Physics For Architects 4032106-2
Physics For Architects
Yehuda Salu
2/4/2021
Chapter 2: Vectors
• Vector and Scalar Quantities
• Adding Vectors: GRAPHICAL METHOD
• Components of a Vector and Unit
• Adding Vectors : COMPONENT METHOD
• Multiplying Vectors
2/4/2021
Learning goals of this chapter
• On completing this chapter, the student will be able to :
• Define the scalar and vector quantities.
• Adding and subtracting two vectors graphically and with
mathematics.
• Analyze the vector to its components
• Multiplying the vector with constant scalar quantity and
with another vector.
• Differentiate between the scalar and vector quantities.
• Differentiate between scalar product and vector product.
• Solve problems using vector methods.
Vector and Scalar Quantities
❑A scalar quantity is ❑A vector quantity has both
specified by a single value magnitude and direction.
with an appropriate unit
and has no direction.
Examples of a vector quantities:
Examples of a scalar quantities: 1. Velocity
1. Temperature 2. Displacement
2. Speed 3. Force
3. Distance
4. Volume
5. Mass,
6. Time intervals
Vector and Scalar Quantities
❑ Cartesian coordinates (rectangular coordinates).
In which horizontal and vertical axes intersect
at a point taken to be the origin.
❑ polar coordinate system
In this polar coordinate system, r is the distance from the origin to
the point having Cartesian coordinates (x, y), and θ is the angle
between r and a fixed axis. This fixed axis is usually the positive
x-axis, and is usually measured counterclockwise from it.
From the right triangle, we find that sinθ =y /r and that cosθ = x /r.
Therefore, starting with the plane polar coordinates of any point, we
can obtain the Cartesian coordinates, using the equations
Furthermore, the definitions of trigonometry tell us that
ADDING VECTORS: GRAPHICAL METHOD
❑Equality of Two Vectors
Two vectors A and B may be defined to be equal
if they have the same magnitude and point in the
same direction along parallel lines.
For example, all the vectors in the figure are equal
even though they have different starting points
This property allows us to move a vector to a
position parallel to itself in a diagram
without affecting the vector.
That is, A = B only if A = B
and if A and B point in the same direction
along parallel lines
ADDING VECTORS: GRAPHICAL METHOD
❑ Adding Vectors
Triangle method of addition
In this procedure to add vector B to vector A, first draw vector A, with its magnitude
represented by a convenient scale, on graph paper and then draw vector B to the
same scale with its tail starting from the tip of A, as shown in the figure. The resultant
vector R = A + B is the vector drawn from the tail of A to the tip of B.
Example
if you walked 3.0 m toward the east and then 4.0 m toward the
north, as shown in the figure, you would find yourself 5.0 m from
where you started, measured at an angle of 53° north of east. Your
total displacement is the vector sum of the individual
displacements.
ADDING VECTORS: GRAPHICAL METHOD
A geometric construction can also be used
to add more than two vectors. This is shown
in the figure for the case of four vectors. The
resultant vector
R =A+B+C+ D
is the vector that completes the polygon. In other words, R is
the vector drawn from the tail of the first vector to the tip of
the last vector.
ADDING VECTORS: GRAPHICAL METHOD
▪ Parallelogram rule of addition
In this construction, the tails of the two vectors A and B are joined
together, and the resultant vector R is the diagonal of a parallelogram
formed with A and B as two of its four sides as shown in the figure
• Commutative law of addition
When two vectors are added, the sum is independent of the order of
the addition. A+ B=B+A
• Associative law of addition
When three or more vectors are added, their sum is independent of
the way in which the individual vectors are grouped together
A + (B + C) = (A + B) + C
Negative of a Vector
The negative of the vector A is defined as the vector that
when added to A gives zero for the vector sum. That is,
A + (- A) = 0. The vectors A and -A have the same
magnitude but point in opposite directions
ADDING VECTORS: GRAPHICAL METHOD
• Subtracting Vectors
The operation of vector subtraction makes use of the definition of the
negative of a vector. We define the operation A - B as vector - B added
to vector A:
A - B = A + (- B)
The geometric construction for subtracting two
vectors in this way is illustrated in the figure
Another way of looking at vector subtraction is to note that the
difference A - B between two vectors A and B is what you have
to add to the second vector to obtain the first. In this case, the
vector A - B points from the tip of the second vector to the tip of
the first
COMPONENTS OF VECTORS
The graphical method, it is not very useful for vectors in three dimensions. Another
way of adding vectors is the analytical method, involving the resolution of a vector
into components with respect to a particular coordinate system.
It is shown that the three vectors form a right triangle and
that A = Ax + Ay . (review the parallelogram rule)
The component Ax represents the projection of A along the x axis.
The component Ay represents the projection of A along the y axis
(Ax and Ay without the boldface notation).
From the figure and the definition of sine and cosine, we see that
This process is called resolving A vector into its components
the quantities Ax and Ay are called the components of the vector A
COMPONENTS OF VECTORS
In three dimensions the process works
similarly: just draw perpendicular lines from
the tip of the vector to the three coordinate
axes X, y, and z
Unit Vectors
❑ A unit vector is a dimensionless vector having a magnitude of exactly 1,
and used to specify a given direction and have no other physical
significance.
❑ We shall use the symbols i, j, and k to represent unit vectors pointing in the
positive x, y, and z directions, respectively
❑ The unit vectors i, j, and k form a set of mutually perpendicular vectors in a
right-handed coordinate system
If A and B both have x, y, and z components, we express
them in the form
ADDING VECTORS: COMPONENT METHOD
If A and B both have x, y, and z components and
we wish to add vector B to vector A,
Problem 1
An airplane travels 209 km on a straight course making
an angle of 22.5°east of due north. How far north and
how far east did the plane travel from its starting point?
Solution
We choose the positive X direction to be east and the positive
y direction to be north. Next, we draw a displacement vector
from the origin (starting point), making an angle of 22.5° with
the y axis (north) inclined along the positive X direction (east).
Problem 2
An automobile travels due east on a level road for 32 km. It then turns due north
at an intersection and travels 47 km before stopping. Find the resultant
displacement of the car?
Solution
The magnitude and direction of s are then
Problem 3
Three coplanar vectors are expressed with respect
to a certain rectangular coordinate system as
in which the components are given in arbitrary
units. Find the vector s which is the sum of these
vectors?
Solution
Multiplying Vectors
There are three ways in which vectors can be multiplied, but none is exactly like
the usual algebraic multiplication
❖Multiplying a Vector by a Scalar
If we multiply a vector by a scalar s, we get a new vector. Its magnitude is the
product of the magnitude of the vector and the absolute value of s
For example, the vector 5A is five times as long as A and points in the same
direction as A; the vector -⅓ A is one-third the length of A and points in the
direction opposite A.
❖ Multiplying a Vector by a Vector
There are two ways to multiply a vector by a vector: one way produces a scalar
(called the scalar product), and the other produces a new vector (called the
vector product).
Multiplying Vectors
• The Scalar Product
The scalar product (also known as the dot product)
And defined to be
And Φ is the angle between the two vectors.
The commutative law applies to a scalar product, so we can write
When two vectors are in unit-vector notation, we write their dot product as
Multiplying Vectors
• The Vector Product
The magnitude of the third vector is
Multiplying Vectors
The right-hand rule
To determine the direction of
the vector produced from
the vector product we must
use the right-hand rule as
in the figure.
The order of the vector
multiplication is important.
So, the commutative law does
not apply to a vector product
Multiplying Vectors
In unit-vector notation, we write
Or we can write
Problem 4
A certain vector a in the XY plane is directed
250° counterclockwise from the positive x axis
and has magnitude 7.4 units. Vector b has
magnitude 5.0 units and is directed parallel to
the z axis. Calculate (a) a .b and (b) (a x b).
Solution
(a)
(b) The magnitude of the vector product is ab=ab sin = (7.4)(5.0) sin 90o = 37.0
The direction of the vector product is perpendicular to the plane formed by a and b.
Homework of Ch. 2
1- A person walks in the following pattern: 3.1 km north, then 2.4 km west, and
finally 5.2 km south. (a) Construct the vector diagram that represents this motion.
(b) How far and in what direction would a bird fly in a straight line to arrive at the
same final point?
2- Two vectors are given by
