Ch.

2Vectors

Lookingahead:

2.1BasicConcepts.
2.2CartesianVectorRepresentationin2D.
2.3CartesianVectorRepresentationin3D.
2.4VectorDotProduct.
2.5VectorCrossProduct.

CopyrightTheMcGrawHillCompanies,Inc.Permissionrequiredforreproductionordisplay.
2.1BasicConcepts
Definitions:
Ascalarisaquantitythatiscompletelycharacterizedbyasingle
number.Mass,volume,andlengthareexamplesofscalars.
Avectorisaquantitythathasbothmagnitude(orsize)and
direction.*Velocity,force(e.g.,weight)andpositionareexamples
ofvectors.Vectorstransformaccordingtocertainlaws!

Commonnotationforvectorquantities: F , F, F , ....

by.
Wedenotethemagnitude(orsize)ofF F

*Fineprint:Therearesomeadditionalmathematicalrequirementsthatmustalsobesatisfied.
 Vectorrepresentation
To report a vector, its magnitude and direction need to be
stated. Any scheme that accomplishes this is a legitimate
form of vector representation. We will discuss a few
convenientmethodsfordoingthisincluding:

Simplestatementofmagnitudeanddirectionrelativeto
somearbitraryreferencedirection(effectivefor2D).
Polarvector
e.g., B 5 km @ 110
representation
StatementintermsofrectangularCartesiancomponents
(effectiveinboth2Dand3D...moreonthisshortly).

e.g., B 3 km west and 4 km north
 Vectornomenclature
Wewillrepresentavectorinafigureusingaline
segmentwithanarrowhead.
 Basicvectoroperations

Vectoraddition: R A B B A (commutative)

Scalarmultiplication: s ( A B) sA sB, s scalar

Scalarmultiplication B (1) A
by1:
Vectors A and A have the same
magnitude, but opposite direction.

Multiply B by 1 to change its
Vectorsubtraction: A B A (1) B direction, and then add.

Remark:Alloftheoperationsandpropertieswehavediscussed
arevalidregardlessofhowavectorisrepresented.
 Evaluationofvectoraddition
Remarks:

(1) We will present a method for evaluating the addition of

vectorsthatcanalwaysbeusedregardlessofhowvectorsare
represented.

(2)Dependingontherepresentationusedforavector,theremay
beotheralternativesforhowadditionmaybeevaluated.
Example:

R1 A B

B A

R2 A B C

AC B

C A B
.....
Example:

Thesearecalled
vectorpolygons....

R1 A B

B A

R2 A B C

AC B

C A B
.....

How to determine R1 and R2 given A, B and C.

(1)Graphpaper,protractor,ruler,lotsofpatience...however,better
methodsareavailableandaremoreappropriate.

(2)Geometryandtrigonometry....lawsofsinesandcosineswillbe
helpful.

(3)Othermethodsarepossible,butthesedependonthetypeof
vectorrepresentationthatisused(moreonthisstartinginSection2.2).
 Resolutionofavectorintocomponents

Consideravector.Wewilloftenwanttoknowhowmuchof
F
thisvectoractsincertaindirections.Inotherwords,wewill

wanttodeterminethevectorsandsuchthat
A B F A B.
 Resolutionofavectorintocomponents

Consideravector.Wewilloftenwanttoknowhowmuchof
F
thisvectoractsincertaindirections.Inotherwords,wewill

wanttodeterminethevectorsandsuchthat
A B F A B.

Playmovie:
Sec2.1_1(resolution_of_vector)
 Resolutionofavectorintocomponents

Consideravector.Wewilloftenwanttoknowhowmuchof
F
thisvectoractsincertaindirections.Inotherwords,wewill

wanttodeterminethevectorsandsuchthat
A B F A B.

Someexamples:

F A1 B1

A2 B2

A3 B3

A4 B4
Remarks:

(1) There are an

infinite number of component vectors whose
F
sumwillyield.

(2)Ifwespecifythedirectionsforand(theydonotneedto
A B
beorthogonal),thenthecomponentvectorswillbeunique.

(3) We will usually know the directions in which we want to

determinethecomponents.
 Resolutionofavectorintocomponents:
orthogonalandnonorthogonaldirections
Whentheaandbdirectionsare
orthogonal(i.e.,aandb
intersectatarightangle)itis
usuallystraightforwardto
determinethevectorcomponents
(onlybasictrigonometryis
needed).
Whentheaandbdirectionsare
nonorthogonal,itisusuallymore
worktodeterminethevector
components.Thelawofsines
andlawofcosinesmaybeuseful.
 Lawsofsinesandcosines
A B C

sin a sin b sin c
A B 2 C 2 2BC cos a
B ...
C ... Avoidusingthelawofsinesto
determineobtuseangles...see
bookfordiscussion.

B Acos c
C A sin c
A B2 C 2
 Jargon(thevernacular)
Considerthefollowingstatements:

"Thewidgetissubjectedtoaforcewith123Nmagnitude."
"Thewidgetissubjectedtoa123Nforce."

The first statement is precise in its nomenclature, while the

secondstatementisnot.*
Most engineers and scientists would probably have said the
secondandwewilldosoaswell,withtheunderstandingthat
suchastatementprovidesthemagnitude.

*Thesecondstatementclaimstoreportaforce,butforthistobethecase,the
directionmustalsobeprovided.
 Representingvectorsinfigures
Wewillusethefollowingmethodsforrepresenting
vectorsinthefigures,diagramsandsketcheswedraw.
Example:
(a) Two people apply forces to a crate
to keep it in equilibrium on a ramp,
where the person pulling the rope
applies a 25 lb force oriented at 25
from the horizontal and the person
pushing the crate applies a horizontal
forcewithunknownmagnitude.

(b)Forcesappliedbythetwopeopleto
the crate using various forms of
representation.
 Example1:
AnIbeamsupportsforcesfromthreecables.Determine
theresultantforceappliedtotheIbeambythecables.

A : R 998 N @ 135 more...
Thismaybesimplifiedto:

more...
Addforcevectorstogettheresultant.
Playmovie:
Sec2.1_2(vector_addition)

Becausevectoradditioniscommutative,theorderofadditionis
notimportant.
Addforcevectorstogettheresultant.

Becausevectoradditioniscommutative,theorderofadditionis
notimportant.
Example2:
Inthepreviousexample,lethaveunspecified
F3
magnitudeanddirection.Determinetheforcevector F3
ofsmallestmagnitude,sotheresultantforceappliedto
theIbeamisdirectedalongtheaxisoftheIbeam.

more...
Tip:
Whendrawingforcepolygons,drawforcesinthefollowingorder:
1)Forceswithknownmagnitudeandknowndirection.
2)Forceswithknownmagnitudeorknowndirection.
3)Forceswithunknownmagnitudeandunknowndirection.
 Playmovie:
Sec2.1_3(vector_polygon)

:knownmagnitude&knowndirection.
F1 and F2

:unknownmagnitude&knowndirection.
F3 and R
Usetodeterminethetwounknowns!
R F1 F2 F3
(Seeifyoucandeterminetheanswer....)
Example3:
A surfboarder tacks into the wind such that the force
perpendiculartothesailis40lb.Resolvethisforceinto
twocomponents,oneparalleltothesurfboard'sdirection
of travel, and one perpendicular to the surfboard's
directionoftravel.

A:F=16.9lb
F=36.3lb