Chapter 3

Vectors

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 All physical quantities can be either

Vectors: have magnitude and direction Scalars: have only magnitude (no direction)
Examples: displacement, force, acceleration … Examples: distance, temperature, mass …

Vector
Vectors are represented graphically as arrows: The length of the arrow is
proportional to the magnitude of the vector, and the direction (angel) of the
arrow represents the direction of the vector. θ (direction)

Any vectors that have the same magnitude and the same direction are equal vectors.

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In a diagram, you can move a vector to a new position if you don’t change its length and direction.

It is allowed to shift a
vector to a position parallel a
to itself.
a

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 We can add vectors using two methods

Geometrically By components

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Adding Vectors Geometrically
• Suppose you moved from A to B as shown by the red line in the figure.
Your displacement (which is a vector) is represented by the arrow for A
to B. Next, you moved from B to C as shown. What is your net
displacement? It is the vector for A to C.
• This is the way you can add vectors geometrically. AB + BC = AC
• We call AC the vector sum (or resultant) of the vectors AB and BC.
• We can represent the relation among the three vectors in the figure with
the vector equation:

𝑠Ԧ = 𝑎Ԧ + 𝑏
This sum is not the usual algebraic sum (in vector sum, we add magnitudes
and also direction!)

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• The method of adding vectors geometrically is called head-to-tail method. A C
It is done by the following steps: B
Assume you have 3 vectors A, B and C that you need to add.
1) On paper, sketch vector A to some scale and at the proper angle. B
2) Sketch vector B to the same scale, with its tail at the head of
A
vector A, again at the proper angle.
3) Repeat the same procedure for vector C.
B
4) The vector sum S is the vector that extends from the tail of A to the head
A
of C (the arrow represents the magnitude and direction of the resultant C). C

• This can be written as:

B
S=A+B+C
Or A
C
𝑆Ԧ = 𝐴Ԧ + 𝐵 + 𝐶Ԧ
S 6
Properties of Vector addition:

• 𝑎Ԧ + 𝑏 = 𝑏 + 𝑎Ԧ (commutative law)

• (𝑎Ԧ + 𝑏) + 𝑐Ԧ = 𝑎Ԧ + (𝑏 + 𝑐Ԧ ) (associative law)

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 • The vector −𝑏 is a vector with the same magnitude as 𝑏 but the opposite
direction
This means:
𝑏 + −𝑏 = 0

• Thus, adding −𝑏 has the effect of subtracting 𝑏 . We use this property to define
the difference between two vectors: let 𝑑Ԧ = 𝑎Ԧ − 𝑏:

𝑑Ԧ = 𝑎Ԧ − 𝑏 = 𝑎Ԧ + (−𝑏) (vector subtraction)

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Components of Vectors
y axis
• We can resolve any vector to its components ay a
• The components are the projections of the vector on each axis
θ
• For example, the vector a has x-axis component ax and y-axis component ay x axis
ax
• The components can be positive or negative (based on the direction of the vector
itself)

y axis y axis y axis

a
ay
ax ax
x axis x axis x axis
ax
ay ay

a a

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How can you convert a vector to its component?

𝑎𝑥 a
𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = → 𝑎𝑥 = 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 ay y axis
𝑎
ay a
𝑎𝑦 θ
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 = → 𝑎𝑦 = 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 ax
𝑎
θ
x axis
ax
Also, if you know the components of any vector then you can calculate the
magnitude and angle (direction) of the original vector:

𝑎= 𝑎𝑥2 + 𝑎𝑦2

𝑎𝑦
𝜃 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1
𝑎𝑥

Note: these equations are correct only if the angle θ is made with the positive x-axis.
If the angle is made with any other axis, you must recalculate these equations by the
same method (see the next example)
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Example: An airplane leaves an airport and moves for 215 km away,
in a direction making an angle of 22° toward the east from due north.
How far east and north is the airplane from the airport?

Solution:

We need to find the x-axis and y-axis components of the displacement d:

dx = d sin θ = 215 × sin(22°) = 81 km

dy = d cos θ = 215 × cos(22°) = 200 km

This means that the airplane is 81 km east and 200 km north of the airport.

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UNIT VECTORS, ADDING VECTORS BY COMPONENTS

Unit Vectors
• A unit vector is a vector that has a magnitude of exactly 1 and points in a
particular direction.

• For each axis we have a particular unit vector:

x-axis has the unit vector 𝑖Ƹ

y-axis has the unit vector 𝑗Ƹ
z-axis has the unit vector 𝑘෠

• So, we can write the vector 𝑎Ԧ as:

𝑎Ԧ = 𝑎𝑥 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑎𝑦 𝑗Ƹ + 𝑎𝑧 𝑘෠

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Adding Vectors by Components:

If we have two vectors 𝑎Ԧ and 𝑏 :

𝑎Ԧ = 𝑎𝑥 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑎𝑦 𝑗Ƹ

𝑏 = 𝑏𝑥 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑏𝑦 𝑗Ƹ

and we need to calculate 𝑟Ԧ = 𝑎Ԧ + 𝑏 we just add the components of each axis to each other:

𝑎Ԧ = 𝑎𝑥 ෠𝑖 + 𝑎𝑦 𝑗Ƹ

+
𝑏 = 𝑏𝑥 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑏𝑦 𝑗Ƹ

𝑟Ԧ = 𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏𝑥 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑎𝑦 + 𝑏𝑦 𝑗Ƹ

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For example, if we have two vectors:
𝐴Ԧ = 3𝑖Ƹ + 4𝑗Ƹ − 2𝑘෠
and
𝐵 = −5𝑖Ƹ + 3𝑗Ƹ + 2𝑘෠

Then we can calculate 𝐴Ԧ + 𝐵 as following,

𝐴Ԧ + 𝐵 = 3 − 5 𝑖Ƹ + 4 + 3 𝑗Ƹ + −2 + 2 𝑘෠
= −2𝑖Ƹ + 7𝑗Ƹ + (0)𝑘෠
= −2𝑖Ƹ + 7𝑗Ƹ

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 Multiplying Vectors
There are tow ways to multiply a vector by another vector

Scalar product (dot product) Vector product (cross product)

the result is a scalar quantity the result is a vector quantity

𝑎Ԧ ∙ 𝑏 = 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎Ԧ × 𝑏 = 𝑣𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑦

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 The Scalar Product
There are 2 ways to calculate this type of product

If the vectors are expressed in magnitude-angle If the vectors are expressed in unit-vector
notation: notation:

𝑎Ԧ 𝑎Ԧ = 𝑎𝑥 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑎𝑦 𝑗Ƹ + 𝑎𝑧 𝑘
𝑏 = 𝑏𝑥 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑏𝑦 𝑗Ƹ + 𝑏𝑧 𝑘 𝑖Ԧ ∙ 𝑖Ԧ = 𝑗Ԧ ∙ 𝑗Ԧ = 𝑘 ∙ 𝑘 = 1
θ
𝑏 then, 𝑖Ԧ ∙ 𝑗Ԧ = 𝑗Ԧ ∙ 𝑘 = 𝑖Ԧ ∙ 𝑘 = 0

𝑎Ԧ ∙ 𝑏 = 𝑎𝑏 𝑐𝑜𝑠θ 𝑎Ԧ ∙ 𝑏 = 𝑎𝑥 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑦 + (𝑎𝑧 𝑏𝑧 )

• ⸫ the result depends on the magnitude of a

and the magnitude of b and the angle Note that the result has no unit vectors because it is a
between them. scalar quantity (the final result will be just a number)

• the result can be positive or negative based

on the values of the vectors, and the angle
between them.
The commutative law applies to the scalar product
𝑎Ԧ ∙ 𝑏 = 𝑏 ∙ 𝑎Ԧ 16
Example: if you have two forces 𝑭𝟏 = 5 N Example: if you have two forces
and 𝑭𝟐 = 3 N and the angle between them is 𝑭𝒂 = 2 𝑖 Ƹ − 3 𝑗 Ƹ + 𝑘
40°, find 𝑭𝟏 ∙ 𝑭𝟐 𝑭𝒃 = 4𝑖Ƹ + 5𝑗Ƹ + 10𝑘
find 𝑭𝒂 ∙ 𝑭𝒃

Solution: Solution:
𝐹Ԧ2 𝐹Ԧ𝑎 ∙ 𝐹Ԧ𝑏 = (2×4) + (–3×5) + (1×10)
= 8 – 15 + 10
40°
=3N
𝐹Ԧ1

𝐹Ԧ1 ∙ 𝐹Ԧ2 = 5×3×cos(40°) = 11.5 N

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 The Vector Product
The result of vector product of 𝒂 and 𝒃 is a third vector 𝒄 whose
magnitude can be calculated by two ways
If the vectors are expressed in magnitude-angle If the vectors are expressed in unit-vector
notation: notation:
𝑖Ԧ ∙ 𝑖Ԧ = 𝑗Ԧ ∙ 𝑗Ԧ = 𝑘 ∙ 𝑘 = 0
𝑎Ԧ 𝑎Ԧ = 𝑎𝑥 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑎𝑦 𝑗Ƹ + 𝑎𝑧 𝑘
𝑏 = 𝑏𝑥 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑏𝑦 𝑗Ƹ + 𝑏𝑧 𝑘 𝑖Ԧ
θ then,
𝑗Ԧ 𝑘
𝑏
𝑎Ԧ × 𝑏 = 𝑎𝑏 𝑠𝑖𝑛θ 𝑎Ԧ × 𝑏 = [aybz − byaz] 𝑖Ƹ + [azbx − bzax] 𝑗Ƹ + [axby − bxay] 𝑘

• ⸫ the result depends on the magnitude of a

and the magnitude of b and the angle
between them. Note that the result has unit vectors because it is a vector quantity

• the result can be positive or negative based

on the values of the vectors, and the angle
between them.
The commutative law does not applies to the vector product
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𝑎Ԧ × 𝑏 = −𝑏 × 𝑎Ԧ
To determine the direction of the result vector 𝑐Ԧ we use the right-hand-rule:

1- point your right-hand fingers in the direction of 𝑎.

Ԧ
2- curl your fingers in the direction of 𝑏.
3- the result vector 𝑐Ԧ is in the direction of your thumb.

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Example: if you have two forces 𝑭𝟏 = 5 N
Example: if you have two forces
and 𝑭𝟐 = 3 N and the angle between them is
40°, find 𝑭𝟏 × 𝑭𝟐
𝑭𝒂 = 2 𝑖 Ƹ − 3 𝑗 Ƹ + 𝑘

𝑭𝒃 = 4𝑖Ƹ + 5𝑗Ƹ + 10𝑘

Solution:

𝐹Ԧ2 find 𝑭𝒂 × 𝑭𝒃

40°

𝐹Ԧ1 Solution:

𝐹Ԧ𝑎 × 𝐹Ԧ𝑏 = [aybz − byaz] 𝑖Ƹ + [azbx − bzax] 𝑗Ƹ + [axby − bxay] 𝑘

𝐹Ԧ1 × 𝐹Ԧ2 = 5×3×sin(40°) = 12.6 N
= [(–3×10) – (5×1)] 𝑖Ƹ +[(1×4) – (10×2)] 𝑗Ƹ +[(2×5) – (4×–3)] 𝑘
By using the right-hand-rule: the direction of the result
is “out of the page” = –35 𝑖Ƹ – 16 𝑗Ƹ + 22 𝑘

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