CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION AND DISCUSSION OF THEORIES

OBJECTIVE
• TO INVESTIGATE THE PROPERTIES OF VECTOR ADDITION AND DETERMINE THE
RESULTANT VECTOR OF TWO OR MORE VECTORS USING BOTH GRAPHICAL AND
ANALYTICAL METHODS
• TO UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF VECTOR ADDITION AND HOW IT IS USED TO
COMBINE MULTIPLE VECTORS INTO A SINGLE RESULTANT VECTOR.
• TO LEARN THE GRAPHICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS OF VECTOR ADDITION
AND HOW TO APPLY THEM TO SOLVE PROBLEMS IN PHYSICS.
• TO UNDERSTAND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF VECTOR ADDITION IN VARIOUS
BRANCHES OF PHYSICS.
• TO UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF VECTOR ADDITION AND ITS APPLICATION IN
REAL-LIFE SCENARIOS.

INTRODUCTION AND DISCUSSION OF THEORIES

VECTORS ARE ESSENTIAL IN PHYSICS AND ENGINEERING AS THEY

REPRESENT PHYSICAL QUANTITIES THAT HAVE BOTH MAGNITUDE AND DIRECTION.
UNDERSTANDING VECTOR ADDITION IS CRITICAL IN SOLVING PROBLEMS INVOLVING
MULTIPLE VECTORS IN PHYSICS. VECTOR ADDITION IS THE PROCESS OF COMBINING
TWO OR MORE VECTORS INTO A SINGLE RESULTANT VECTOR. THIS LABORATORY
REPORT AIMS TO PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF VECTOR
ADDITION, ITS GRAPHICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS, ITS SIGNIFICANCE IN
VARIOUS BRANCHES OF PHYSICS, AND ITS APPLICATION IN REAL-LIFE SCENARIOS.
THE CONCEPT OF VECTOR ADDITION INVOLVES COMBINING TWO OR MORE
VECTORS INTO A SINGLE VECTOR. THE MAGNITUDE OF THE RESULTANT VECTOR IS
DETERMINED BY THE PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM, WHILE THE DIRECTION IS
DETERMINED USING TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS SUCH AS SINE, COSINE, AND
TANGENT.
VECTOR ADDITION IS ESSENTIAL IN PHYSICS, PARTICULARLY MECHANICS,
ELECTROMAGNETISM, AND QUANTUM MECHANICS. IN MECHANICS, VECTOR
ADDITION IS USED TO ANALYZE THE MOTION OF OBJECTS AND THE FORCES ACTING
ON THEM. VECTOR ADDITION IS USED TO CALCULATE THE ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC
FIELDS AT A POINT IN ELECTROMAGNETISM. IN QUANTUM MECHANICS, VECTOR
ADDITION IS USED TO DESCRIBE THE SPIN OF PARTICLES AND THEIR ANGULAR
MOMENTUM.

VECTOR ADDITION METHODS

THERE ARE TWO METHODS OF VECTOR ADDITION, GRAPHICAL AND
ANALYTICAL. GRAPHICAL VECTOR ADDITION INVOLVES DRAWING VECTORS TO
SCALE ON A COORDINATE SYSTEM AND THEN ADDING THEM GEOMETRICALLY.
ANALYTICAL VECTOR ADDITION INVOLVES BREAKING DOWN THE VECTORS INTO
THEIR COMPONENTS, ADDING THE COMPONENTS SEPARATELY, AND THEN
REASSEMBLING THEM TO OBTAIN THE RESULTANT VECTOR.
THE GRAPHICAL METHOD OF VECTOR ADDITION INVOLVES DRAWING THE
VECTORS TO SCALE ON A COORDINATE SYSTEM. THE HEAD OF THE FIRST VECTOR IS
PLACED AT THE ORIGIN, AND THE HEAD OF THE SECOND VECTOR IS PLACED AT THE
TIP OF THE FIRST VECTOR. THE RESULTING VECTOR IS THEN DRAWN FROM THE FIRST
VECTOR'S TAIL TO THE SECOND VECTOR'S TIP. THE MAGNITUDE AND DIRECTION OF
THE RESULTING VECTOR CAN BE DETERMINED USING TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS.
WHEN adding vectors ANALYTICALly, it INVOLVES THE USE OF USING THEIR
COMPONENTS IN THE X, Y, AND Z DIRECTIONS REPRESENTING EACH VECTOR. UNIT
VECTORS ARE VECTORS THAT HAVE A MAGNITUDE OF 1 AND ARE USED TO SPECIFY
THE DIRECTION OF A VECTOR. UNIT VECTORS CAN BE WRITTEN AS I, J, AND K, WHERE
I REPRESENTS THE X-DIRECTION, J REPRESENTS THE Y-DIRECTION, AND K
REPRESENTS THE Z-DIRECTION.
TO ADD VECTORS ANALYTICALLY, WE ADD THE COMPONENTS OF THE
VECTORS SEPARATELY. THE PROCESS OF DECOMPOSING A VECTOR INTO ITS
COMPONENT VECTORS IS CALLED VECTOR RESOLUTION. VECTOR RESOLUTION
INVOLVES BREAKING DOWN A GIVEN VECTOR INTO TWO OR MORE VECTORS
PERPENDICULAR TO EACH OTHER. THIS PROCESS IS USEFUL IN VARIOUS
APPLICATIONS, SUCH AS PHYSICS AND ENGINEERING, WHERE IT IS OFTEN NECESSARY
TO ANALYZE THE BEHAVIOR OF AN OBJECT IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS. TO ADD
VECTORS, IT IS OFTEN USEFUL TO REPRESENT THE VECTORS USING THEIR
COMPONENTS IN THE X, Y, AND Z DIRECTIONS. THE X, Y, AND Z COMPONENTS CAN BE
FOUND USING TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS SUCH AS SINE, COSINE, AND TANGENT,
DEPENDING ON THE GIVEN INFORMATION ABOUT THE MAGNITUDE AND DIRECTION
OF THE VECTOR.

PROPERTIES OF VECTOR ADDITION

ADDING VECTORS SATISFIES TWO IMPORTANT PROPERTIES: (1) COMMUTATIVE
PROPERTY AND (2) ASSOCIATIVE PROPERTY. THE COMMUTATIVE PROPERTY OF
VECTOR ADDITION MEANS THAT THE ORDER IN WHICH VECTORS ARE ADDED DOES
NOT AFFECT THE FINAL RESULT. THIS IS TRUE REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE
VECTORS ARE ADDED USING THE GRAPHICAL OR ANALYTICAL METHOD. THIS
PROPERTY IS APPLIED WHEN USING THE PARALLEL0GRAM LAW, WHICH STATES THAT
THE SUM OF TWO VECTORS CAN BE OBTAINED BY THE CONSTRUCTION OF A
PARALLELOGRAM WITH VECTORS AS THE SIDES OF THE CONNECTION AND THAT THE
DIAGONAL INTERSECTION OF A PARALLELOGRAM RESULTS IN A DIAGONAL VECTOR
EQUAL TO THE SUM OF TWO VECTORS. THIS THEORY IS BASED ON THE GEOMETRIC
PROPERTY OF PARALLELOGRAMS AND APPLIES TO ANY TWO VECTORS REGARDLESS
OF THEIR SIZES AND DIRECTION. AFTER USING THE PARALLELOGRAM METHOD, THE
HEAD-TO-TAIL METHOD, ALSO KNOWN AS THE TRIANGLE METHOD, IS USED. THIS
METHOD INVOLVES PLACING THE TAIL OF ONE VECTOR AT THE HEAD OF ANOTHER
VECTOR AND THEN DRAWING THE RESULTANT VECTOR FROM THE TAIL OF THE FIRST
VECTOR TO THE HEAD OF THE SECOND VECTOR. THIS METHOD IS ESPECIALLY
USEFUL FOR ADDING MULTIPLE VECTORS, AS EACH SUBSEQUENT VECTOR IS ADDED
TO THE TIP OF THE PREVIOUS RESULTANT VECTOR, THEREBY YIELDING A FINAL
VECTOR THAT CAPTURES THE OVERALL DIRECTION AND MAGNITUDE OF ALL THE
CONSTITUENT VECTORS.
THE ASSOCIATIVE PROPERTY OF VECTOR ADDITION MEANS HOW VECTORS
ARE GROUPED WHEN ADDING THEM TOGETHER DOES NOT AFFECT THE FINAL
RESULT. THIS PROPERTY IS PARTICULARLY USEFUL

WHEN DEALING WITH MULTIPLE VECTORS THAT NEED TO BE ADDED TOGETHER.

VECTOR ADDITION IS ALSO WIDELY USED IN REAL-LIFE SCENARIOS. FOR
EXAMPLE, IN AVIATION, VECTOR ADDITION IS USED TO CALCULATE THE DIRECTION
AND SPEED OF WIND RELATIVE TO AN AIRPLANE'S VELOCITY. VECTOR ADDITION IS
ALSO USED TO CALCULATE THE SPEED AND DIRECTION OF OCEAN CURRENTS. IN THE
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY, VECTOR ADDITION IS USED TO ANALYZE THE FORCES
ACTING ON A STRUCTURE AND ENSURE ITS STABILITY.
 CHAPTER 2
LIST OF APPARATUS

FORCE TABLE
THE FORCE TABLE IS USED TO ALTER
AND MEASURE THE IMPACTS OF
VECTOR QUANTITIES.

SLOTTED WEIGHTS
SLOTTED WEIGHTS ARE USUALLY USED
WITH A WEIGHT HANGER THAT
ALLOWS ONE TO SWIFTLY PRODUCE
ANY REQUIRED AMOUNT OF MASS FOR
USE IN FORCE, ACCELERATION, AND
MASS TESTS.

WEIGHT HANGERS
WEIGHT HANGERS ARE USED TO ADD
DESIRED QUANTITIES OF WEIGHT TO
ACHIEVE THE REQUIRED MASS.

EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
 FORCE TABLE SET-UP
THE FORCE TABLE IS POSITIONED SUCH THAT ITS FACE IS HORIZONTAL. A RING
IN THE CENTER SERVES AS THE OBJECT ON WHICH THE FORCES ACT. A PIN WITHIN
THE RING KEEPS IT FROM MOVING UNTIL EQUILIBRIUM IS REACHED. STRINGS THAT
PASS THROUGH PULLEYS TO WEIGHT HANGERS APPLY FORCES. THE FORCE TABLE'S
CIRCULAR SCALE IS USED TO READ THEIR DIRECTIONS.

CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY/PROCEDURE

EXPERIMENT:
1. ASSUME ANY F1 AND F2 VALUES AND PLACE THEM ON THE FORCE TABLE. PUT
UP A THIRD FORCE ON THE TABLE TO BALANCE THE SYSTEM. THE THIRD FORCE
IS KNOWN AS THE TWO-FORCE EQUILIBRANT. THE WEIGHT OF THE HANGERS
MUST BE FACTORED INTO THE APPLIED FORCES. MINIMIZE FRICTION AS MUCH
AS POSSIBLE BY SLOWLY SHIFTING THE CENTRAL RING IN DIFFERENT
DIRECTIONS AND OBSERVING ITS RETURN. TO RETURN THE RING TO THE
CENTER, CORRECT ANY UNEVEN TENDENCIES.

2. REPEAT STEP 1 THREE TIMES USING ALL THE FORCES.

COMPUTATION:
1. USING THE PARALLELOGRAM METHOD, DETERMINE THE MAGNITUDE AND
DIRECTION OF THE RESULTANT AND EQUILIBRANT OF F1 AND F2. CALCULATE
THE PERCENTAGE ERROR BY COMPARING THE COMPUTED EQUILIBRANT TO
THE EQUILIBRANT FROM PROCEDURE 1.

2. USING THE SINE AND COSINE RULES, DETERMINE THE MAGNITUDE AND
DIRECTION OF THE RESULTANT AND EQUILIBRANT OF F1 AND F2. CALCULATE
THE PERCENTAGE ERROR BY COMPARING THE COMPUTED EQUILIBRANT TO
THE EQUILIBRANT FROM PROCEDURE 1.

3. DETERMINE THE MAGNITUDE AND DIRECTION OF THE RESULTANT AND

EQUILIBRANT OF F1, F2, AND F3 USING THE POLYGON

METHOD. CALCULATE THE PERCENTAGE ERROR BY COMPARING THE

COMPUTED EQUILIBRANT TO THE EQUILIBRANT FROM PROCEDURE 2.

4. DETERMINE THE MAGNITUDE AND DIRECTION OF THE RESULTANT AND

EQUILIBRANT OF F1, F2, AND F3 USING THE COMPONENT METHOD. (SELECT AN
ARBITRARY X- AND Y-AXIS PASSING VIA THE CONCURRENT POINT OF ALL THE
FORCES AND RECORD THE DIRECTIONS OF THE FORCES TO THESE CHOSEN
AXES). CALCULATE THE PERCENTAGE ERROR BY COMPARING THE ESTIMATED
EQUILIBRANT TO THE EQUILIBRANT FROM PROCEDURE 2.
 CHAPTER 4
OBSERVATION

CALCULATIONS:
TABLE 1
F1 (GM-WT)
F2 (GM-WT)
W (GM-WT)
θ1 (DEGREES)
θ2 (DEGREES)
θ3 (DEGREES)
MAGNITUDE AND DIRECTION OF THE RESULTANT
OBTAINED GRAPHICALLY
MAGNITUDE AND DIRECTION OF THE RESULTANT
OBTAINED ANALYTICALLY

TABLE 2:
F1 (GM-WT)
F2 (GM-WT)
W (GM-WT)
θ1 (DEGREES)
θ2 (DEGREES)
θ3 (DEGREES)
MAGNITUDE AND DIRECTION OF THE RESULTANT
OBTAINED GRAPHICALLY
MAGNITUDE AND DIRECTION OF THE RESULTANT
OBTAINED ANALYTICALLY

ANALYSIS:

SAMPLE COMPUTATIONS:
 CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION
 CHAPTER 6
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS

1. SHOW BY A SERIES OF VECTOR POLYGONS (AT LEAST THREE) THAT IT IS

IMMATERIAL WHICH ORDER IS USED IN LAYING VECTORS OFF HEAD TO TAIL AND
THAT THE RESULTANT IS ALWAYS THE SAME.

WE CAN USE THE FOLLOWING TECHNIQUE TO SHOW THAT THE SEQUENCE IN

WHICH VECTORS ARE ADDED HAS NO EFFECT ON THE FINAL VECTOR:

1. START WITH A VECTOR AND CALL IT VECTOR A. THIS VECTOR SHOULD BE

REPRESENTED AS A LINE SEGMENT WITH AN ARROW POINTING IN ITS
DIRECTION.
2. CHOOSE ON A SECOND VECTOR, WHICH WE WILL REFER TO AS VECTOR B.
CREATE A LINE SEGMENT REPRESENTING THIS VECTOR AND AN ARROW
POINTING IN ITS DIRECTION. ENSURE THAT VECTOR A'S HEAD IS AT VECTOR
B'S TAIL.
3. CREATE A THIRD VECTOR; LET'S CALL IT VECTOR C. THIS VECTOR SHOULD
BE REPRESENTED AS A LINE SEGMENT WITH AN ARROW POINTING IN ITS
DIRECTION. ENSURE THE HEAD OF VECTOR B IS CONSISTENT WITH THE TAIL
OF VECTOR C.
4. CREATE A FOURTH VECTOR LABELED VECTOR D. THIS VECTOR SHOULD BE
REPRESENTED AS A LINE SEGMENT WITH AN ARROW POINTING IN ITS
DIRECTION. ENSURE THAT THE HEAD OF VECTOR C IS ALIGNED WITH THE
TAIL OF VECTOR D.
5. BY DRAWING A LINE SEGMENT FROM THE TAIL OF VECTOR D TO THE HEAD
OF VECTOR A, THE POLYGON WILL BE COMPLETE. THEN, INDICATE THE
VECTORS THAT EACH OF THE POLYGON'S SIDES REPRESENTS.
6. DRAW A LINE SEGMENT FROM THE TAIL OF VECTOR A TO THE HEAD OF
VECTOR D IN ORDER TO DETERMINE THE RESULTANT VECTOR. THE
RESULTANT VECTOR IS THE VECTOR REPRESENTED BY THIS LINE SEGMENT,
AND IT SHOULD BE THE SAME REGARDLESS OF THE SEQUENCE IN WHICH
THE VECTORS WERE ADDED.

FIGURE 1:

       

IN THIS EXAMPLE, THE VECTORS ARE ADDED IN THE ORDER A + B + C + D,

BUT WE COULD ALSO ADD THEM IN THE ORDER D + C + B + A AND GET THE SAME
RESULTANT VECTOR.

FIGURE 2:
 ALTHOUGH THE VECTORS IN THIS EXAMPLE ARE ADDED IN THE SEQUENCE
A + B + C + D, THE IDENTICAL RESULT MAY ALSO BE OBTAINED BY ADDING THE
VECTORS IN THE ORDER D + C + B + A.

FIGURE 3:

USING THE SAME GENERAL IDEA, WE CAN ADD THE VECTORS IN THIS
EXAMPLE IN EITHER THE SEQUENCE OF A + B + C + D + E + F OR F + E + D + C + B +
A, AND WE WILL STILL END UP WITH THE SAME RESULTING VECTOR.

FIGURE 4:

THE FINAL VECTOR FROM THE TAILs OF A, b, and c TO THE HEADs OF C, a, b,

respectively, IS THE RESULTANT VECTOR R.

THESE EXAMPLES DEMONSTRATE THAT AS LONG AS VECTORS ARE ADDED

USING THE HEAD-TO-TAIL METHOD AND FINISH THE POLYGON BY DRAWING A
LINE SEGMENT FROM THE TAIL OF THE LAST VECTOR TO THE HEAD OF THE FIRST
VECTOR, THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY ARE ADDED HAS NO EFFECT ON THE FINAL
VECTOR.

2. EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VECTOR SUM AND ALGEBRAIC SUM.

THE VECTOR SUM AND ALGEBRAIC SUM ARE TWO DIFFERENT WAYS OF
COMBINING MULTIPLE QUANTITIES, SUCH AS VECTORS OR SCALARS.
THE VECTOR SUM IS THE RESULT OF COMBINING TWO OR MORE VECTORS
USING THE HEAD-TO-TAIL METHOD, WHERE THE TAIL OF ONE VECTOR IS PLACED
AT THE HEAD OF THE PREVIOUS VECTOR. THE VECTOR SUM IS THE VECTOR THAT
STARTS AT THE TAIL OF THE FIRST VECTOR AND ENDS AT THE HEAD OF THE FINAL
VECTOR. THE MAGNITUDE AND DIRECTION OF THE VECTOR SUM CAN BE FOUND
 USING VECTOR ADDITION RULES, SUCH AS THE PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM AND
TRIGONOMETRY. THE VECTOR SUM TAKES INTO ACCOUNT BOTH THE
MAGNITUDES AND DIRECTIONS OF THE VECTORS ADDED.
ON THE OTHER HAND, THE ALGEBRAIC SUM IS THE OUTCOME OF MERGING
TWO OR MORE SCALARS THROUGH ADDITION OR SUBTRACTION. THE
MAGNITUDES OF THE QUANTITIES ADDED TOGETHER IN AN ALGEBRAIC ADDITION
ARE CONSIDERED, BUT NOT THEIR DIRECTIONS. IN OTHER WORDS, THE
ALGEBRAIC ADDITION SOLELY TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE ABSOLUTE VALUES OF
THE QUANTITIES ADDED, REGARDLESS OF THEIR POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE SIGNS.
FOR INSTANCE, REGARDLESS OF THE DIRECTION OF THE TWO SCALARS, 3 AND -5,
THEIR ALGEBRAIC TOTAL IS SIMPLY 3 + (-5) = -2.
IN SUMMARY, THE KEY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VECTOR SUM AND
ALGEBRAIC SUM IS THAT THE FORMER TAKES INTO ACCOUNT BOTH THE
MAGNITUDES AND DIRECTIONS OF THE QUANTITIES BEING COMBINED, WHILE
THE LATTER ONLY CONSIDERS THEIR MAGNITUDES.

3. TWO FORCES, F1 AND F2, ACT UPON A BODY IN SUCH A MANNER THAT THE
RESULTANT FORCE R HAS A MAGNITUDE EQUAL TO THAT OF F1 AND MAKES AN
ANGLE OF 90° WITH F. LET F1 = R = 10 N. FIND THE MAGNITUDE AND DIRECTION OF
THE SECOND FORCE RELATIVE TO F1 ANALYTICALLY.

WE CAN CONCLUDE FROM THE PROBLEM STATEMENT THAT THE SIZE OF

THE RESULTING FORCE, R, IS EQUAL TO THE FORCE, F1, WHICH IS 10 N IN
MAGNITUDE. ALSO, WE ARE INFORMED THAT R AND F1 HAVE A 90° ANGLE.
WE CAN USE THE COMPONENT METHOD TO FIND THE MAGNITUDE AND
DIRECTION OF F2:
MAGNITUDE:
∑ F X =0 ⇒ F 2 sin θ − F 1=0 ⇒ F 2 sin θ=10
∑ F Y =R ⇒ F 2 cos θ=R=10
−1
tanθ=1 ⇒ Θ=tan ( 1 )=45 °

F 2 cos θ=10
10
F 2=
cos( 45)
F 2=14.142 n

DIRECTION:
θ=90° + 45°=135 °

THEREFORE, THE MAGNITUDE OF F2 IS 14.142 N AND ITS DIRECTION IS 135 °

RELATIVE TO F1.

REFERENCES:

Math Is Fun. "Vector Addition and Subtraction." Retrieved from

https://www.mathsisfun.com/algebra/vectors.html.
Khan Academy. "Vector Addition." Retrieved from
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/linear-algebra/vectors-and-
spaces/vectors/v/vector-addition-and-subtraction-graphically.
Physics Classroom. "Vector Addition." Retrieved from
https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/vectors/Lesson-1/Vector-
Addition.
Wolfram MathWorld. "Vector Addition." Retrieved from
https://mathworld.wolfram.com/VectorAddition.html.