05

Vectors

Chapter Contents
5.1 Vector and Scalar Quantities
5.2 General Points regarding Vectors
5.3 Addition and Subtraction of Two Vectors
5.4 Components of a Vector
5.5 Product of Two Vectors
Exercises
Objective Questions
Single Correct Option
1. Which one of the following is a scalar quantity?
(a) Dipole moment (b) Electric field (c) Acceleration (d) Work
2. Which one of the following is not the vector quantity?
(a) Torque (b) Displacement (c) Velocity (d) Speed
3. Which one is a vector quantity?
(a) Time (b) Temperature
(c) Magnetic flux (d) Magnetic field intensity
4. Minimum number of vectors of unequal magnitudes which can give zero resultant are
(a) two (b) three
(c) four (d) more than four
5. Which one of the following statement is false?
(a) A vector cannot be displaced from one point to another point
(b) Distance is a scalar quantity but displacement is a vector quantity
(c) Momentum, force and torque are vector quantities
(d) Mass, speed and energy are scalar quantities
6. What is the dot product of two vectors of magnitudes 3 and 5, if angle between them is 60°?
(a) 5.2 (b) 7.5 (c) 8.4 (d) 8.6
7. The forces, which meet at one point but their lines of action do not lie in one plane, are called
(a) non-coplanar non-concurrent forces (b) non-coplanar concurrent forces
(c) coplanar concurrent forces (d) coplanar non-concurrent forces
8. A vector A points vertically upward and B points towards north. The vector product A × B is
(a) along west (b) along east (c) zero (d) vertically downward
9. The magnitude of the vector product of two vectors|A| and|B| may be
(More than one correct options)
(a) greater than AB (b) equal to AB (c) less than AB (d) equal to zero
10. A force ( 3$i + 4$j) newton acts on a body and displaces it by ( 3$i + 4$j) metre. The work done by the
force is
(a) 5 J (b) 25 J (c) 10 J (d) 30 J
11. The torque of force F = ( 2 $i − 3$j + 4 k$ ) newton acting at the point r = ( 3 $i + 2 $j + 3 k$ ) metre about
origin is (in N-m)
(a) 6 $i − 6 $j + 12 k$ (b) 17 $i − 6 $j − 13 k$ (c) − 6 $i + 6 $j − 12 k$ (d) − 17 $i + 6 $j + 13 k$
$ the value of c is
12. If a unit vector is represented by 0.5 $i + 0.8 $j + ck
(a) 1 (b) 0.11 (c) 0.01 (d) 0.39
120 — Mechanics - I

13. Two vectors of equal magnitudes have a resultant equal to either of them, then the angle
between them will be
(a) 30° (b) 120° (c) 60° (d) 150°
14. If a vector 2$i + 3$j + 8k
$ is perpendicular to the vector 4$i − 4$j + αk
$ , then the value of α is
1 1
(a) −1 (b) (c) − (d) 1
2 2
15. The angle between the two vectors A = 3 $i + 4$j + 5 k
$ and B = 3 i$ + 4 $j − 5 k
$ is
(a) 60° (b) 45° (c) 90° (d) 30°
16. Maximum and minimum values of the resultant of two forces acting at a point are 7 N and
3 N respectively. The smaller force will be equal to
(a) 5 N (b) 4 N (c) 2 N (d) 1 N
17. If the vectors P = ai$ + a$j + 3k$ and Q = ai$ − 2$j − k$ are perpendicular to each other, then the
positive value of a is
(a) zero (b) 1 (c) 2 (d) 3
18. The ( x , y , z ) co-ordinates of two points A and B are given respectively as ( 0, 3, − 1) and ( −2, 6, 4).
The displacement vector from A to B is given by
(a) −2 $i + 6 $j + 4 k$ (b) −2 $i + 3 $j + 3 k$
(c) −2 $i + 3 $j + 5 k$ (d) 2 $i − 3 $j − 5 k
$

19. A vector is not changed if

(a) it is rotated through an arbitrary angle
(b) it is multiplied by an arbitrary scalar
(c) it is cross multiplied by a unit vector
(d) it is displaced parallel to itself
20. Which of the sets given below may represent the magnitudes of three vectors adding to zero?
(a) 2, 4, 8 (b) 4, 8, 16
(c) 1, 2, 1 (d) 0.5, 1, 2
21. The resultant of A and B makes an angle α with A and β with B, then
(a) α is always less than β (b) α < β if A < B
(c) α < β if A > B (d) α < β if A = B
22. The angles which the vector A = 3$i + 6$j + 2k
$ makes with the co-ordinate axes are
3 6 2 4 5 3
(a) cos −1 , cos −1 and cos −1 (b) cos −1 , cos −1 and cos −1
7 7 7 7 7 7
3 −1 4 −1 1
(c) cos −1 , cos and cos (d) None of these
7 7 7
23. Unit vector parallel to the resultant of vectors A = 4i$ − 3$j and B = 8 $i + 8 $j will be
24i$ + 5$j 12 i$ + 5$j
(a) (b)
13 13
6 $i + 5$j
(c) (d) None of these
13
24. The component of vector A = 2 $i + 3$j along the vector $i + $j is
5
(a) (b) 10 2 (c) 5 2 (d) 5
2
 Chapter 5 Vectors — 121

25. Two vectors A and B are such that A + B = C and A2 + B2 = C 2. If θ is the angle between positive
direction of A and B, then the correct statement is
2π
(a) θ = π (b) θ =
3
π
(c) θ = 0 (d) θ =
2
26. If| A × B| = 3 A ⋅ B, then the value of| A + B| is
1/ 2
 AB
(a) ( A 2 + B2 + AB)1/ 2 (b)  A 2 + B2 + 
 3
(c) ( A + B) (d) ( A 2 + B2 + 3 AB)1/ 2
27. If the angle between the vectors A and B is θ, the value of the product ( B × A) ⋅ A is equal to
(a) BA 2 cos θ (b) BA 2 sin θ
(c) BA 2 sin θ cos θ (d) zero
28. Given that P = 12, Q = 5 and R = 13 also P + Q = R, then the angle between P and Q will be
π
(a) π (b)
2
π
(c) zero (d)
4
29. Given that P + Q + R = 0. Two out of the three vectors are equal in magnitude. The magnitude of
the third vector is 2 times that of the other two. Which of the following can be the angles
between these vectors?
(a) 90°, 135°, 135° (b) 45°, 45°, 90°
(c) 30°, 60°, 90° (d) 45°, 90°, 135°
30. The angle between P + Q and P − Q will be
(a) 90° (b) between 0° and 180°
(c) 180° only (d) None of these
31. The value of n so that vectors 2 i$ + 3 $j − 2k
$ , 5 i$ + n $j + k
$ and − i$ + 2$j + 3 k
$ may be coplanar, will
be
(a) 18 (b) 28 (c) 9 (d) 36
32. If a and b are two vectors, then the value of (a + b ) × (a − b ) is
(a) 2 (b × a ) (b) − 2 (b × a ) (c) b × a (d) a × b
33. The resultant of two forces 3P and 2P is R. If the first force is doubled then the resultant is also
doubled. The angle between the two forces is
(a) 60° (b) 120° (c) 30° (d) 135°
34. The resultant of two forces, one double the other in magnitude, is perpendicular to the smaller
of the two forces. The angle between the two forces is
(a) 120° (b) 60° (c) 90° (d) 150°
35. Three vectors satisfy the relation A ⋅ B = 0 and A ⋅ C = 0, then A is parallel to
(a) C (b) B (c) B × C (d) B ⋅ C
36. The sum of two forces at a point is 16 N. If their resultant is normal to the smaller force and has
a magnitude of 8 N, then two forces are
(a) 6 N, 10 N (b) 8 N, 8 N
(c) 4 N, 12 N (d) 2 N, 14 N
122 — Mechanics - I

37. The sum of two vectors A and B is at right angles to their difference. Then
(a) A=B
(b) A =2B
(c) B = 2A
(d) A and B have the same direction
38. Let C = A + B.
(a)|C|is always greater than|A|
(b) It is possible to have|C| < |A|and|C| < |B|
(c) C is always equal to A + B
(d) C is never equal to A + B
39. Let the angle between two non-zero vectors A and B be 120° and its resultant be C.
(a) C must be equal to| A − B|
(b) C must be less than| A − B|
(c) C must be greater than| A − B|
(d) C may be equal to| A − B|

Match the Columns

1. Column I shows some vector equations. Match Column I with the value of angle between A and
B given in Column II.

Column I Column II

(a) |A × B|=|A ⋅ B| (p) zero

π
(b) A ×B=B×A (q)
2
π
(c) |A + B|=|A − B| (r)
4
3π
(d) A + B = C and A + B = C (s)
4

Subjective Questions
1. If a = 2$i + 3$j + 4k$ and b = 4$i + 3$j + 2k$ , find the angle between a and b .
2. The vector A has a magnitude of 5 unit, B has a magnitude of 6 unit and the cross product of A
and B has a magnitude of 15 unit. Find the angle between A and B .
3. Suppose a is a vector of magnitude 4.5 unit due north. What is the vector (a) 3a (b) −4a ?
4. Two vectors have magnitudes 3 unit and 4 unit respectively. What should be the angle between
them if the magnitude of the resultant is (a) 1 unit, (b) 5 unit and (c) 7 unit.
5. The work done by a force F during a displacement r is given by F ⋅ r. Suppose a force of 12 N acts
on a particle in vertically upward direction and the particle is displaced through 2.0 m in
vertically downward direction. Find the work done by the force during this displacement.
6. If A, B, C are mutually perpendicular, then show that C × ( A × B) = 0.
7. Prove that A ⋅ ( A × B) = 0 .
124 — Mechanics - I

23. If P + Q = R and P − Q = S , prove that R 2 + S 2 = 2 ( P 2 + Q 2 )

24. Prove by the method of vectors that in a triangle
a b c
= =
sin A sin B sin C

Answers
Introductory Exercise 5.1
1. 0°
2. 180° , 0.6
3. (a) 14 units (b) 2 units (c) 2 37 units (d) 2 13 units (e) 10 units
4. (a) 2 units (b) 14 units (c) 2 13 units (d) 2 37 units (e) 10 units
5. 90°

Introductory Exercise 5.2

3 −4 1
1. A = 5 2 units, cos α = , cos β = and cos γ =
5 2 5 2 2
2. Fx = − 5 N, Fy = − 5 3 N
3. 10 units
4. (a) 180° (b) 90° (c) 90° (d) 135°

Introductory Exercise 5.3

1. True
2. (a) 24 $j (b) −12 (c) zero
3. (a) 8 units (b) 4 units (c) zero (d) −4 units (e) −8 units
$
4. (6 $i + 12 j − 12 k
$)

Exercises
Single Correct Option
1. (d) 2. (d) 3. (d) 4. (b) 5. (a) 6. (b) 7. (b) 8. (a) 9. (b,c,d) 10. (b)
11. (b) 12. (b) 13. (b) 14. (b) 15. (c) 16. (c) 17. (d) 18. (c) 19. (d) 20. (c)
21. (c) 22. (a) 23. (b) 24. (a) 25. (d) 26. (a) 27. (d) 28. (b) 29. (a) 30. (b)
31. (a) 32. (a) 33. (b) 34. (a) 35. (c) 36. (a) 37. (a) 38. (b) 39. (c)

Match the Columns

1. (a) →r,s (b) →p, (c) → q (d) → p