General Physics (Phys 1011), Lecture note Acc year 2024/2025 GC

Chapter One
1. Preliminaries
1.1. Physical Quantities and Units of Measurement
Physical (expressed by definite amount/ size)
• Quantities e.g., mass, height (amount expressed in terms of magnitude + unit)
Mass of box 5kg (expressed in, magnitude 5 and a unit kg)
Non-physical (Indefinite amount/ size)
e.g., love, hate, fear and hope (qualitative)
Exercise: Give other examples of physical and non-physical quantities?
• A unit of measurement is a standard quantity used to express a physical quantity, defined
by convention to ensure consistency and clarity in measurement. Physics without units is
meaningless.
e.g. The standard unit for: length is meter (m), mass is kilogram (kg) and etc.
Exercises: Can your heart beat be used as a unit of time? Discuss.
Can your arm length or your step be used as units of length? Discuss.
• Measurement: is the process of determining the size or amount of a physical quantity by
using a standard unit for that quantity.
Exercises
1. Is every act of finding the amount/size of a physical quantity a measurement? Consider the
following:
a. Counting students in a class, the amount of Birr you have, the number of stars in the sky;
b. Measuring the length of a table using your arm;
c. Estimating the distance between two towns;
d. Comparing the length of a meter stick with your height.
• Physical quantities and their units are of two types: Fundamental (or Basic) and Derived

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In the SI system, there are seven basic physical quantities and units. Derived quantities are
combinations of two or more these quantities.
Note: read how standards (for fundamental/basic units) are adopted for more detail.
• Dimension and dimensional analysis
Dimension: refers to the expression of a physical quantity in terms of fundamental SI quantities,
such as mass (M), length (L), and time (T). Each physical quantity can be represented as a product
of these fundamental dimensions raised to specific powers.
Dimensional analysis is a mathematical technique used to analyze the relationships between
different physical quantities by examining their dimensions. It helps in verifying equations,
converting units, and deriving relationships between quantities.
e.g., Dimension of mass are written as [𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠]=[𝑚]=𝑀. [ ], stand for “dimension of”

[𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ] = [𝑙] = 𝐿, [𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒] = [𝑡] =𝑇 etc.

And In mechanics, a derived physical quantity 𝑥 can be expressed as:

[𝑥] = [𝑙]𝑎[𝑚]𝑏[𝑡]𝑐=𝐿𝑎 𝑀𝑏 𝑇𝑐
• E.g., [𝑉] = [𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ] × [𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ] × [ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡] = 𝐿3 (Volume has a dimension of 3 in length)
• [𝜌] = [𝑚] / [𝑉] = 𝑀𝐿−3 (Density has a dimension of 1 in mass and a dimension of -3 in
length)
• [𝐹] = [𝑚] × [𝑎] = 𝑀𝐿𝑇−2 (Force is said to have a dimension of 1 in mass, a dimension of
1 in length and a dimension of -2 in time)

Ex. Following the example above, check that the following equations are dimensionally correct.
1
1. 𝑣2 = 𝑣02 + 2𝑎𝑠 2. 𝑎 = 𝑣2𝑟 3. 𝑠 = 𝑣0𝑡 + 𝑎𝑡2 4. 𝑚𝑣2 = 𝑘𝑥2 5. 𝑣 = 𝑣0+𝑎𝑡
2

6. 𝑃 = 𝜌𝑔ℎ + 0.5𝜌𝑣2 7. 𝑟𝐹 = 𝑚𝑙2 8. 𝑓 = 𝜇𝑁

• SI Prefixes and scientific notation
The International System of Units (SI) is a decimal system where units are scaled by powers of
ten, allowing for the easy conversion between larger and smaller units. This system utilizes SI
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prefixes to denote these multiples and submultiples. For example: the prefix "kilo-" represents a
factor of 103 (or 1,000), while "milli-" represents 10−3(or 0.001).

Scientific notation is a way of expressing numbers as a product of a coefficient and a power of

ten. For instance, the number 3,560,000 can be written as 3.56×106. This notation simplifies
calculations and makes it easier to handle very large or very small numbers
E.g. Write the following physical quantities in scientific notation and using SI prefixes.
327 g, 0.28 m, 65 000 000 000 W, 0.000 000 056 s

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1.2. Uncertainty in Measurement and Significant Figures

• Error is a specific value indicating how much a measurement deviates from the true value or
difference between an observed value and a true value.
𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = 𝑂𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 − 𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒
It arises from various factors, e.g., systematic errors, random errors (or measuring device, the
measurement procedure, and the measured quantity itself).
• Uncertainty in Measurement refers to the doubt that exists about the result of any
measurement. It reflects the limitations of the measuring instruments and the inherent
variability in the measurement process.
𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 (𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒) = (𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 (𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛) ± 𝑈𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑦) 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡
e.g., if the measurement result is (20.1 ± 0.1) cm, then the central value of 20.1 cm represents the
best estimate of the length based on the experimenter's measurements. The ± 0.1 cm indicates
the uncertainty in the measurement. And the true length could reasonably be anywhere between:
• Lower Limit: 20.1 𝑐𝑚 − 0.1 𝑐𝑚 = 20.0 𝑐𝑚20.1𝑐𝑚 − 0.1𝑐𝑚 = 20.0𝑐𝑚
• Upper Limit: 20.1 𝑐𝑚 + 0.1 𝑐𝑚 = 20.2 𝑐𝑚20.1𝑐𝑚 + 0.1𝑐𝑚 = 20.2𝑐𝑚
Systematic errors: arise from procedures, instruments, bias or ignorance.
e.g., zero error, Parallax error (human error) etc.

Random errors: are uncontrollable variations that occur in measurements due to various factors:
equipment limitations, environmental conditions, and other unpredictable influences.
e.g., When using an electronic instrument, such as a voltmeter, the readings may fluctuate
slightly due to electrical noise or interference. For example, if you are measuring voltage, you
might see readings like 3.00 V, 3.01 V, and 2.99 V, even though the actual voltage is constant.
1.2.1. Accuracy vs. Precision
In physics, there are two distinct and independent aspects of measurement related to
uncertainties: Accuracy and precision.

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Accuracy: refers to how close a measured value is to the true or known value. It indicates the
degree to which systematic errors have been minimized.
Precision: refers to the closeness of repeated measurements to each other, regardless of whether
those measurements are close to the true value. It reflects the degree to which random errors
have been minimized.

Accuracy is about how close a measurement is to the true value, while precision is about how
consistent repeated measurements are with each other.
Exercise
Given the standard value of g = 9.80665 m/s2 and the following sets of five measurement values,
write “YES” or “NO” in response to the question of accuracy and precision and discuss your
responses.

Error can also be classified as absolute and relative:

Absolute error is the difference between the measured value and the accepted value.
𝐴𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = |𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 – 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒|
Relative error is a fractional error defined as:
𝐴𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟
𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 =
𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒
Percentage error is relative error expressed as a percentage:
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 × 100%

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Example:
1. Suppose the accepted value of gravity is 𝑔 = 9.80665 𝑚/𝑠2. If the measured value is 𝑔 =
9.81 𝑚/𝑠2, what is the absolute error? What is the relative (and percentage) error?
2. A student measured the length of a laboratory table as 4.5 m accurate to 0.1 of a meter.
Find the absolute, relative and percentage errors in this measurement.
1.2.2. Quantifying Uncertainties
Quantifying Uncertainties
Mean Sample Variance (𝑺𝒙 𝟐 ): The square of the
Suppose a quantity 𝑥 is measured 𝑁 times: 𝑥1, sample standard deviation
𝑥2, 𝑥3, 𝑥4, ..., 𝑥𝑁. Then the mean (𝜇 𝑜𝑟 𝑥̅ ) is: 𝑁
𝑁 2 (𝑥 − 𝑥̅ )2
1 𝑆𝑥 = ∑
𝜇 = ∑ 𝑥𝑖 = 𝑥̅ 𝑁−1
𝑖=1
𝑁
𝑖=1
𝑁 number of data points,
Sample standard deviation (𝑺𝒙 ), is a The standard error (Uncertainty): standard
measure of how the average value (𝑥̅ ) deviate deviation of the mean is found by dividing the
from each measurement (x) sample standard deviation by √𝑁
𝑁
𝑆𝑥
(𝑥 − 𝑥̅ )2 𝑆𝑥̅ =
𝑆𝑥 = √∑ √𝑁
𝑁−1
𝑖=1

Example:
Suppose, in a physics lab session, students measured the acceleration due to gravity (g) 40 times.
𝑐𝑚
How well is the value of g determined by these measurements? Values of g measured in
𝑠2

961 972 979 983 986 965 976 979 966 975
981 985 987 991 983 984 974 981 989 996
968 978 979 984 987 993 990 984 970 977
981 984 992 994 988 985 974 975 971 980

𝟗𝟔𝟏+𝟗𝟕𝟐+⋯+𝟗𝟖𝟎
𝑥̅ = 40
= 981 cm/s2 is mean of g according to the table (data) above.

(961 − 981)2 + (972 − 981)2 + ⋯ + (980 − 981)2 2711 cm

Std (𝑆𝑥 ) = 𝑆g = √ =√ = 8.33 2
40 − 1 39 s

The standard error (uncertainty in the measurement of g) is then:

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cm
𝑆g 8.33
𝑆𝑥̅ = 𝑆g̅ = = s 2 = 1.32𝑐𝑚/𝑠 2
√𝑁 √40
Therefore, the students should report the value of g as
𝑔 = 𝑔̅ ± 𝑠𝑔̅̅ = (981 ± 1) 𝑐𝑚/𝑠 2

Classwork:

𝟏𝟔+𝟏𝟗+𝟏𝟖+𝟏𝟔+𝟏𝟕+𝟏𝟗+𝟐𝟎+𝟏𝟓+𝟏𝟕+𝟏𝟑 𝟏𝟕𝟎
̅=
Sol. 𝑻 = = 𝟏𝟕
𝟏𝟎 𝟏𝟎

̅ )𝟐
(𝑻−𝑻 𝟑𝟗
Sample Standard deviation (𝑺𝑻) = √∑ = √ 𝟗 ≈ 𝟐. 𝟏
𝑵−𝟏

Uncertainty (𝑆 𝑇̅ ) :

𝑁
𝑆𝑇 (𝑇 − 𝑇̅)2 2.1
𝑆 𝑇̅ = = √∑ = ≈ 0.7
√𝑁 𝑁(𝑁 − 1) 3.16
𝑖=1

Therefore 𝑇 = (17 ± 0.7) ℃

Reading assignment: Error Propagation

1.2.3. Significant Figures

Significant figures (sig. figs) are those digits in a measurement that carry meaning and contribute
to its precision. Significant figures express the precision of a measuring tool.
1. All non-zero figures/digits are significant: e.g., 25.4 has three significant figures.
2. All zeros between non-zeros are significant: e.g., 30.08 has four significant figures.
3. Zeros to the right of a non-zero figure but to the left of the decimal point are not
significant (unless specified with a bar):
e.g., 109,000 has three significant figures: '1', '0', and '9'. And 109,000. has six significant
figures: '1', '0', '9', '0', '0', '0' (the zeros are significant in this context)

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(Leading zeros are not significant and trailing zeros are significant)
4. Zeros to the right of a decimal point but to the left of a non-zero figure are not significant:
e.g., 0.050, The leading zeros (the zeros before '5') are not significant, the zero between
'5' and the decimal point is significant because it is a trailing zero in a number with a
decimal point. Thus, the number 0.050 has two significant figures: '5' and '0'
5. Zeros to the right of the decimal point and following a non-zero figure are significant:
e.g., 304.50 have five significant figures.

Exercise: Find the number of sig. figs for the following numbers?

90000 70000000.0 84.10000 (trailing zeros are significant, 7 sig.fig)

10082 0.0025 (Place 3008000

holders)

70000000 0.00008914 0.000339

Exercises

1. The following values are part of a set of experimental data: 618.5 cm and 1450.6mm.
Write the sum of these values correct to the right number of significant figures.

Soln. 618.5 𝑐𝑚 (4 sig. fig) + 145.06 𝑐𝑚 (5 sig. fig) = 763.56cm, When adding, the final
answer has to be least number of sig. figs. in this operation it is four, hence, 763.6cm

2. The following values are part of a set of experimental data: 34.7cm and 19.65mm. How
many significant figures would be present in the product and ratio of these two figures?

Product: 34.7𝑐𝑚 × 1.96500 𝑐𝑚 = 68.1885𝑐𝑚2 = 68.2 cm², In this calculation, the least
number of sig. figs. is three so the final answer must have 3 sig. figs

34.7𝑐𝑚
Ratio: 𝑐𝑚 = 17.65903307 …. , The ratio of 34.7 cm to 1.96500 cm, expressed
1.96500
with the correct number of significant figures, is 17.7

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NB. When performing calculations, we must be careful about significant figures. When adding,
subtracting, multiplying or dividing numbers, the answer should not be more precise than the
number with the least number of significant figures.

1000 cm, the number of significant figures can still be ambiguous without additional notation. and
typically considered to have one significant figure. This is because the trailing zeros are not
explicitly indicated as significant. If expressed in scientific notation as, 1.000×103 cm, it clearly
indicates four significant figures.

Class work

1. Determine the number of significant figures in the product of 0.02×2.340

Soln: 0.02 × 2.340 = 0.0468 → Round 0.0468 to one significant figure: which
is 0.05

Order of magnitude

The order of magnitude of a number is the value of the number rounded to the nearest power of
ten.

e.g., 1. The velocity of light is 3.0×108 m/s. The order of magnitude of this velocity is 108.

2. The order of magnitude of 142 particles is 102. Since 142 in scientific notation is 1.42×102.

Exercises:

1. What is the order of magnitude of the gravitational constant? (0.000000000066743 m³ kg⁻¹ s⁻². )

2. What is the order of magnitude of the distance between the Earth and the Sun? (149000000000𝑚)

3. What is the order of magnitude of a charge of 100nC?

4. What is the order of magnitude of the electron charge?

5. What is the order of magnitude of the mass of a proton?

1.3. Vectors: Addition, Components, Magnitude and Direction

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Vector quantities are physical quantities (force, velocity, acceleration and momentum) that are
expressed in terms of both magnitude (with a unit) and direction. True vectors obey the law of
parallelogram (A physical quantity is a genuine vector if it adds to another vector according to
the law of parallelogram, so angles are not vectors)

Scalar quantities are physical quantities (length, volume, mass, density, temperature and time)
which can be expressed in terms of magnitude/size alone (together with a unit).

N.B Vectors are denoted by bold-face letter (A) or a letter with an arrow above it (𝐴⃗).

1.3.1. Geometrical representation of vectors

Vectors are geometrically represented by drawing arrows. The length of the arrow gives the
magnitude of the vector and the arrowhead indicates direction of the vector.

Equality of Two Vectors: Two vectors are equal if they have the same magnitude and direction.

e.g. If two vectors 𝐴⃗ and 𝐵

⃗⃗ are equal, denoted as 𝐴⃗ = 𝐵
⃗⃗, then they must satisfy both the
conditions of equal magnitudes and equal directions. Mathematically, this can be expressed as
follows:

Equal Magnitudes: |𝐴| = |𝐵|

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Equal Directions: The direction of 𝐴⃗ must be the same as that of 𝐵

⃗⃗ . This means that there exists
a scalar 𝑘 such that: 𝐵 = 𝑘𝐴 where 𝑘 > 0 indicates that the vectors point in the same
direction. If 𝑘 < 0, it indicates that the vectors point in opposite directions.

• Two vectors can be added geometrically using the tail-to-head method (also
called the triangle rule) or the parallelogram rule.
1. To add vectors, place the tail of one vector at the head of the other vector. The resultant
is obtained by joining the tail of the first vector to the head of the second vector.
For any two vectors,

𝐴⃗+𝐵 ⃗⃗ + 𝐴⃗,
⃗⃗ = 𝐵 𝐴⃗+𝐵
⃗⃗ ≠ 𝐴+𝐵, 𝐴⃗ − 𝐵
⃗⃗ ≠ 𝐴−𝐵

Parallelogram Rule
Alternatively, place both vectors with their tails joined. Construct a parallelogram taking the two
vectors as the two adjacent sides. The diagonal is the resultant vector (𝐶⃗)
Magnitude of the Resultant Vector |C| =
√𝑨𝟐 + 𝑩𝟐 + 𝟐𝑨𝑩𝒄𝒐𝒔𝜽

• If the sum of two vectors is zero, one is said to be the negative of the other. That is, if 𝐴 +
𝐵 = 0, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐵 = −𝐴.

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Components of a vector

𝐴⃗𝑥 and 𝐴⃗𝑦 are vector components along the x-axis and y-
axis respectively.
Applying simple trigonometry, we find the scalar
components of the vector ⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑨 in terms of its magnitude (𝐴)
and direction angle (𝜃𝐴 )

𝐴⃗𝑥 = Acos𝜃𝐴 and 𝐴⃗𝑦 = 𝐴𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃𝐴

𝐴⃗ = 𝐴⃗𝑥 + 𝐴⃗𝑦 in rectangular (Cartesian) coordinate system, Given the rectangular components of
a vector, we can also determine the magnitude and direction of any vector by the (inverse)
equations:
𝐴𝑦
|𝐴⃗| = √𝐴2 𝑥 + 𝐴2 𝑦 and 𝜃𝐴 = tan−1 (𝐴 )
𝑥

Scalar components of a vector 𝐴⃗ may be positive or negative depending on the quadrant in which
the vector lies.
Vectors in the first quadrant (I) have both
scalar components positive and vectors in
the third quadrant (III) have both scalar
components negative.
In quadrants I and IV the direction angle
of a vector is the same as calculator
outputs; in quadrants II and III the
direction angle is 180° plus the calculated
values.

Exercise:
1. Find the magnitude and direction of each of the four vectors given below.
Vector x-component y-component
A 3 units -4 units
B 5 units 1 unit
C -2 units -3 units
D -12 units 6 units

2. The magnitude of vector 𝐴⃗ is 35.0 units and points in the direction 325° counter-clockwise
from the positive x-axis. Calculate the x- and y-components of this vector.
3. A boy ran 3 blocks west, 5 blocks north. Find the magnitude and direction of his resultant
displacement with reference to East.

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Soln. 2 𝐴⃗ =35.0 units and 𝜃 = 325° then 𝐴⃗𝑥 = |A|cos 325° = 35 ∗ 0.82 = 28.7 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠

𝐴⃗𝑦 = |𝐴| sin 325° = 35 ∗ (−0.57) = −19.95 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠

3) Ax = −3 blocks (west is negative), 𝐴𝑦 = 5 blocks then |A| = √−32 + 52 = √34 =

5.83 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑
5
tan−1 (− 3) = −59.04°, clockwise direction from the positive x-axis (East).

Adding and Subtracting Vectors Algebraically

Algebraic addition and subtraction of vectors makes use of the components of the vectors. The
algebraic sum of two or more vectors is obtained by adding 𝑥 and 𝑦 components separately.

So, if 𝑅⃗⃗ = 𝐴⃗ + 𝐵
⃗⃗ ((𝐴𝑥 + 𝐴𝑦 ) + (𝐵𝑥 + 𝐵𝑦 )), then the components of the resultant vector are:

𝑅𝑥 = 𝐴𝑥 + 𝐵𝑥 𝑅𝑦 = 𝐴𝑦 + 𝐵𝑦 then

2
|𝑅⃗⃗ | = √(𝐴𝑥 + 𝐵𝑥 )2 + (𝐴𝑦 + 𝐵𝑦 ) = √𝑅𝑥 2 + 𝑅𝑦 2

⃗⃗ = 𝐴⃗ − 𝐵
Similarly, if 𝐷 ⃗⃗, then the components of difference vector are

𝐷𝑥 = 𝐴𝑥 − 𝐵𝑥 𝐷𝑦 = 𝐴𝑦 − 𝐵𝑦

Algebraic addition and subtraction of vectors are carried out component by component.

Solution: 1.a,
Force A (𝑭𝑨 ): has a Magnitude 50 𝑁 and Direction 30° (with respect to the +𝑥 axis) so

√3
𝐹𝐴𝑥 = 𝐴 cos 𝜃 = 50 ∗ cos 30 = 50 = 43.3𝑁
2
𝐹𝐴𝑦 = 𝐴 sin 𝜃 = 50 ∗ sin 30 𝑁 = 50 (0.5) = 25 𝑁

Force B (𝑭𝑩 ): Magnitude 25 N and Direction of (𝜃 = −60 °) (with respect to the +𝑥 axis), then

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 General Physics (Phys 1011), Lecture note Acc year 2024/2025 GC
𝐹𝐵𝑥 = 𝐵 cos 𝜃 = 25𝑁 ∗ cos −60 = 25𝑁 ∗ 0.5 = 12.5𝑁

𝐹𝐵𝑦 = 𝐵 sin 𝜃 = 25𝑁 ∗ sin −60 = 25𝑁 ∗ (−0.87) = −21.65

Solution 1b: Components of the sum 𝑆⃗ = 𝐴⃗ + 𝐵

⃗⃗ and difference 𝐷
⃗⃗ = 𝐵
⃗⃗ − 𝐴⃗

Sum 𝑆⃗ = 𝐴⃗ + 𝐵
⃗⃗

𝑆𝑥 = 𝐹𝐴𝑥 + 𝐹𝐵𝑥 = 43.3𝑁 + 12.5𝑁 = 55.8𝑁

𝑆𝑦 = 𝐹𝐴𝑦 + 𝐹𝐵𝑦 = 25 𝑁 + −21.65 = 3.35 𝑁

⃗⃗ = 𝐵
difference 𝐷 ⃗⃗ − 𝐴⃗

𝐷𝑥 = 𝐹𝐵𝑥 − 𝐹𝑎𝑥 = 12.5𝑁 − 43.3𝑁 = −30.8N

𝐷𝑦 = 𝐹𝐵𝑦 − 𝐹𝑎𝑦 = −21.65 − 25𝑁 = −46.65𝑁

A Unit Vector:
A unit vector is a vector that has a magnitude of exactly 1 unit.
So, if 𝑢̂ denotes a unit vector, then |𝑢̂| = 1

A unit vector in the direction of any vector 𝐴⃗ is given by

𝐴⃗
𝑢𝐴 = |𝐴| where 𝐴⃗ = |𝐴⃗|

• Unit vectors of the rectangular xy-coordinate system

In the rectangular (Cartesian) 𝑥𝑦 coordinate system, unit vectors are defined in the directions of
+𝑥 and +𝑦. The unit vector in the direction of +𝑥 is denoted by 𝑖̂ and the unit vector in the
direction of +𝑦 is denoted by 𝑗̂.

The vector component 𝐴⃗𝑥 of a vector 𝐴⃗ can be described by the scalar component (𝐴𝑥 ) and the
unit vector 𝑖̂:

𝐴⃗𝑥 = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖̂ and 𝐴⃗𝑦 = 𝐴𝑦 𝑗̂

Where (𝐴𝑥 , 𝐴𝑦 ) are the scalar components of the vector 𝐴⃗.

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 General Physics (Phys 1011), Lecture note Acc year 2024/2025 GC

Example
1. Find a unit vector 𝑢̂ for the given vector 𝑣⃗ = 3𝑖̂ + 4𝑗̂
⃗⃗
𝑣
Soln. 𝑢̂ = |𝑣| so |𝑣| = √32 + 42 = √25 = 5

3𝑖̂+4𝑗̂ 3 4
So 𝑢̂ = = 𝑖̂ + 𝑗̂
5 5 5

2. (a) What is the sum in unit–vector notation of the two vectors 𝑎 = 4.0𝑖 + 3.0𝑗 and
𝑏 = −13.0𝑖 + 7.0𝑗? (b) What are the magnitude and direction of 𝑎 + 𝑏?
Soln. 𝑎 + 𝑏 = (4.0 − 13.0)𝑖 + (3.0 + 7.0)𝑗 = −9.0𝑖 + 10.0𝑗

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