Understand the rules of vector addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
Apply graphical methods of vector addition and subtraction to determine the displacement of moving objects.
Displacement can be determined graphically using a scale map, such as this one of the Hawaiian Islands. A journey from Hawai’i to Moloka’i has a number of legs, or journey segments. These segments can be added graphically with a ruler to determine the total two-dimensional displacement of the journey. (credit: US Geological Survey)
Vectors in two dimensions
A
vector is a quantity that has magnitude and direction. Displacement, velocity, acceleration, and force, for example, are all vectors. In one-dimensional, or straight-line, motion, the direction of a vector can be given simply by a plus or minus sign. In two dimensions (2-d), however, we specify the direction of a vector relative to some reference frame (i.e., coordinate system), using an arrow having length proportional to the vector’s magnitude and pointing in the direction of the vector.
[link] shows such a
graphical representation of a vector , using as an example the total displacement for the person walking in a city considered in
Kinematics in Two Dimensions: An Introduction . We shall use the notation that a boldface symbol, such as
, stands for a vector. Its magnitude is represented by the symbol in italics,
, and its direction by
.
Vectors in this text
In this text, we will represent a vector with a boldface variable. For example, we will represent the quantity force with the vector
, which has both magnitude and direction. The magnitude of the vector will be represented by a variable in italics, such as
, and the direction of the variable will be given by an angle
.
A person walks 9 blocks east and 5 blocks north. The displacement is 10.3 blocks at an angle
north of east.To describe the resultant vector for the person walking in a city considered in
[link] graphically, draw an arrow to represent the total displacement vector
. Using a protractor, draw a line at an angle
relative to the east-west axis. The length
of the arrow is proportional to the vector’s magnitude and is measured along the line with a ruler. In this example, the magnitude
of the vector is 10.3 units, and the direction
is
north of east.
Vector addition: head-to-tail method
The
head-to-tail method is a graphical way to add vectors, described in
[link] below and in the steps following. The
tail of the vector is the starting point of the vector, and the
head (or tip) of a vector is the final, pointed end of the arrow.
Head-to-Tail Method: The head-to-tail method of graphically adding vectors is illustrated for the two displacements of the person walking in a city considered in
[link] . (a) Draw a vector representing the displacement to the east. (b) Draw a vector representing the displacement to the north. The tail of this vector should originate from the head of the first, east-pointing vector. (c) Draw a line from the tail of the east-pointing vector to the head of the north-pointing vector to form the sum or
resultant vector
. The length of the arrow
is proportional to the vector’s magnitude and is measured to be 10.3 units . Its direction, described as the angle with respect to the east (or horizontal axis)
is measured with a protractor to be
.
Questions & Answers
material that allows electric current to pass through
the transfer of energy by a force that causes an object to be displaced; the product of the component of the force in the direction of the displacement and the magnitude of the displacement
A wave is described by the function D(x,t)=(1.6cm) sin[(1.2cm^-1(x+6.8cm/st] what are:a.Amplitude b. wavelength c. wave number d. frequency e. period f. velocity of speed.
A body is projected upward at an angle 45° 18minutes with the horizontal with an initial speed of 40km per second. In hoe many seconds will the body reach the ground then how far from the point of projection will it strike. At what angle will the horizontal will strike
Suppose hydrogen and oxygen are diffusing through air. A small amount of each is released simultaneously. How much time passes before the hydrogen is 1.00 s ahead of the oxygen? Such differences in arrival times are used as an analytical tool in gas chromatography.
the science concerned with describing the interactions of energy, matter, space, and time; it is especially interested in what fundamental mechanisms underlie every phenomenon
