CHAPTER 1: VECTORS

I. Scalars and Vectors

Scalars are quantities that are describe by magnitude only.

Examples: time mass speed density

Vectors are quantities that involve both magnitude and direction.

Examples: acceleration weight velocity momentum

They are represented by an arrow. The length of the arrow represents the magnitude and the
direction of the arrow represents the direction of the vector.

𝐴⃑ = 8𝑁, 𝐸 ⃑⃑ = 4𝑁, 300 𝑁 𝑜𝑓 𝐸

𝐵

II. Unit Vector

A unit vector is a vector with a magnitude of 1 without unit. Its purpose is to give the direction
of the given vector.
A vector can be expressed in terms of the unit vectors 𝑖̂, 𝑗̂ and 𝑘̂ . If Fx, Fy, and Fz are the
magnitudes of the components of the vector 𝐹⃑ in the x, y, and z axis respectively, then vector 𝐹⃑
can be expressed in terms of a unit vector as

𝐹⃑ = 𝐹𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝐹𝑦 𝑗̂ + 𝐹𝑧 𝑘̂

III. Vector Addition or Subtraction by Component Method

In adding two or more vectors by component method, each vector is divided into two new vectors
called the components – horizontal component (x) and vertical component (y).

Steps in Adding two or more vectors A, B C… by the component method.

a. Resolve the given vectors into their x and y components.

b. Add the components in the x direction to give R x, and add the y components to yield
Ry. These magnitudes are given by, respectively,

R x = A x + B x + Cx

R y = A y + B y + Cy

c. Calculate the magnitude and direction of the resultant vector R from its components
Rx, Ry using the equation below.

2
𝑅 = √(Rx )2 + (Ry )

𝑅𝑦
𝜃 = tan−1
𝑅𝑥

The angle θ calculated is based on a reference axis, the +x - axis. If measured counterclockwise
(CCW), it is positive while if measured clockwise (CW) from the positive x-axis, its negative.
a. Dot or Scalar Product

The dot product or scalar product of any two vectors 𝐴⃑ and 𝐵

⃑⃑ is written as 𝐴⃑ ∙ 𝐵
⃑⃑ and is defined as
the product of their magnitudes and the cosine of the included angle. The resulting product is a
scalar quantity.
𝐴⃑ ∙ 𝐵
⃑⃑ = 𝐴𝐵 cos 𝜃

This is commutative such that 𝐴⃑ ∙ 𝐵

⃑⃑ = 𝐵
⃑⃑ ∙ 𝐴⃑

Since 𝑖̂, 𝑗̂ and 𝑘̂ are mutually perpendicular and of unit magnitude, it follows from the definition
of the dot product that
𝑖̂ ∙ 𝑖̂ = 𝑗̂ ∙ 𝑗̂ = 𝑘̂ ∙ 𝑘̂ = 1

𝑖̂ ∙ 𝑗̂ = 𝑗̂ ∙ 𝑖̂ = 𝑖̂ ∙ 𝑘̂ = 𝑘̂ ∙ 𝑖̂ = 𝑗̂ ∙ 𝑘̂ = 𝑘̂ ∙ 𝑗̂ = 0

b. Cross or Vector Product

The cross product of two vectors 𝐴⃑ and 𝐵⃑⃑ is written as 𝐴⃑𝑥𝐵

⃑⃑. The resulting product is a vector
quantity. Unlike the dot product, this does not obey commutativity such that

𝐴⃑𝑥𝐵
⃑⃑ ≠ 𝐵
⃑⃑𝑥𝐴⃑

Its magnitude is |𝐴⃑𝑥𝐵

⃑⃑| = 𝐴𝐵 cos 𝜃

and its direction is determined using the right-hand rule. Thus,

𝐴⃑𝑥𝐵
⃑⃑ = (𝐴𝐵 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃 )𝑟̂

where 𝑟̂ is a unit vector in the direction of the product.

One may also use the diagram on the right to determine the direction of
the product where the clockwise direction is assigned to be the positive
sense.

𝑖̂𝑥 𝑖̂ = 𝑗̂𝑥𝑗̂ = 𝑘̂ 𝑥𝑘̂ = 0

𝑖̂𝑥𝑗̂ = 𝑘̂ and 𝑗̂𝑥𝑖̂ = −𝑘̂ 𝑖̂𝑥 𝑘̂ = −𝑗̂ and 𝑘̂ 𝑥𝑖̂ = 𝑗̂ 𝑗̂𝑥𝑘̂ = 𝑖̂ and 𝑘̂ 𝑥𝑗̂ = −𝑖̂
SOLVED PROBLEMS

1. Given two vectors 𝐴⃑ = 30𝑚, 𝐸𝑎𝑠𝑡 and 𝐵

⃑⃑ = 10𝑚, 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ. Find the resultant vector using
component method.

i. Resolve the given vectors into their x and y components.

Ax = 30m cos 0o = 30m Ay = 30m sin 0o = 0
Bx = 10m cos 90o = 0 By = 10m sin 270o = -10m

ii. Add the x-components to give Rx, and add the y-components to give Ry.

Rx = Ax + Bx = 30m + 0 = 30m
Ry = Ay + By = 0 + (-10m) = -10m

iii. Calculate the magnitude and direction of the resultant vector R from its components
Rx, Ry using the equation below.

𝑅 = √𝑅𝑥2 + 𝑅𝑦2 = 31.63𝑚

𝑅𝑦
Ɵ = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 (𝑅 ) = −18.430
𝑥

Hence, 𝑅⃑ = 31.63𝑚, − 18.430


or R = 31 .63m,18 .43 0 SofE

2. A force ⃑𝑭 has components Fx = 100 N, Fy=153 N, Fz= 80 N. Express F in terms of unit vectors
and find its magnitude.

⃑𝑭 can be written as ⃑𝑭 = 100 N iˆ + 153 N ĵ + 80 N k̂ , with magnitude

F = ( 100 2 + 153 2 + 80 2 ) = 199.52 N

 F1 = 10 iˆ – 15
3. Let ⃑⃑⃑⃑ F2 = 6 iˆ + 8 ĵ – 12 k̂ . Find their dot product and the angle
ĵ – 20 k̂ and ⃑⃑⃑⃑
between them.

𝑭𝟏 • ⃑⃑⃑⃑
⃑⃑⃑⃑ 𝑭𝟐 = (10)(6) + (-15)(8) + (-20)(-12) = 180

Now note that F1 = ( 10 2 + 15 2 + 20 2 ) = 26.93

F2 = ( 6 2 + 8 2 + 122 ) = 15.62

Hence, the angle between F1 and F2 is given by