the
earth.
Scalar vs Vector
We will better understand the difference
between scalar quantity and a vector quantity by
analyzing the following examples.
 Physical Quantities Description
Scalar Quantity Has magnitude only
Examples: mass 15 kgs
time 30 seconds
speed 100 meter/second
energy 1,184 joules
   
Vector Quantity Has magnitude and direction
Examples: Velocity 80 meters/seconds, westward
displacement 20 meters going east
acceleration 9.8 meters/ second2 north of east
Vectors are different to scalars and must have their own notation.
There are many ways of writing the symbol for a vector. In this
book vectors will be shown by symbols with an arrow pointing to
the right above it. For example, F,⃗ W⃗ and v⃗ represent the vectors
of force, weight and velocity, meaning they have both a
magnitude and a direction.
Sometimes just the magnitude of a vector is needed. In this case,
the arrow is omitted. For the case of the force vector:
F⃗ represents the force vector
F represents the magnitude of the force vector
 
 
GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF VECTORS 
Vectors are drawn as arrows. An arrow has both a magnitude
(how long it is) and a direction (the direction in which it
points). The starting point of a vector is known as the tail and
the end point is known as the head.
A vector is represented by a symbol- an arrow. The
head of the arrow indicates the direction of the vector,
while the tail represents the origin. The length of the
arrow indicates the direction of the magnitude of the
vector. The illustration below shows an arrow
representing a vector quantity.
DRAWING VECTORS 
In order to draw a vector accurately we must represent its
magnitude properly and include a reference direction in the
diagram. A scale allows us to translate the length of the arrow
into the vector's magnitude. For instance, if one chooses a
scale of 1 cm = 2 N (1 cm represents 2 N), a force of 20
N towards the East would be represented as an
arrow 10 cm long pointing towards the right. The points of a
compass are often used to show direction or alternatively an
arrow pointing in the reference direction.
Method: Drawing Vectors
1. Decide upon a scale and write it down.
2. Decide on a reference direction
3. Determine the length of the arrow representing the
vector, by using the scale.
4. Draw the vector as an arrow. Make sure that you fill in
the arrow head.
5. Fill in the magnitude of the vector.
Draw the following vectors
100 N, East
50 N, 300 north of east
20 m, West
10 m/s2, downward
80 m/s along the negative y-axis
Northwest
Southeast
3meters, 500 east of south
10meters, 10 degrees west of north
Vector Addition
Scalar quantities may be added using
simple arithmetic. Suppose a teacher walked
from his house going to school and the back
to his house. The distance traveled is the sum
of the path he had taken from his house going
to school and back. The illustration in figure
1.2 shows the path that the teacher took in
his whole trip.
Resultant Vector
Two or more vectors can be represented by a
single vector called the resultant vector. This
vector may be found using the graphical
method.
Tip to tail method
As shown in the figure, the path of the teacher traveled is 40
meters going to south, 50 meters going to east, 40 meters
going north, and 50 meters going west. The total distance
traveled is the sum of all the distances; that is 40 meters + 50
meters + 40 meters + 50 meters = 180 meters. Take note that
the distance is a scalar quantity and the magnitudes can
simply be added as long as they have the same unit,
regardless of the direction. Distance is the length of the actual
paths traveled. In this example, the distance traveled by the
teacher is 180 meters.
Displacement is the length and direction of the change
in position measured from the starting point. It is a
vector quantity. If we are to follow the magnitude and
direction of the teacher in his way to school and back
the displacement would be zero!
Method: Head-to-Tail Method of Vector Addition
1. Choose an appropriate scale and coordinate system for the given
factors.
2. draw the first vector starting from the origin of the coordinate
system.
3. Draw the second vector starting from the head of the first vector.
4. Proceed to draw the remaining vectors starting from the head of the
most recent vector drawn. All vectors must be connected in series,
head-to-tail fashion.
5. Draw a new vector connecting the tail of the first vector to the head
of the last vector drawn.
6. The new vector is the resultant of the given vectors.
A cat moves 3 meters east and then turns 4 meters
west. What is its resultant vector using tip to tail
method?
Andre was observing an ant that crawled along
a tabletop. With a piece of chalk, he followed
its path. He determined the ant’s displacement
by using a ruler and protractor. The
displacement we’re as follows. 2 cm east;
3.5cm 320 north of east; and 2.3 cm,
Northwest. Draw the resultant vector?