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1a.vector Operations PDF

This document discusses vector algebra and vector operations. It defines vectors as quantities having both magnitude and direction, such as velocity and force. The four main vector operations covered are: 1) Addition of vectors by placing the tail of one vector at the head of another. 2) Scalar multiplication, which multiplies the magnitude of a vector by a scalar. 3) The dot product, which yields a scalar equal to the product of the magnitudes of two vectors and the cosine of the angle between them. 4) The cross product, which yields a vector perpendicular to the plane of the two original vectors, determined by the right-hand rule.

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Rosy Kaushik
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257 views

1a.vector Operations PDF

This document discusses vector algebra and vector operations. It defines vectors as quantities having both magnitude and direction, such as velocity and force. The four main vector operations covered are: 1) Addition of vectors by placing the tail of one vector at the head of another. 2) Scalar multiplication, which multiplies the magnitude of a vector by a scalar. 3) The dot product, which yields a scalar equal to the product of the magnitudes of two vectors and the cosine of the angle between them. 4) The cross product, which yields a vector perpendicular to the plane of the two original vectors, determined by the right-hand rule.

Uploaded by

Rosy Kaushik
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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fiziks

Institute for NET/JRF, GATE, IIT-JAM, M.Sc. Entrance, JEST, TIFR and GRE in Physics

1. Vector Algebra
Vector quantities have both direction as well as magnitude such as velocity, acceleration,
 
force and momentum etc. We will use A for any general vector and its magnitude by A .

In diagrams vectors are denoted by arrows: the length of the arrow is proportional to the
 
magnitude of the vector, and the arrowhead indicates its direction. Minus A (  A ) is a

vector with the same magnitude as A but of opposite direction.




1(a). Vector Operations


We define four vector operations: addition and three kinds of multiplication.
(i) Addition of two vectors
    
Place the tail of B at the head of A ; the sum, A  B , is the vector from the tail of A to

the head of B .
   
Addition is commutative: A  B  B  A
     
 
Addition is associative: A  B  C  A  B  C  
   
To subtract a vector, add its opposite: A  B  A   B  
 

  
A
       
(ii) Multiplication by scalar 
Multiplication of a vector by a positive scalar a, multiplies the magnitude but leaves the
direction unchanged. (If a is negative, the direction is reversed.) Scalar multiplication is
distributive:
   
 
a A  B  a A  aB
2

H.No. 40-D, Ground Floor, Jia Sarai, Near IIT, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016
Phone: 011-26865455/+91-9871145498
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1
fiziks
Institute for NET/JRF, GATE, IIT-JAM, M.Sc. Entrance, JEST, TIFR and GRE in Physics

(iii) Dot product of two vectors


The dot product of two vectors is define by
  
A.B  AB cos  

  
where  is the angle they form when placed tail to tail. Note that A.B is itself a scalar.
The dot product is commutative,
   
A.B  B. A
      
and distributive,  
A. B  C  A.B  A.C
   
Geometrically A.B is the product of A times the projection of B along A (or the product
 
of B times the projection of A along B ).
 
If the two vectors are parallel, A.B  AB
 
If two vectors are perpendicular, then A.B  0
Law of cosines
   
Let C  A  B and then calculate dot product of C with itself.
C
              
  
C.C  A  B . A  B  A. A  A.B  B. A  B.B 

C 2  A2  B 2  2 AB cos 
(iv) Cross product of two vectors
The cross product of two vectors is define by
 
A  B  AB sin  nˆ 

 
where n̂ is a unit vector(vector of length 1) pointing perpendicular to the plane of A

and B .Of course there are two directions perpendicular to any plane “in” and “out.”
The ambiguity is resolved by the right-hand rule:
let your fingers point in the direction of first vector and curl around (via the smaller angle)
 
toward the second; then your thumb indicates the direction of n̂ . (In figure A  B points
 
into the page; B  A points out of the page)

H.No. 40-D, Ground Floor, Jia Sarai, Near IIT, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016
Phone: 011-26865455/+91-9871145498
Website: www.physicsbyfiziks.com | Email: [email protected]
2
fiziks
Institute for NET/JRF, GATE, IIT-JAM, M.Sc. Entrance, JEST, TIFR and GRE in Physics

The cross product is distributive,


      
  
A B  C  A B  A C  
but not commutative.
   
  
In fact, B  A   A  B . 
   
Geometrically, A  B is the area of the parallelogram generated by A and B . If two

vectors are parallel, their cross product is zero.


  
In particular A  A  0 for any vector A

H.No. 40-D, Ground Floor, Jia Sarai, Near IIT, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016
Phone: 011-26865455/+91-9871145498
Website: www.physicsbyfiziks.com | Email: [email protected]
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