MECHANICS NOTES (HEAP PROGRAM)

VECTORS
Vectors are quantities that have both magnitude and direction e.g. displacement, velocity, acceleration, force,
momentum etc.

Unit vector
The unit vector is a vector of magnitude one. In the cartesian coordinate system, the unit vector in the positive x-
direction is represented by i, the one in the positive y-direction is represented by j and that in the positive z-direction
is represented by k. Therefore, a vector r = 5i + 3j implies that the direction of r is such that you move 5 steps along
the positive x-direction and then 3 steps along the positive y-direction as illustrated in the diagram below;

In a similar way, a vector 3i – 2j + 4k consists of;

3 steps in the positive x-direction
2 steps in the negative y-direction and
4 steps in the positive z-direction.
The alternative way of writing a vector is to use a “column matrix” e.g.
5
i. 5𝐢 + 7𝐣 = ( )
7
5
ii. 8i – 3j + k 5𝐢 − 3𝐣 + 𝐤 = (−3)
1

Addition (Resultant) of vectors

Consider two vectors 𝐚 = x1 𝐢 + y1 𝐣 + z1 𝐤 and 𝐛 = x2 𝐢 + y2 𝐣 + z2 𝐤, then;
𝐚 + 𝐛 = (x1 + x2 )𝐢 + (y1 + y2 )𝐣 + (z1 + z2 )𝐤

Magnitude of a vector
The magnitude of a vector r is denoted as |r|. If r = ai + bj + ck, then;
|r| = √a2 + b 2 + c 2

The unit vector of a vector r is denoted as 𝐫̂ and is defined by;

𝐫
𝐫̂ =
|𝐫|
Sample question 6
1. Determine the resultant of the following vectors;
i. a = 2i + 5j + 8k and b = 4i - 7j + 3k
ii. r = 10i + 7j + 13k and q = i + 9j - 8k
−5 15
iii. 𝐚 = (−13) and 𝐛 = (−9)
12 11
6
iv. 𝐜 = ( 4 ) and d = 11i - 9j + 13k
−1
2. Given a = 14i - 3k, b = 6i - 7j + 8k, d = -8i + 7j - 13k and e = 2i - j - 3k, determine;
i. 5a + 3e
ii. 4|b| - 2|d|
iii. |a + 5b – 2e|
iv. 8|3a + 5d| + 6|7d - 2b|
12 11
3. Given p = 9i + 15j - 8k, q = 16i - 9j + 12k, 𝐫 = (−3) and 𝐦 = ( 22 ), determine the unit vectors parallel to;
9 −7
i. p + m
ii. 3r - 4m + 2q
4. Determine the vector of magnitude 6 and parallel to 6i - 7j + 8k.

Direction of a vector
Consider the vector r = ai + bj illustrated below;

b a
Note that tan θ = . Also cos θ = , implying that a = |r| cos θ. Similarly, b = |r| sin θ. Hence the vector r can be
a |r|
expressed as r = |r| cos θi + |r| sin θj.

Consider the three-dimensional vector r = ai + bj + ck shown in the figure below;

The unit vector in the direction of r is defined by;
𝐫 a𝐢 + b𝐣 + c𝐤 a b c
𝐫̂ = = = 𝐢+ 𝐣+ 𝐤
|𝐫| |𝐫| |𝐫| |𝐫| |𝐫|
a b c
But = cos α, = cos β and = cos θ. Therefore,
|𝐫| |𝐫| |𝐫|
𝐫̂ = cos α 𝐢 + cos β 𝐣 + cos θ 𝐤
cos α, cos β and cos θ are called the cosine directions of the unit vector 𝐫̂. The vector r is defined by;
r = |𝐫| cos αi + |𝐫| cos βj + |𝐫| cos θk

Sample question 7
1. Determine the cosine directions of the following vectors;
i. a = 9i + 7j + 3k
ii. r = 5i - 10j + 6k
2. A vector p of magnitude 12 makes angles of 45o, 60o and 55o with the x-, y- and z-directions respectively. Express
vector p in the form p = ai + bj + ck, where a, b and c are numerals to one decimal places.
3. Express the vector r = 8i + 12j using trigonometrical ratios.
Vector examples of Displacement, velocity and acceleration
The following examples illustrate how to deal with displacement, velocity and acceleration expressed in vector form.

Examples
1. Find the speed of a body moving with a velocity of (4i – 10j + k) m s-1.

This question requires you to find the magnitude of the velocity given. Therefore;
Speed = √(4)2 + (−10)2 + (1)2 = √16 + 100 + 1 = √117
Speed = 10.8 m s-1

2. A particle has an initial position vector of (5i + 3j) m. If the particle moves with a constant velocity of (2i + 4j)
m s-1, find its position vector after;
a) 2 seconds
b) 5seconds

Since the particle is travelling with constant velocity, v, the displacement x in time t is given by x = vt. Therefore;
a) x = 2(2i + 4j) = 4i + 8j.
Therefore, new position vector is (5i + 3j) + (4i + 8j) = (9i + 11j) m
b) x = 5(2i + 4j) = 10i + 20j
Therefore, new position vector is (5i + 3j) + (10i + 20j) = (15i + 23j) m

Sample question 8
1. Particle A has velocity (5i + 2j) m s-1 and particle B has velocity (-4i + 4j) m s-1. Which particle has the greater
speed?
2. A body moving with a velocity of [bi + (b + 7)j] m s-1 has a speed of 17 m s-1. Find two possible values of b.
3. A particle has an initial position vector of (7i + 5j) m. The particle moves with a constant velocity of (ai + bj)
ms-1 and after 3 s ha a position vector of (10i – j) m. Find the values of a and b.
4. A particle has an initial position vector (4i + 3j + 9k) m. The particle moves with a constant velocity of (3i – 2j –
5k) m s-1.
a) Find the position vector of the particle at time t.
b) What is the position vector of the particle after 5 s?
c) How far is the particle from the origin after 8 s?
5. At time t = 0, two particles A and B have position vectors (2i + 3j – 4k) m and (8i + 6k) m respectivelly. Particle
A moves with a constant velocity (-i + 3j + 5k) m s-1 and B with constant velocity v ms-1. Given that when t = 5
s, B passes throught the point that A passed through one second earlier. Find v.

VECTOR MULTIPLICATION
A) Scalar (Dot) product
The scalar product of two vectors a and b is defined as 𝐚 ∙ 𝐛 = |𝐚||𝐛| 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝛉, where 𝛉 is the angle between the two
vectors a and b.
1. Note that if 𝛉 = 𝟎, a and b are parallel. Since cos 𝟎 = 1, for parallel vectors 𝐚 ∙ 𝐛 = |𝐚||𝐛|.
2. If 𝛉 = 𝟗𝟎o, a and b are perpendicular. Since cos 𝟗𝟎 = 0, for perpendicular vectors 𝐚 ∙ 𝐛 = 𝟎.

Suppose 𝐚 = x1 𝐢 + y1 𝐣 + z1 𝐤 and 𝐛 = x2 𝐢 + y2 𝐣 + z2 𝐤, then;

𝐚 ∙ 𝐛 = (x1 𝐢 + y1 𝐣 + z1 𝐤) ∙ (x2 𝐢 + y2 𝐣 + z2 𝐤)
𝐚 ∙ 𝐛 = x1 x2 𝐢 ∙ 𝐢 + x1 y2 𝐢 ∙ 𝐣 + x1 z2 𝐢 ∙ 𝐤 + y1 x2 𝐣 ∙ 𝐢 + y1 y2 𝐣 ∙ 𝐣 + y1 z2 𝐣 ∙ 𝐤 + z1 x2 𝐤 ∙ 𝐢 + z1 y2 𝐤 ∙ 𝐣 + z1 z2 𝐤 ∙ 𝐤
But 𝐢 ∙ 𝐢 = 𝐣 ∙ 𝐣 = 𝐤 ∙ 𝐤 = 1 (parallel vectors), and 𝐢 ∙ 𝐣 = 𝐢 ∙ 𝐤 = 𝐣 ∙ 𝐢 = 𝐣 ∙ 𝐤 = 𝐤 ∙ 𝐢 = 𝐤 ∙ 𝐣 = 0 (perpendicular
vectors). Therefore, 𝐚 ∙ 𝐛 = x1 x2 + y1 y2 + z1 z2 . The result of a dot product is a scalar.

From 𝐚 ∙ 𝐛 = |𝐚||𝐛| 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝛉 = x1 x2 + y1 y2 + z1 z2 . It follows that;

x x +y1 y2 +z1 z2
𝛉 = 𝐜𝐨𝐬−𝟏 ( 1 2 |𝐚||𝐛| ), where θ is the angle between the two vectors a and b.

Sample question 9
1. Find the dot product of the following vectors;
a) 3i – 4j and -2i + j
 b) 3i – j + k and 2i + j + 2k
c) 5i + j – 2k and 4i + 3j – 8k
d) 2i + 4j – 15k and -8i + 2j – k
0 −3 5 1
e) ( 5 ) and ( 2 ) (f) (2) and (2)
−2 1 7 −1
2. Find the angle between the following vectors;
a) 2i + 3j – 6k and 2i + j + 2k
b) i + 2j – k and – i + 2j – k
c) – 4i + 2j – 4k and 2i – j + 2k
d) 2i + 3j + 2k and i + 4k
2 2
6 5
e) ( ) and ( ) (f) (2) and (1)
−8 4
3 −1

B) Vector (Cross) product

The cross product of two vectors a and b is defined as 𝐚 𝐗 𝐛 = |𝐚||𝐛| 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝛉, where 𝛉 is the angle between the two
vectors a and b.
1. Note that if 𝛉 = 𝟎, a and b are parallel. Since sin 𝟎 = 0, for parallel vectors 𝐚 𝐗 𝐛 = 𝟎.
2. If 𝛉 = 𝟗𝟎o, a and b are perpendicular. Since sin 𝟗𝟎 = 1, for perpendicular vectors 𝐚 𝐗 𝐛 = |𝐚||𝐛|.

Suppose 𝐚 = x1 𝐢 + y1 𝐣 + z1 𝐤 and 𝐛 = x2 𝐢 + y2 𝐣 + z2 𝐤, then;

𝐚𝐗𝐛 = (x1 𝐢 + y1 𝐣 + z1 𝐤)𝐗(x2 𝐢 + y2 𝐣 + z2 𝐤)
𝐚𝐗𝐛 = x1 x2 𝐢𝐗𝐢 + x1 y2 𝐢𝐗𝐣 + x1 z2 𝐢𝐗𝐤 + y1 x2 𝐣𝐗𝐢 + y1 y2 𝐣𝐗𝐣 + y1 z2 𝐣𝐗𝐤 + z1 x2 𝐤𝐗𝐢 + z1 y2 𝐤𝐗𝐣 + z1 z2 𝐤𝐗𝐤

Note that 𝐢𝐗𝐢 = 𝐣𝐗𝐣 = 𝐤𝐗𝐤 = 0, for parallel vectors. This implies;
𝐚𝐗𝐛 = x1 y2 𝐢𝐗𝐣 + x1 z2 𝐢𝐗𝐤 + y1 x2 𝐣𝐗𝐢 + y1 z2 𝐣𝐗𝐤 + z1 x2 𝐤𝐗𝐢 + z1 y2 𝐤𝐗𝐣

Now, the cross product of the unit vectors is cyclic in nature as described below;
Hence, 𝐚𝐗𝐛 = x1 y2 𝐤 − x1 z2 𝐣 − y1 x2 𝐤 + y1 z2 𝐢 + z1 x2 𝐣 − z1 y2 𝐢. The result of a vector product is a vector quantity.
This result can be rearranged as;
𝐚𝐗𝐛 = y1 z2 𝐢 − z1 y2 𝐢 − x1 z2 𝐣 + z1 x2 𝐣 + x1 y2 𝐤 − y1 x2 𝐤
∴ 𝐚𝐗𝐛 = (y1 z2 − z1 y2 )𝐢 − (x1 z2 − z1 x2 )𝐣 + (x1 y2 − y1 x2 )𝐤. This is the expression for the determinant of a 3 by
3 matrix. Therefore;
𝐢 𝐣 𝐤
𝐚 𝐗 𝐛 = |x𝟏 y𝟏 z𝟏 |
x𝟐 y𝟐 z𝟐

Sample question 10
Determine the cross product of the following pair of vectors;
a) 3i – 5j and 2i + 7k
b) i – j + k and 2i + 5j – 3k
c) 7i + 11j – 2k and 4i – 5j – 3k
d) 12i + 6j – 15k and -i + 7j – 9k
3 −3 6 −1
e) ( 0 ) and ( 2 ) (f) (1) and ( 2 )
−2 5 9 −1