Physics 114A - Mechanics

Lecture 6 (Walker: 3.4-5)

The r, v, and a Vectors
January
January 12,
12, 2012
2012

John G. Cramer
Professor Emeritus, Department of Physics
B451 PAB
jcramer@uw.edu
 Announcements
 Because of recent problems with WebAssign, I have moved the due
date for Assignment #1 to 11:59 PM on Tuesday, January 17. Now all
215 registered students have WebAssign Accounts. Good!
Assignment #2 is still due at 11:59 PM on Thursday, January 19.
 Register your clicker using the “Clicker” link on the Physics 114A
Syllabus page. So far 188/215 students have registered their
clickers. You may talk to your neighbors during a clicker session. If
your clicker ID is not appearing, reset it to Channel 01 and/or if
necessary, get closer to the pickup antenna.
 We will have Exam 1 on Friday, January 20. It will be about 75%
multiple choice and 25% free response. The questions will be based
on Walker “2-dot” end-of-chapter questions. There will be assigned
seating. If you wish a left-handed seat, a right-handed aisle seat, or
a front row seat, send your request to me by E-mail.
January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 2/24
 Lecture Schedule (Part 1)
Physics 114A - Introduction to Mechanics - Winter-2012
Lecture: Professor John G. Cramer
Textbook: Physics, (Edition: UW Vol. 1 or Complete 4th), James S. Walker
Week Date L# Lecture Topic Pages Slides Reading HW Due Lab
2-Jan-12 H1 New Year Holiday
3-Jan-12 1 Introduction to Physics 12 21 Chapter 1
1 5-Jan-12 2 Position & Velocity 8 22 2-1 to 2-3 No HW
No Lab 1st week

6-Jan-12 3 Velocity & Acceleration 10 25 2-4 to 2-5

9-Jan-12 4 Equations of Motion 9 20 2-6 to 2-7
10-Jan-12 5 Vectors 8 24 3-1 to 3-3
2 12-Jan-12 6 r, v & a Vectors 5 24 3-4 to 3-5 HW1
1-D Kinematics

13-Jan-12 7 Relative Motion 3 18 3-6

16-Jan-12 H2 MLK Birthhday Holiday
17-Jan-12 8 2D Motion Basics 5 19 4-1 to 4-2 We are here.
3 19-Jan-12 9 2D Examples 13 22 4-3 to 4-5 HW2
Free Fall & Projectiles

20-Jan-12 E1 EXAM 1 - Chapters 1-4

January 3, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 1 3/21

 Unit Vectors
Unit vectors are dimensionless vectors
 of
unit length. For example, the vector A  Ax xˆ
has magnitude (with units) Ax and points along
the +x axis.

A
January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 4/24
Scalar-Vector Multiplication
Multiplying vectors by
scalars: the scalar
multiplier changes the
vector length, and the
scalar sign can reverse
the direction.
This property allows vectors to be factored
into a unit vector and a multiplier. The unit
vector specifies only the direction, while the
multiplier provides the magnitude and units of
the vector.
January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 5/24
 Unit Vectors
xˆ  (1, 0, 0)  unit vector in +x-direction = "x-hat"
yˆ  (0,1, 0)  unit vector in +y-direction = "y-hat"
zˆ  (0, 0,1)  unit vector in +z-direction = "z-hat"


A  Ax  Ay  Ak  Ax xˆ  Ay yˆ  Az zˆ  ( Ax , Ay , Az )

Example: 
B  4 xˆ  2 yˆ  5 zˆ  (4, 2,5)

An alternative notation is:

xˆ  iˆ, yˆ  ˆj , and zˆ  kˆ.

January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 6/24

Position, Displacement, Velocity,
& Acceleration Vectors
The position vector r
points from the origin to
the location in question.

The displacement vector

Δr points from the original
position to the final position.

January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 7/24

 The Displacement Vector

r  xxˆ  yyˆ

r  r2  r1

r  r2  r1
 ( x 2 xˆ  y 2 yˆ )  ( x1 xˆ  y 1 yˆ )
 xxˆ  y yˆ

January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 8/24

 The Average Velocity Vector

Average velocity vector:

(3-3)

So vav is in the same

direction as Δr.

January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 9/24

 The Average & Instantaneous
Velocity Vectors
Instantaneous velocity vector is tangent to the
path:

January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 10/24

 Velocity Vectors
 
 r  r
vav  v  lim
t t  0 t


r  r2  r1
 ( x 2 xˆ  y 2 yˆ )  ( x1 xˆ  y 1 yˆ )
 xxˆ  y yˆ

 r xxˆ  y yˆ  x   y 
v  lim  lim  lim   xˆ  lim   yˆ
t 0 t t t  0 t t  0 t
t 0
   
 vy
v  vx xˆ  v y yˆ v  v  v ;   arctan
2
x
2
y
vx
January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 11/24
 Example: A Dragonfly
A dragonfly is observed initially at position:

r1  (2.00 m) xˆ  (3.50 m) yˆ
Three seconds later, it is observed at position:

r2  (3.00 m) xˆ  (5.50 m) yˆ
What was the dragonfly’s average velocity
during this time?
 
 r r2  r1
vav  
t t


 (3.00 m)  (2.00 m)  xˆ  (5.50 m)  (3.50 m)  yˆ
(3.00 s)
 (1.67 m/s) xˆ  (0.667 m/s) yˆ
January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 12/24
 Example: Velocity of a Sailboat
A sailboat has coordinates (130 m, 205 m)
at t1=0.0 s. Two minutes later
 its position
is (110 m, 218 m). (a) Find vav ; (b) Find vav ;

vav  vx av xˆ  v y av yˆ

x 110 m  130 m
vx av    0.167 m/s
t 120 s
y 218 m  205 m
v y av    0.108 m/s
t 120 s

vav  (0.167 m/s) xˆ  (0.108 m/s) yˆ

vav  (0.167 m/s) 2  (0.108 m/s) 2  0.199 m/s

0.108 m/s
  arctan  147 o
0.167 m/s
January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 13/24
 Velocity & Acceleration Vectors

The average
acceleration vector
a is in the direction
of the change in
velocity v:

January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 14/24

 Acceleration on a Curve

Typically, for a vehicle moving on a curve at a uniform speed, the

acceleration is perpendicular to the velocity and the magnitude of
the velocity stays the same, while the velocity’s direction changes.
For example, consider a car that has an initial velocity of 12 m/s
east, and 10 seconds later its velocity is 12 m/s south.

 v (12 m/s) yˆ  (12 m/s) xˆ
aav    (1.2 m/s 2 ) xˆ  (1.2 m/s 2 ) yˆ
t (10.0 s)
January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 15/24
 Example: Car Accelerating
on a Curve N (y)
A car is traveling northwest at 9.00 m/s. Eight
seconds later it has rounded a corner and is now
headed north at 15.0 m/s/ E(x)
(a) What is the magnitude and direction of the
acceleration during those 8.0 s?

vi  (9.0 m/s) cos135 xˆ  (9.0 m/s) sin135 yˆ  ( 6.36 m/s) xˆ  (6.36 m/s) yˆ

v f  (15.0 m/s) yˆ

v  v f  vi  (6.36 m/s) xˆ  (8.64 m/s) yˆ

 v
aav   (0.795 m/s 2 ) xˆ  (1.08 m/s 2 ) yˆ
t
aav  (0.795 m/s 2 ) 2  (1.08 m/s 2 ) 2  1.34 m/s 2

 a  tan 1 (1.08 m/s 2 ) / (0.795 m/s 2 )  53.6

January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 16/24
 Acceleration Vectors
 
 v  v
aav  ; a  lim
t t  0 t

  x y z 
v  vx xˆ  v y yˆ  vz zˆ  lim  xˆ  yˆ  zˆ 
t  0 t t t 


  vx v y vz 
a  lim  xˆ  yˆ  zˆ   ax xˆ  a y yˆ  az zˆ
t  0
 t t t 

vx v y vz
ax  lim ; a y  lim ; az  lim
t  0 t t  0 t t  0 t

January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 17/24

Position, Displacement, Velocity,
& Acceleration Vectors
The velocity vector v always points in the
direction of motion.
The acceleration vector a can point anywhere.

January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 18/24

 Clicker Question 1
A particle moves to the
right in the x-y plane along the
blue path. Identify each
vector in the figure as a
position (P) , velocity (V), or
acceleration (A) vector.

(1) 1=V, 2=A, 3=P, 4=V; (2) 1=A, 2=P, 3=V, 4=P;
(3) 1=P, 2=V, 3=V, 4=A; (4) 1=P, 2=A, 3=A, 4=V;

January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 19/24

 Example: A Thrown Baseball
The position of a thrown baseball is given by:

r  [1.5 m  (12 m/s)t ] xˆ  [(16 m/s)t  (4.9 m/s 2 )t 2 ] yˆ
(a) Find the velocity as a function of time.
(b) Find the acceleration as a function of time.

x  1.5 m  (12 m/s)t; y  (16 m/s)t  (4.9 m/s 2 )t 2

x y
vx  lim  12 m/s; v y  lim  (16 m/s)  2(4.9 m/s 2 )t
t  0 t t 0 t

vx v y
ax  lim  0; a y  lim  9.8 m/s 2
t 0 t t  0 t

 
v  (12 m/s) xˆ  [(16 m/s)  (9.8 m/s )t ] yˆ ;
2 a  ( 9.8 m/s 2
) yˆ

January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 20/24

 Example: Rounding a Curve
A car is traveling east at 60 km/h. It rounds
a curve, and 5.0 s later it is traveling north at
60 km/h.
(a) Find the average acceleration of the car.

 v 
aav  ; v f  vi  v
t

 v f  vi (60 km/h) ˆj  (60 km/h)iˆ
aav  
t 5.0 s
1h 1000 m
60 km/h    16.7 m/s
3600 s 1 km

 (16.7 m/s) yˆ  (16.7 m/s) xˆ

aav   (3.4 m/s 2 ) xˆ  (3.4 m/s 2 ) yˆ
5.0 s
January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 21/24
 Direction of the
Acceleration Vector

Bungee Jumper Bungee Jumper’s

Decent and Ascent
January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 22/24
 Example: Human Cannonball
You are asked to substitute for an ill
performer in a circus that is sponsored
by your school. The job, should you
choose to accept it, is to be shot
out of a cannon. Never afraid
to accept a challenge, you
accept. The barrel of
the cannon is inclined
at an angle of 600
above the horizontal. Your physics teacher offers you extra credit if you
successfully use a motion diagram to estimate your acceleration during the
ascending portion of your flight.
1. Make a motion diagram with velocities.
2. Draw a
vector addition diagram using
the relation: vi  v  v f 
3. Draw the acceleration from: a  v / t

January 12, 2012 Physics 114A - Lecture 6 23/24

 End of Lecture 6
 Before the next lecture, read Walker
Chapter 3.6
 Homework Assignment #1 should be
submitted using the WebAssign system by
11:59 PM on Thursday, January 12 (Tonight!).
Homework Assignment #2 should be
submitted using the WebAssign system by
11:59 PM on Thursday, January 19.