Mechanics

Scalars and Vectors

Introduction

Chapter 1 Units, Physical Quantities,

and vectors (sections 1-10)

1.1 The Nature of Physics

1.2* Solving Physics Problems

1.3 Standards and Units

1.4 Unit conversion

1.5* Uncertainty and Significant

Figures

1.6* Estimates and Orders of

Magnitude

1.7 Vectors and Vector Addition

1.8 Components of Vectors

1.9 Unit vectors

1.10 Products of Vectors

January 21, 2015

Physics and Mechanics

Physics deals with the nature and properties of matter

and energy. Common language is mathematics.
Physics is based on experimental observations and
quantitative measurements.
The study of physics can be divided into six main areas:

Classical mechanics
Electromagnetism
Optics
Relativity
Thermodynamics
Quantum mechanics

Classical mechanics deals with the motion and

equilibrium of material bodies and the action of forces.

January 21, 2015

Classical Mechanics

Classical mechanics deals with the motion of objects

Classical Mechanics: Theory that predicts qualitatively &
quantitatively the results of experiments for objects that
are NOT

Too small: atoms and subatomic particles Quantum Mechanics

Too fast: objects close to the speed of light Special Relativity
Too dense: black holes, the early Universe General Relativity

Classical mechanics concerns the motion of objects that

are large relative to atoms and move at speeds much
slower than the speed of light

January 21, 2015

Chapter 1 Measurement

Being quantitative in Physics requires

measurements
How tall is Ming Yao? How about
his weight?
Height: 2.29 m (7 ft 6 in)
Weight: 141 kg (310 lb)

Number

Unit

thickness is 10. has no physical meaning

Both numbers and units necessary for
any meaningful physical quantities
January 21, 2015

Type Quantities
Many things can be measured: distance,
speed, energy, time, force
These are related to one another: speed
= distance / time
Choose three basic quantities:

LENGTH
MASS
TIME

Define other units in terms of these.

January 21, 2015

SI Unit for 3 Basic Quantities

Many possible choices for units of Length,
Mass, Time (e.g. Yao is 2.29 m or 7 ft 6 in)
In 1960, standards bodies control and
define Systme Internationale (SI) unit as,

LENGTH: Meter
MASS: Kilogram
TIME: Second

January 21, 2015

Fundamental Quantities and SI

Units
Length

meter

Mass

kilogram

kg

Time

second

Electric Current

ampere

Thermodynamic Temperature

kelvin

Luminous Intensity

candela

cd

mole

mol

Amount of Substance

Why should we care about SI units?

Mars Climate Orbiter:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/orbiter

January 21, 2015

SI Length Unit: Meter

French Revolution Definition,
1792
1 Meter = XY/10,000,000
1 Meter = about 3.28 ft
1 km = 1000 m, 1 cm =
1/100 m, 1 mm = 1/1000 m
Current Definition of 1
Meter: the distance traveled
by light in vacuum during a
time of 1/299,792,458
second.

January 21, 2015

SI Time Unit: Second

1 Second is defined in terms of an atomic clock

time taken for 9,192,631,770 oscillations of the light
emitted by a 133Cs atom.
Defining units precisely is a science (important, for
example, for GPS):

This clock will neither gain nor lose a second in 20 million

years.
January 21, 2015

SI Mass Unit: Kilogram

1 Kilogram the mass of a

specific platinum-iridium alloy kept
at International Bureau of Weights
and Measures near Paris. (Seeking
more accurate measure:
http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21569417-ki
logram-it-seems-no-longer-kilogram-paris-worth-ma
ss

)
Copies are kept in many other
countries.
Yao Ming is 141 kg, equivalent to
weight of 141 pieces of the alloy
cylinder.

January 21, 2015

Length, Mass, Time

January 21, 2015

Prefixes for SI Units

3,000 m = 3 1,000 m
= 3 103 m = 3 km
1,000,000,000 = 109 =
1G
1,000,000 = 106 = 1M
1,000 = 103 = 1k
141 kg = ? g
1 GB = ? Byte = ? MB

If you are rusty with scientific notation,

see appendix B.1 of the text

10x

Symb
Prefix
ol
x=1
exa
E
8

15
12
9

peta
tera
giga

6
3
2

mega
kilo
January 21, 2015

hecto

P
T
G
M
k
h

Prefixes for SI Units

Symb
Prefix
ol
x=deci
d

10x
1

-2
-3

centi
milli

-6

micro
-9
nano
-12
pico
-15

c
m

n
p
f

0.003 s = 3 0.001 s
= 3 10-3 s = 3 ms
0.01 = 10-2 = centi
0.001 = 10-3 = milli
0.000 001 = 10-6 = micro
0.000 000 001 = 10-9 =
nano
0.000 000 000 001 = 10-12
= pico = p
1 nm = ? m = ? cm
3 cm = ? m = ? mm
January 21, 2015

Derived Quantities and

Units
Multiply and divide units just like numbers

Derived quantities: area, speed, volume, density

Area = Length Length

SI unit for area = m 2
Volume = Length Length Length SI unit for volume = m 3
Speed = Length / time
SI unit for speed = m/s
Density = Mass / Volume
SI unit for density = kg/m 3

In 2008 Olympic Game, Usain Bolt sets world record at

9.69 s in Mens 100 m Final. What is his average speed
?

100 m 100 m
speed

10.32 m/s
9.69 s 9.69 s
January 21, 2015

Other Unit System

U.S. customary system: foot, slug, second

Cgs system: cm, gram, second
We will use SI units in this course, but it is useful to
know conversions between systems.

1
1
1
1

More can be found in Appendices A & D in your textbook.

mile = 1609 m = 1.609 km

1 ft = 0.3048 m = 30.48 cm
m = 39.37 in. = 3.281 ft
1 in. = 0.0254 m = 2.54 cm
lb = 0.465 kg1 oz = 28.35 g
1 slug = 14.59 kg
day = 24 hours = 24 * 60 minutes = 24 * 60 * 60 seconds

January 21, 2015

Unit Conversion

Example: Is he speeding ?

On the garden state parkway of New Jersey, a car is traveling at

a speed of 38.0 m/s. Is the driver exceeding the speed limit?
Since the speed limit is in miles/hour (mph), we need to convert
the units of m/s to mph. Take it in two steps.
Step 1: Convert m to miles. Since 1 mile = 1609 m, we have two
possible conversion factors, 1 mile/1609 m = 6.215x10 4 mile/m,
or 1609 m/1 mile = 1609 m/mile. What are the units of these
conversion factors?
Since we want to convert m to mile, we want the m units to
m 1mile
38.0 mile

cancel => multiply by first

factor:

2.36 10
2 mile/s

38.0
s 1609

=1609
Step 2: Convert s to hours.
Since
1m
hr
3600s s, again we could
have 1 hr/3600 s = 2.778x104 hr/s, or 3600 s/hr.
Since we want to convert s to hr, we want the s units to cancel
=>
mile 3600 s
38.0 m/s 2.36 102

85.0 mile/hr = 85.0 mph

s
hr
January 21, 2015

Summary

The three fundamental physical quantities of

mechanics are length, mass and time, which in the SI
system have the units meter (m), kilogram (kg), and
second (s), respectively
The method of dimensional analysis is very powerful
in solving physics problems.
Units in physics equations must always be consistent.
Converting units is a matter of multiplying the given
quantity by a fraction, with one unit in the numerator
and its equivalent in the other units in the
denominator, arrange so the unwanted units in the
given quantity are cancelled out in favor of the
desired units.
January 21, 2015

Vector vs. Scalar Review

A library is located 0.5 mile from you.
Can you point where exactly it is?
You also
need to
know the
direction in
which you
should
walk to the
library!

All physical quantities encountered in this text will be either a scalar or a

vector
A vector quantity has both magnitude (value + unit) and direction
A scalar is completely specified by only a magnitude (value + unit)
January 21, 2015

Vector and Scalar Quantities

Vectors

Displacement
Velocity (magnitude
and direction!)
Acceleration
Force
Momentum

Scalars:

Distance
Speed (magnitude of
velocity)
Temperature
Mass
Energy
Time

To describe a vector we need more information than to

describe a scalar! Therefore vectors are more
complex!
January 21, 2015

Important Notation

To describe vectors we will use:

The bold font: Vector A is A

Or an arrow above the vector:

A
In the pictures, we will always
show vectors as arrows
Arrows point the direction
To describe the magnitude of a
vector we will use absolute
value sign:
or just A,
Magnitude is always positive ,
the magnitude of a vector is
equal to the length of a vector.

January 21, 2015

A
B
;A
0
Properties of Vectors

Equality of Two Vectors

Two vectors are equal if they have
the same magnitude and the same
direction
Movement of vectors in a diagram
Any vector can be moved parallel
to itselfVectors
without being affected
Negative

Two vectors are negative if they have the

same magnitude but are 180 apart (opposite

directions)
A

B
January 21, 2015

Adding Vectors

When adding vectors, their directions

must be taken into account

Units must be the same

Geometric Methods

Use scale drawings

Algebraic Methods

More convenient
January 21, 2015

A
BB

Adding Vectors Geometrically

(Triangle
Method)

Draw the first vectorA

with
the appropriate length and in
the direction specified, with
respect to a coordinate
system
B with
Draw the next vector
the appropriate length and in
the direction specified, with
respect to a coordinate system

whose origin is the end of

A

vector
and parallel to the
coordinate
A system used for :
tip-to-tail.

The resultant
is drawn from
A
of to the end of
the origin
the lastBvector

January 21, 2015

ABC

B
A

Adding Vectors Graphically

When you have
many vectors, just
keep repeating the
process until all are
included
The resultant is still
drawn from the
origin of the first
vector to the end
of the last vector

January 21, 2015

A
ABA

Adding Vectors Geometrically

(Polygon
Method)

A
Draw the first vector
with the appropriate length
and in the direction
specified, with respect
to a
coordinate system B
Draw the next vector
with the appropriate length
and in the direction
specified, with respect to
the same coordinate
system
Draw a parallelogram
The resultant is drawn as a
diagonal from the origin

January 21, 2015

A
ABB

Vector Subtraction

Special case of vector

addition
Add the negative of
the subtracted vector
r r
r
r
A B A B

Continue with standard

vector addition
procedure

January 21, 2015

Describing Vectors Algebraically

Vectors: Described by the number, units and
direction!

Vectors:
Can

be described by their magnitude and direction.

Eg: Your displacement is 1.5 m at an angle of 250.

Can

be described by components?

Eg: your displacement is 1.36 m in the positive

x direction
January 21, 2015

Components of a Vector

A component is a part
It is useful to use
rectangular
components These are

the projections of the

a cos(90 )
vector along the x a sin
and y-axes

a cos

January 21, 2015

Components of a Vector
The x-component of a
vector is the projection
alongAxthe x-axis
Ax A cos
cos
A

The y-component of a
Ay is the projection
vector
Ay A sin
sin
alongAthe y-axis

A Ax Ay

Then,

January 21, 2015

Components of a Vector
The previous equations are valid only if is
measured with respect to the x-axis
The components can be positive or negative
and will have the same units as the original
vector
=0, Ax=A>0, Ay=0

ax < 0
ay > 0

ax > 0
ay > 0

ax < 0
ay < 0

ax > 0
ay < 0

=45, Ax=Acos45>0, Ay=Asin45>0

=90, Ax=0, Ay=A>0
=135, Ax=Acos135<0, Ay=Asin135>0
=180, Ax=-A<0, Ay=0
=225, Ax=Acos225<0, Ay=Asin225<0
=270, Ax=0, Ay=-A<0
=315, Ax=Acos315<0, Ay=Asin315<0
January 21, 2015

More About Components

The components are the legs

of the right triangle whose
hypotenuse is A
Ax A cos( )

Ay A sin( )

A A 2 A 2
x
y

Ay
Ay
1

or tan
tan
Ax

Ax

A
xA
y

Unit Vectors

Components of a vector are

vectors A A A
x

Unit vectors
y j-hat,
k zk-hat
i x j i-hat,

Unit vectors used to specify

direction

Unit vectors
A Ax ihave
Ay ja magnitude
of 1
Then
Magnitude
+ Sign Unit vector

y
j

i
x

January 21, 2015

A
xA
y

Adding Vectors Algebraically

Consider two vectors

Then

A Ax i Ay j

B Bx i B y j

A B ( Ax i Ay j ) ( Bx i B y j )

( Ax Bx )i ( Ay B y ) j

If C A B ( Ax Bx )i ( Ay B y ) j
so
C x Ax Bx
C y Ay B y

January 21, 2015

Example : Operations with Vectors

Vector A is described algebraically as (-3, 5), while

vector B is (4, -2). Find the value of magnitude and
direction of the sum (C) of the vectors A and B.

B 4i 2 j
A 3i 5 j

C A B (3 4)i (5 2) j 1i 3 j
Cx 1

Cy 3
2

C (C x C y )1/ 2 (12 32 )1/ 2 3.16

Cy
1
tan
tan 1 3 71.56
Cx
January 21, 2015

Scalar Product of Two

Vectors

The scalar product

of two
r r vectors is
written
A B as

r r
A B A B cos

It is also called the

dot product

is the angle
between A and B

Applied to work,
this means

r r
W F r cos F r
January 21, 2015

Dot Product

The dot product says

something about how
parallel two vectors are.
The dot product (scalar
product) of two vectors can
be thought of as the
projection of one onto the
direction of the other.

A B AB cos

A i A cos Ax

Components

A B Ax Bx Ay B y Az Bz

( A cos ) B

A
A( B cos )

January 21, 2015

Projection of a Vector: Dot

Product

The dot product says

something about how
parallel two vectors are.
The dot product (scalar
product) of two vectors can
be thought of as the
projection of one onto the
direction of the other.

A B AB cos

A i A cos Ax

Components

A B Ax Bx Ay B y Az Bz

i j 0; i k 0; j k 0
i i 1; j j 1; k k 1

Projection is zero

January 21, 2015

Derivation

A
How do we show that B Ax Bx Ay B y Az Bz

Start with A Ax i Ay j Az k

B Bx i B y j Bz k

Then A B ( Ax i Ay j Az k) ( Bx i B y j Bz k)

Ax i ( Bx i B y j Bz k) Ay j ( Bx i B y j Bz k) Az k ( Bx i B y j Bz k)

But

So

i j 0; i k 0; j k 0
i i 1; j j 1; k k 1

A B Ax i Bxi Ay j B y j Az k Bz k
Ax Bx Ay B y Az Bz

January 21, 2015

Scalar Product

The vectors A 2i 3 j and B i 2 j

Determine the scalar product
A B ?

A B Ax Bx Ay B y 2 (-1) 3 2 -2 6 4

Find the angle between these two

vectors
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

A Ax Ay 2 3 13

A B
4
4
cos

AB
13 5
65
4
1
cos
60.3
65

B Bx B y (1) 2 2 5

January 21, 2015

Cross Product

C A B

The cross product of two vectors says

something about how perpendicular they
are.

Magnitude: C A B AB sin

A sin

is smaller angle between the vectors

Cross product of any parallel vectors = zero
Cross product is maximum for
z
perpendicular vectors
Cross products of Cartesian unit vectors:

i j k; i k j; j k i
i i 0; j j 0; k k 0

B sin

i
j

January 21, 2015

Cross Product

Direction: C perpendicular
to both A and B (right-hand
rule)

Place A and B tail to tail

Right hand, not left hand
Four fingers are pointed
along the first vector A
sweep from first vector
A into second vector B
through the smaller angle
between them
Your outstretched thumb
points the direction of C

A B B A ?

A B - B A

First practice A B B A ?
January 21, 2015

More about Cross Product

The quantity ABsin is the area of

the parallelogram formed by A
and B
The direction of C is perpendicular
to the plane formed by A and B
is not

commutative
Cross product

A B - B A

The distributive law

A (B C) A B A C

d dA dB
A B
B A
The derivative of cross product
dt
dt
dt

obeys the chain rule

cross product
Calculate
A B ( Ay Bz Az B y )i ( Az Bx Ax Bz ) j ( Ax B y Ay Bx )k
January 21, 2015

Derivation

How do we show that

A B ( Ay Bz Az B y )i ( Az Bx Ax Bz ) j ( Ax B y Ay Bx )k

A Ax i Ay j Az k
?

Start with B Bx i B y j Bz k

A B ( Ax i Ay j Az k) ( Bx i B y j Bz k)

Then

Ax i ( Bx i B y j Bz k) Ay j ( Bx i B y j Bz k) Az k ( Bx i B y j Bz k)

i j k; i k j; j k i
But
i i 0; j j 0; k k 0
So

A B Ax i B y j Ax i Bz k Ay j Bx i Ay j Bz k

i

A B Ax

j
Ay

k
Az

Bx

By

Bz

Az k Bx i Az k B y j

January 21, 2015

Calculating Cross Products

Find: A B

Where:

A 2i 3 j

B i 2 j

Solution: A B (2i 3 j ) (i 2 j )
2i (i) 2i 2 j 3 j (i) 3 j 2 j
0 4i j 3 j i 0 4k 3k 7 k

i
j

Calculate torque given a force and its location

F (2i 3 j ) N
r (4i 5 j )m

Solution: r F (4i 5 j ) (2i 3 j )
4i 2i 4i 3 j 5 j 2i 5 j 3 j
0 4i 3 j 5 j 2i 0 12k 10k 2k (Nm)
January 21, 2015

Summary
Polar coordinates of vector A (A, )
Cartesian coordinates (Ax, Ay)

Ax A cos( )

Ay A sin( )

A Ax Ay
Relations between them:
A
A
Beware of tan 180-degree ambiguity
tan y or tan 1 y
Ax

Ax
Unit vectors:
A Ax i Ay j Az k
Addition of vectors:

C A B ( Ax Bx )i ( Ay B y ) j
C y Ay B y
C x Ax Bx

Scalar multiplication of a vector:

aA aAxand
i aAcross
Product of two vectors: scalar product
y j
product

Dot product is a scalar: A B AB cos Ax Bx Ay B y Az Bz

Cross product is a vector ( A and B ):
A B AB sin
January 21, 2015