Vectors

Tuesday, 19 May 2020 5:04 PM

Vectors are those physical quantities which have both

magnitude and direction.
Tensors are those quantities which have magnitude and
direction but are not vectors because they have many directions
Eg.Pressure ,stress,moment of inertia

Graphically vector can be represented by a st. Line with a arrow

head on it.The length of the line represents its magnitude and
the arrow head tells the direction
The starting point is called tail or origin of vector and the end
(arrow part) is called the tip or head of the vector.
In writing a vector is represented by a single letter with arrow
head on it.

Polar vectors: The vectors which have a starting point Or a

point application .displacement,force,velocity are polar
Axial vectors:Those vectors which represents rotational effect
and act along axis of rotation in accordance with right hand
screw rule are called Axial vectors.

Importance of vectors
1) Many laws of physics are expressed in compact form
by use of vectors
2) Many derivations involving many laws can be
simplified using vectors
3) The laws of physics when expressed as vectors
remain invariant fir translation and rotation.

Few definitions in vector algebra

Modulus if a vector
The magnitude of a vector is called its
modules .
Eg F = -40N : |F | = 40N
Unit vector
A unit vector which has magnitude as unity
and has same direction as given vector

Equal vectors
Two vectors are said to be equal if they have
same magnitude and same direction.

Negative vector:
A negative vector of a given vector is a vector
of the same magnitude but in opposite
direction.

Coinitial vectors
Vectors which have same initial point

Collinear vectors:
These are those vectors which are having
equal or unequal magnitudes and are acting
along parallel straight lines

Position vector and Displacement vector is a plane

Position vector: It tells us straight line distance of the object
from origin…..it tells us the direction of the object with respect
to origin

Displacement vector: is that vector which tells us how much n which direction an
object has changed its position in a given interval of time
The nature of position vector Or displacement vector is different from the vectors
like velocity and momentum

Multiplication of VA very a real number :

The multiplication of a vector A by a real no ‘n’ becomes another
Vector ‘nA’. It’s magnitude becomes n times the magnitude of the
Given vector

Multiplication of vector by a scalar:

When a Vectir(A ) is multipled by a scalar(s) it becomes, a vector whose
magnitude is S time A.

Resultant vector:
The resultant vector of two iOS more vectors is defined as that
SINGLE vector which produces the same effect as is produced by
The individual vectors together.

vector addition
Vectors cannot be added by simple laws of addition

Geometrical method

1) When vectors are acting in same direction

3 When vectors act at some angle

1)triangle law of vector addition
2) Parallelogram law of vector addition.

Triangle law of vectors:

If two vectors acting on a partial the same time are represented in magnitude
and direction by the two sides of a triangle taken in one order then ,their
resultant vector is represented in magnitude and direction by the 3rd side of
triangle taken in opposite direction

Parallelogram law of vectors:

If two vectors acting On a particle at the same time are represented in
magnitude and direction by the adjacent sides of a parallelogram drawn
from a point ,their resultant vector is represented in magnitude and
direction by the diagonal of the parallelogram from the same point

4.WHEN NUMBER OF VECTORS ACT IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS

POLYGON LAW OF VECTORS:
it states that if any number of actors, acting on a particle at the
same time represented in magnitude and direction by various size
of an open polygon taken in the same order, there resultant is
represented in magnitude and direction by the closing side of a
polygon taken in opposite order.

According to polygon law of vectors :A + B + C + D = R

ANALYTICAL METHOD OF VECTOR ADDITION

Parallelogram law of
Vector addition
Triangle law of vector addition

Triangle law of vector addition:

It states that if two vectors acting on a particle at the same time
are represented in magnitude and direction by the two sides of a
triangle taken in the same order, there resultant vector is
represented in magnitude and direction by the third side of the
triangle taken in opposite order.

Parallelogram law of vector addition:

it states that if two vectors acting on a particle at the same time
be represented in magnitude and direction by the two adjacent
sides of a parallelogram drawn from a point, there resultant
vector is represented in magnitude and direction by the diagonal
of the parallelogram drawn from the same point.

Special cases
When two vectors are acting in same direction

When two vectors are actin opposite directions

If two vectors are acting at right angles to each other,

Conditions for zero resultant vector

1 If three vectors acting on a point object at the same time are represented
in magnitude and direction by the three sides of a triangle taken in the same
order then their resultant is zero. Now the object is in equilibrium
• Same applies for polygons as well

2.LAMI’s THEOREM:
It states that if three forces acting at a point are in equilibrium, then each
force is proportional to the sine of the angle between the other two forces

Conditions for equilibrium of an object:

1.There is no linear motion of the object that is, the resultant force on the object is zero
2.There is no rotational motion of the object that is, the torque due to forces on the object is zero.
3.There is minimum potential energy of the object for stable equilibrium.

Numerical:A bob weighing 50 g hangs vertically at the end of a string 50 cm long. If 20 g force is applied
horizontally, by how much distance the ball is pulled aside from its initial position when it reaches the
equilibrium position.

Important facts of vector addition:

1.Vectors of the same nature can be added alone. For example a force vector cannot be added to
a velocity vector but can be added to a force vector only
2.Vectors addition is commutative. It can states that the sum of vectors remains the same in
whatever order they may be adde