Lecture-1

Units, Physical Quantities and

Vectors
Phys132
By: Engr. Paolo Josemari P. Zafra
Outline
• Overview of Physics
• Fundamental Quantities in Physics
• Dimensional Analysis and Consistency
• Vectors
• Addition and Subtraction of Vectors
• Component of Vectors
• Unit Vectors
• Products of Vectors
Overview of Physics
Physics is
• An experimental science
• Is a scientific discipline that finds patterns in nature to describe
phenomenons
• These patterns are called physical theories
• Or when it is well established and widely used, physical laws or
principles
• Also a process by which we arrive at general principles that describe
how the physical universe behaves
Overview of Physics
• No theory is ever undisputed. The possibility always exists that new
observations will require that a theory be revised or discarded
• Theories sometimes have a ‘range of validity’
• Often a new development in physics extends a principle’s range of
validity
Overview of Physics
A model
• Is a simplified version of a physical system that would be too
complicated to analyze in full detail
• Depending in the required analysis, simplification can be done but
must be used with caution
Overview of Physics
If for instance we have a baseball in flight and some of its physical
parameters sketched in the figure
Overview of Physics
Suppose we want to minimize complexity, we neglect the effects of air
resistance and the force exerted by the wind. We have an idealized
model sketched below
Fundamental Quantities in Physics
• In physics, any number that is used to describe a physical
phenomenon quantitatively is called a physical quantity
• Some physical quantities are so fundamental that we can define them
only by describing how to measure them. Such a definition is called
an operational definition
• In other cases we define a physical quantity by describing how to
calculate it from other quantities that we can measure
Fundamental Quantities in Physics
• When we measure a quantity, we always compare it with some
reference standard
• Such a standard defines a unit of the quantity
• To make accurate, reliable measurements, we need units of
measurement that do not change and that can be duplicated by
observers in various locations
• Scientist and engineers use a system of units called the International
System, or SI (in French: Système International)
• The SI system is also called the ‘metric system’
Fundamental Quantities in Physics
Three of the fundamental units or operational quantities are Time,
Mass, and Length
Fundamental Quantities in Physics
Time is measure by
• Using an atomic clock that makes use of the energy difference
between the two lowest energy states of a cesium atom
• bombarded by microwaves of precisely the proper frequency, cesium
atoms undergo a transition from one of these states to the other
• One second (abbreviated s) is defined as the time required for
9,192,631,770 cycles of this microwave radiation
Fundamental Quantities in Physics
Length is measure by
• the meter (abbreviated m) is the distance that light travels in vacuum
in 1/299,792,458 second with the formal definition of the speed of
light in a vacuum taken to be 299,792,458 m/s
Fundamental Quantities in Physics
Mass is measure by
• The Kilogram (abbreviated by kg)
• Previously defined defined to be the mass of a particular cylinder of
platinum–iridium alloy kept at the International Bureau of Weights
and Measures at Sèvres, near Paris
Fundamental Quantities in Physics
• The latest 2018 definition: “The kilogram, symbol kg, is the SI unit of
mass. It is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the Planck
constant h to be 6.62607015×10−34 when expressed in the unit J s,
which is equal to kg m2 s−1, where the metre and the second are
defined in terms of c and ΔνCs”
Dimensional Analysis and Consistency
• An equation must always be dimensionally consistent
• two terms may be added or equated only if they have the same units
Dimensional Analysis and Consistency
For example, if a body moving with constant speed travels a distance d
in a time t, these quantities are related by the equation

If is measured in meters, must also be expressed in meters!

The unit seconds cancels out in the right side!

Dimensional Analysis and Consistency
• In calculations, units are treated just like algebraic symbols with
respect to multiplication and division
• Always use units in calculations! When a problem requires
calculations using numbers with units, always write the numbers with
the correct units and carry the units through the calculation
Vectors
• Some physical quantities can be described completely by a single
number with a unit. These are called scalar quantities
• Quantities that have both magnitude and direction are called
vector quantities
• A simple example displacement---which is a simple change in the
position of a particle
Vectors
Vectors
Vectors
Vectors
Are usually represented by an italic bold face quantity with an
arrowhead above it!
Vectors
The magnitude of a vector is represented by a non boldface format
with vertical bars or simply
Vector Addition and Subtraction
• Two vectors can be added graphically by placing them head to tail
• Vector addition is commutative
• The sum of two or more vectors is called a vector sum or a resultant
vector
Take for instance we add two vector and to obtain a resultant
vector
Vector Addition and Subtraction
We can add the two vectors by placing them head to tail
Vector Addition and Subtraction
Vector addition is commutative!
Vector Addition and Subtraction
We can also add them by constructing a parallelogram!
Vector Addition and Subtraction
To add more than two vectors…
Vector Addition and Subtraction
We could add and to find vector then add to to get the
resultant !
Vector Addition and Subtraction
or we could add and to find vector then add to to get the
resultant !
Vector Addition and Subtraction
or we could add , and directly to find the resultant vector !
Vector Addition and Subtraction
To subtract two vectors, you can add the first vector to the negative of
the second vector…
Vector Addition and Subtraction
With and head to tail, is the vector from the tail of to
the head of
Component of Vectors
• Using a coordinate system, vectors can be represented by
components
• A certain vector can be represented by the vector sum of two
vectors and that are parallel to the coordinate axes

Wherein and are the component vectors of

Component of Vectors
Component of Vectors
• The magnitude of the component vectors are and Pythagorean
relations of right triangles:

note that is measured from the +x axis rotating towards the +y axis
Component of Vectors
Component of Vectors
Some important things to remember in using components of vectors in
calculations:

1. We can find the vector’s magnitude and direction from the

Pythagorean theorem!
Component of Vectors
using the relationships:
Component of Vectors
• Note: in using the arctan function For any values of and the
equation has two solutions for . If you use a calculator to evaluate
, it will only give you an angle in the 1st or 4th quadrant. If you know
that the angle must be in the 2nd or 3rd quadrant (because of the
components of the vector), then you must add to the angle
given by the calculator.
Component of Vectors
2. Multiplying a scalar to a vector multiplies the same scalar to each of
the components of the vector!
e.g.

The components of the vector are

and
Component of Vectors
3. Adding vector components in the same axes allows you to obtain a
vector sum of the two or more vectors.
e.g.
For the vector addition

The vector components can also be obtained by adding components

Component of Vectors
Example 1:
A ship travelled with the following displacements:
: 72.4 m,
: 57.3 m,
: 17.8 m,
what is the ship’s resulting displacement from its initial starting point?
Unit Vectors
• is a vector that has a magnitude of 1
• Its only purpose is to point—that is, to describe a direction in space
Unit Vectors
In a three dimensional plane (x, y, and z) we define the unit vectors:

• as a unit vector that points in the direction of the positive x-axis

• as a unit vector that points in the direction of the positive y-axis
• as a unit vector that points in the direction of the positive z-axis
Unit Vectors
For a certain vector in the x-y-z plane, we can define the vector
components as

We can also write in terms of its components

Unit Vectors
• A summation of all of the unit vector magnitudes permits the
computation of the vector sum.
e.g.
Give two vectors:

Find
Unit Vectors
To obtain the resultant vector, we may use the unit vectors of the x y and
z components and sum them up…
Unit Vectors
Example 2
Given two displacements
and

Find the magnitude

Products of Vectors
• Since vectors are not ordinary numbers, ordinary multiplication is not
applicable to vectors
• There are two types of vector multiplications, scalar/dot products and
vector/cross product
Products of Vectors
• The scalar or dot product of two vectors and is denoted by
• The quantity is a scalar quantity
The formal definition of a scalar product is the product of the magnitude
of the component of into the direction of the magnitude of , which
in mathematical terms is defined as

Wherein the angle is the angle between the two vectors when drawn
tail to tail
Products of Vectors
Calculating using graphical means
Products of Vectors
Products of Vectors
Products of Vectors
The calculation of scalar products can also be done using unit vectors!
The scalar product relationships of the unit vectors are:
Products of Vectors
With the relations given in the previous slide, given two vectors and ,
the dot product can be acquired by expanding the equation:

Thus the scalar product of two vectors is the sum of the products of their
respective components
Products of Vectors
Example 3
Find the scalar product of the two vectors in the figure shown
below. The magnitudes of the vectors are and B
Products of Vectors
Example 4
Find the angle between the vectors:
Products of Vectors
• The vector or cross product of two vectors and is denoted by

• The quantity is also vector quantity

The formal definition of a vector product is that it is a vector having a
direction perpendicular to the plane of both and having a magnitude
of

Wherein the angle is the smaller possible angle from to

Products of Vectors
Products of Vectors
Note that the cross product is not commutative!
Products of Vectors
Calculating the magnitude of the cross product of and graphically…
Products of Vectors
Products of Vectors
Much like the scalar product, the calculation of vector products can also
be done using unit vectors!
The cross product relationships of the unit vectors by itself are:

The boldface zero is a zero vector, that is one with all components equal
to zero and an undefined direction
Products of Vectors
Other relationships of pairs of unit vectors being operated using the cross
product are
Products of Vectors
Given two vectors and , the cross product can be acquired by
expanding the equation:
Products of Vectors
Thus, the components of the vector product
Products of Vectors
The vector product of the two vectors and can also be expressed in
matrix form, with the resulting vector obtained by finding the
determinant of the 3x3 matrix using the basket case method
Products of Vectors
Example 4
Given vectors and , find the cross product of vector in terms of unit
vectors (assume x-y-z components).
Find