VECTOR AD PROJ.

MOTION
1. Problem: Find angle between 2 vectors, A = i + j and B = -i + j ?

2. Problem: If A = 8 i + 4 j and B = 4 i + 1 j , find magnitude of A + B and A - B ?

3. Problem: Which one of the following statements is true?

(a) A scalar quantity is the one that is conserved in a process.
(b) A scalar quantity is the one that can never take negative values.
(c) A scalar quantity is the one that does not vary from one point to another in space.
(d) A scalar quantity has the same value for observers with different orientations of the axes.

4. Problem: In a river with current velocity 5 kmph in 600 east to south, a steamer is racing towards north with
velocity 20 kmph. Find resultant velocity of boat.

5. Problem: The component of a vector r along X-axis will have maximum value if
(a) r is along positive Y-axis
(b) r is along positive X-axis
(c) r makes an angle of 45 with the X-axis
(d) r is along negative Y-axis

6. Problem: In a two dimensional motion, instantaneous speed V0 is a positive constant. Then which of the
following are necessarily true?
(a) The average velocity is not zero at any time.
(b) Average acceleration must always vanish.
(c) Displacements in equal time intervals are equal.
(d) Equal path lengths are traversed in equal intervals.

7. Problem: If a stone is thrown with initial speed of 20 ms-1 at an angle of 450 with horizontal, find the horizontal
range?(assume g = 10 ms-2 )

8. Problem: For the same stone as in previous question, find the maximum height achieved by the stone?

9. Problem: For problem 7,find the time of flight of the stone?

10. Problem: If in the problem 7, angle of throw is changed from 450 to 300 ,find the new horizontal range of
throw?
11. Problem: The horizontal range of a projectile fired at an angle of 30 is 50 m.
If it is fired with the same speed at an angle of 45, its range will be ?

12. Problem: A particle starts from the origin at t = 0 s with a velocity of 10.0 j ms-1 and moves in the x-y plane
with a constant acceleration of ( 8.0 i + 4.0 j) m s-2 .At what time is the x-coordinate of the particle 16 m? What is
the y-coordinate of the particle at that time?
13. Problem: i and j are unit vectors along x and y- axis respectively. What are the components of a vector A= 2 i
+3 j along the directions of i + j and i j ?

14. Problem: Rain is falling vertically with a speed of 20 ms -1. Winds blowing after some time with a speed-1 of

20 ms -1 in east to west direction. In which direction should a boy waiting at a bus stop hold his umbrella ?

15. Problem: A hiker stands on the edge of a cliff 500 m above the ground and throws a stone horizontally with an
initial speed of 20 ms-1. Neglecting air resistance, find the time taken by the stone to reach the ground, and the
speed with which it hits the ground. (Take g = 10 ms-2 ).

16. Problem: A football is kicked into the air vertically upwards. What is its (a) acceleration, and (b) velocity at the
highest point?

17. Problem: A fighter plane is flying horizontally at an altitude of 1 km with speed 360 km/h. At what angle of
sight (w.r.t. horizontal) when the target is seen, should the pilot drop the bomb in order to attack the target?

18. Problem: A projectile is fired in such a way that its horizontal range is equal to twice its maximum height.
What is the angle of projection?

19. Problem: The ceiling of a long hall is 20 m high. What is the maximum horizontal distance that a ball thrown
with a speed of 40 ms-1 can go without hitting the ceiling of the hall ?

20. Problem:A cricketer can throw a ball to a maximum horizontal distance of 90 m. How much
high above the ground can the cricketer throw the same ball ?

Problem. 21: An athlete can throw the ball with a speed v. If he throws the ball while
running with speed u at an angle to the horizontal, find
(a)The effective angle to the horizontal at which the ball is projected in air as seen by a spectator.
(b)Time of flight?
(c)What is the distance (horizontal range) from the point of projection at which the
ball will land?
(d) Find at which he should throw the ball that would maximise the horizontal
range as found in (c).

Problem. 22: A fighter plane flying horizontally at an altitude of 1 km with speed 1080 km/h passes directly
overhead an anti-aircraft gun. At what angle from the vertical should the gun be fired for the shell with muzzle
speed 600 ms-1 to hit the plane ? At what minimum altitude should the pilot fly the plane to avoid being hit ? (Take
g = 10 m s-2 ).

There are 'n' vectors in a plane. The magnitude of these vectors are increasing in a G.P and the angle w.r.t to
the reference coordinate axis is increasing in an A.P with common difference 20. The vector sum of all the
vectors is the null vector. Find the least possible such natural number 'n'
o n=9

o n=0

o n=18

o n=27

If |a+b|=27 & |a-b|=19. Then a.b =

o 1

o 8

o 4

o 2

A man standing in the rain, notices that the rain hits him along the vector -i-3j. He begins to run along the x
axis,when he notices that now the rain hits him along -3/2i-1/2j. What is his running speed and direction?

o Same as speed of rain( ground frame) & along the negative x

o Twice speed of rain( ground frame) & along the negative x

o Same as speed of rain( ground frame) & along the positive x

o Twice speed of rain( ground frame) & along the positive x

An ant must move from one end point of the long diagonal of a cubic room to the other. It may do so only by
moving along the various faces of the cube. In a given face it may travel only in a straight line. What is the
minimum distance it has to travel so as to reach the other corner? Given the length of cube is 1m.
Hint:- It does this by moving through 2 faces of the cube. Consider rotating one of the faces w.r.t to the other so that
both are in same plane. Then use the fact that the shortest route is a straight line.

o 3

o 2+1

o 5

o 2

The area of the parallelogram made by the vectors (a+b) & (a-b) is 16.So what is the area of the parallelogram
made by the vectors a & b?

o 8

o 4

o 2

o 12

Light is shone on a cardboard plate and the area of the shadow is noted. Now the same plate is rotated by 60
w.r.t to the original position. By what factor has the area of the shadow decreased?

o 0.5

o 3/2

o 1/2

o 1/3

A light ray is travelling in the direction -i+3j to the origin. It is needed that it pass through the point (3,1). In
what direction must the normal of a mirror kept at origin be, so as to achieve this?

o i+3j
o 2i+j

o 3i+j

o i+2j

Consider two equal & constant magnitude vectors. Both these vectors rotate clockwise at fixed rates. One
rotates 4 times as fast as the other. At what angle(the angle traveled by the slower one) is their resultant zero.
(Assume both were initially in the same direction)

o 90

o 120

o 180

o 60

B' goes around in a spiral. He achieves this by travelling (in a straight line) distance say 'd', then abruptly
changing his direction by 90 and following this new path for 'd/2' metres and then again changing his
direction and so on. Suppose initially he traveled a distance of 1m in his first step, What is his final distance
from the origin?
When you draw your figures choose direction changes such that it forms a spiral

o 3/2

o He goes on indefinitely

o 2/5

o 5/3

At what angle to the reference axis( axes are in the plane of the vector), is the algebraic product of the two
components of a vector achieve its maximum?

o 45

o 90

o 180

o 135

A bird moves from point (1,-2,3) to (4,2,3). If the speed of the bird is lOm/sec, then the velocity vector of the bird is:
o 5(i-2j+3k)
o 5(4i+2j+3k)
o 0.6i + 0.8j
o 6i + 8j

If the resultant of two forces of magnitudes P and Q acting at a point at an angle of 60 is sq.root(7)*Q, then P/Q is
o 1
o 1.5
o 2
o 4

If the angle between the unit vectors A and B is 60, then | A - B | is

o 0
 o 1
o 2
o 4

The resultant of two forces, one double the other in magnitude is perpendicular to the smaller of the two forces. The
angle between the two forces in degrees is
o 50
o 90
o 60
o 120

A man moves towards 3 m north then 4 m towards east and finally 5m towards south west. His displacement from
origin is
o 7.07
o 0
o 12
o 5

Two vectors have magnitudes 3 unit and 4 unit respectively. What should be the angle between them if the
magnitude of the resultant is 5 unit,
o 0
o 60
o 90
o 180

A man rows a boat with a speed of 18km/hr in northwest direction. The shoreline makes an angle of 15 south of
west.The component of the velocity of the boat along the shoreline in km/hr is
o 9
o 18
o 18cos75
o 18sin75

Find angle between 2 vectors, A = i + j and B = i - j ?

o 45
o 90
o 180
o 75

Three forces P, Q & R are acting at a point in the plane. The angle between P & Q and Q & R are 150 & 120
respectively, then for equilibrium, forces P, Q & R are in the ratio
o 1:2:3
o 1 : 2 : 1.73
o 3:2:1
o 1.73 : 2 : 1
 What is angle between x axis and sum of the vectors -i - j and i - j
o 0
o 90
o 180
o 75

A particle is moving in 1-dimension with a constant acceleration.What is the shape of Displacement vs Time
graph? *

o Straight line

o Circular

o Parabolic

o Elliptic

A particle in 1-d starts with initial velocity 'u'=6 m/s & constant deceleration 'a'=3 m/s. What is the average
velocity between 1 and 3 seconds? *

o 1.5 m/s

o 0 m/s

o 4.5 m/s

o 3 m/s

A swimmer sees a wooden plank at point 'A' in a river.He swims downstream for about 0.5 hour and then he
turns back. He meets the plank again 5 km from 'A'. What is the flow velocity and total time taken for the
journey? *
Assume his speed w.r.t to river is constant

o 3 km/hr & 1.66hr

o 2.5 km/hr & 2 hr

o 5 km/hr & 1hr

o 7.5 km/hr & 0.66 hr

A 1-d particle starting from origin has acceleration a(t)=6t-2. Also the average velocity at the end of 2 secs is
equal to the velocity at t=1sec. Find the expression for displacement. *

o t-t-3t

o t-t-4t

o t-2t-t

o t-2t-3t

A postman has a pigeon.The postman has velocity 'u'=2 m/s while the pigeon has constant speed 'v'=10
m/s.The bird flies to & fro between the postman & the office, which is initially 200m away from them. what is
the total distance the pigeon flies until the postman reaches the office? *

o 800m

o 400m

o 1200m

o 1000m
 A ball is dropped from height 1600m. A fielder below is 200m away from the spot where it will fall.He decides
to accelerate & decelerate with constant magnitude'a',so that he is stationary at just the right moment.What is
the value of 'a'? *
Assume 'g'=10 m/s & the fielder starts from rest.

o 4 m/s

o 3 m/s

o 2.5 m/s

o 5 m/s

Let the displacement vector be x(t)=(t-2t)i+(4t)j. Find out the the time when the velocity becomes to the
initial velocity? *

o 5s

o 4s

o 3s

o 1s

A bus service is there between two towns.From either side a bus leaves every 9 mins. A cyclist notices that a
bus in his direction passes every 18 mins.What is the frequency observed by the cyclist in the opposite
direction? *

o every 2 mins

o every 4 mins

o every 6 mins

o every 8 mins

A particle has initial velocity 'u'= -8 m/s and acceleration 3 m/s.Find out the distance it travels in the third
second? *
Acceleration is constant and it is 1-d

o 1m

o 5/6m

o 1/2 m

o 3/4 m

A ball is thrown with initial velocity 'u'=54 m/s w.r.t ground.The elevator in which the ball is thrown moves
upwards at 'v'=5 m/s.What is the time taken when it hits the floor? *
Assume 'g'=9.8 m/s

o 9s

o 8s

o 10s

o 7s

A boy in a car with acceleration 1 m/s throws a ball vertically upwards. The upward velocity initially is 9.8
m/s. How far behind the boy does the ball fall? *

o 1m

o 2m

o 3m
o 0.5 m

Six particles situated at the corner of a regular hexagon of side 'a' move at a constant speed 'v'. Each particle
maintains a direction towards the particle at next corner. Find the time when they meet each other. *

o a/v

o 3a/2v

o 2a/v

o v3a/2v

A staircase contains 3 steps, each 10cm high and 20 cm wide. What should be the minimum horizontal
velocity of a ball at the highest plane s as to hit directly the lowest plane? *

o 1m/s

o 2m/s

o 3m/s

o 0.5m/s

A cannon fires two shells with speed 250 m/s, the first one with =60 & the second one with =45. With what
time interval must the cannon fire so that the shells collide? *

o 11s

o 5.5s

o 112s

o 4.5s

A helicopter flying horizontally with speed 'u' & height 'H',drops a bomb. At what distance from the victim
must it drop it? *
Assume victim is stationary.

o u(2H/g)

o (2uH/g+H)

o u(H/g)

o H

A man moving in a car(14.7 m/s) throws a ball such that it hits the car again after it has travelled a distance of
58.8m. Find the angle of projection w.r.t to ground frame. *
Note the angle is w.r.t the horizontal.

o 53

o 37

o 45

o 60

Due to a force field a projectile has both vertical & horizontal accelerations which are constant.Which of the
following is true? *

o The total time has increased,

o The total time has decreased.

o The time remains constant i.e. same as usual projectile case.

o None of the above.

 Find the Projection angle so that the initial & final velocity vectors are for the projectile. *

o 90

o 60

o 30

o 45

Find the average velocity between the 2 instants when it is at half the max. height. *

o ucos

o usin

o u

o 2ucos

A particle is projected horizontally from a ramp with incline 30.How far from the initial pont will it hit ramp
again? *
Assume the ramp is long enough.Let initial velocity be 'u'.

o u/g

o 43u/g

o 2u/g

o 3u/2g

Here are some of the questions solved in this tutorial :

Q: A pedestrian moves 5.00 km east and then 12.0 km north. Using the graphical method, find the magnitude and direction
of the resultant displacement vector.

Q: Prove that A.(AXB) = 0

Q: If A, B, C are mutually perpendicular, show that CX(AXB) = 0. Check if the converse is true.

Q: A ball is dropped from a balloon going up at a speed of 10 m/s when the balloon is at a height of 50 m/s. How long will
the ball take to reach the ground? What will be the velocity of the ball when it strikes the ground? Take g = 10 ms -2.
Q: A wooden boxcar is moving along a straight railroad track at speed v1. A sniper fires a bullet (initial speed v2) at it from a
highpowered rifle. The bullet passes through both lengthwise walls of the car, its entrance and exit holes being exactly
opposite each other as viewed from within the car. From what direction, relative to the track, is the bullet fired? Assume
that the bullet is not deflected upon entering the car, but that its speed decreases by 25%. Take v1 = 95 km/h and v2 = 700
m/s.

Q: A swimmer wishes to cross a river 550 m wide flowing at 6 km/h. His speed w.r.t. the water is 3.4 km/h. If he heads in a
direction making an angle with the flow of the river, find the time taken. Also find the shortest time taken to cross the
river.

Q: Ship A is located 4.0 km north and 2.5 km east of ship B. Ship A has a velocity of 20 km/h toward the south, and ship B has
a velocity of 30 km/h in a direction 37 north of east. (a) What is the velocity of A relative to B in unit-vector notation? (b)
Write an expression for the position of A relative to B as a function of t, where t = 0 when the ships are in the positions
described above. (c) At what time is the separation between the ships least? (d) What is that least separation?

Q: In 1936 Olympic Games at Berlin (where g 9.8128 m/s2), a worlds running broad jump record of 8.09 m was established.
Assuming the same values of v and , by how much would his record have differed if the same person had competed instead
in 1956 at Melbourne (where g 9.7999 m/s2)?

Q: A ball is dropped from a height. It takes 0.15 s to cross the last 5 m before hitting the ground. Find the height from which
it was dropped. Take g = 10 ms-2.

Q: A ball is thrown horizontally from a height of h = 30 m and hits the ground with a speed that is three times its initial
speed. What is the initial speed? Take g = 10 ms-2.

Q: A person sitting on the top of a tall building is dropping marbles at linearly increasing intervals of 1s, 2s, 3s and so on. Find
the position of the 4th, 5th and 6th marble when 7th marble is being dropped. Take g = 10 ms-2.

Q: A soccer ball is kicked from the ground with an initial speed of 25 m/s at an upward angle of 60. A player 70 m away in
the direction of the kick starts running to meet the ball at that instant. What must be his average speed if he is to meet the
ball just before it hits the ground? Take g = 10 ms-2.
Q: A ball rolls horizontally off the top of a stairway with a speed of 1.8 m/s. The steps are 22 cm high and 22 cm wide. Which
step does the ball hit first? Take g = 10 ms-2.

Q: An elevator is descending with uniform acceleration. A person in the elevator drops a marble at the moment the elevator
starts to measure the acceleration of the elevator. The marble is 2 m above the floor when it is dropped. It takes 1.2 s to
reach the floor of the elevator. What is the acceleration of the floor. Take g = 10 ms-2.

Q: A projectile is launched with a velocity 30 m/s at an angle above the plane which is inclined at an angle of 30o with
the horizontal. For what value of does it bounce up the plane. Assume elastic impact between the plane and the
projectile. Take g = 10 ms-2.

Q: A projectile is launched with a velocity 30 m/s at an angle above the plane which is inclined at an angle of 30o with
the horizontal. For what value of does it bounce up the plane. Assume elastic impact between the plane and the
projectile. Take g = 10 ms-2.

Q: Particle A moves along the line y = 30 m with a constant velocity of magnitude 5 m/s and parallel to the x axis. At the
instant particle A passes the y axis, particle B leaves the origin with a zero initial speed and a constant acceleration of
magnitude a = 0.50 m/s2. What angle between a and the positive direction of the y axis would result in a collision?

Q: A bird is sitting on top of a lamp post. A stone is thrown so as to hit the bird from a distance of 2m from the lamp post at
an angle of 30o with the horizontal. But the bird starts flying in the same direction with a velocity of 2 m/s as soon as the
stone is launched. What was the initial velocity of the stone if it still hits the bird? Take g = 10 ms-2.

For a particle moving in a straight line, the position of the particle at time (t) is given by x = t^3 - 6t^2 + 3t + 7 what
is the velocity in m/s of the particle when it's acceleration is zero ?
o -9
o -12
o 3
o 42
A particle moves along the space curve ? = (t^2 +1) i + (3t - 2) j + (2t^3- 4t^2) k .(t in sec, r in m) Find at time t = 2
the velocity
o 5i + 3j + 8k
o 2i + 4j + 8k
o 5i + 6j + 7k
o 4i + 7j + 8k,

Aballoon is ascending vertically with an acceleration of 0.2m/s2, Two stones are dropped from it at an interval of 2
sec. Find the distance between them 1.5 sec after the second stone is released.(use g=9.8m/s2)
o 40m
o 50m
o 100m
o 80m

A car covers first halt of the distance between two places at a speed of 30 km/hr and the second half at a
90km/hr.What will be the average speed of the car?
o 45 km/hr
o 50 km/hr
o 30 km/hr
o 60 km/hr

A cheetah can accelerate from rest to 24.0 m/s in 6.70 s. Assuming constant acceleration, how far has the cheetah
run in this time in metres?
o 80.4
o 40.2
o 20.1
o 60.3

A body travels 200cm in the first two seconds and 220cm in the next four seconds.What will be the velocity at the
end of the seventh second from the start?
o 10 cm/sec
o 30 cm/sec
o 25 cm/sec
o 50 cm/sec

An object starting from rest moves with uniform acceleration of 4m/s2 .Find its displacement in 5th second
o 10m
o 15m
o 18m
o 21m

An object accelerates from rest to

An object accelerates from rest to a velocity 20m/sec in 4seconds.If the object has uniform acceleration, find its
displacement in this time.
o 30m
 o 35m
o 40m
o 45m

A ball is dropped from a height. It takes 0.15 s to cross the last 5 m before hitting the ground. Find the height from
which it was dropped. Take g = 10 ms-2.
o 57.8m
o 28.9m
o 14.5m
o 43m

A ball is dropped from a balloon going up at a speed of 10 m/s when the balloon is at a height of 50 m/s. How long
will the ball take to reach the ground? What will be the velocity of the ball when it strikes the ground? Take g = 10
ms-2.
o 30 m/s
o 33 m/s
o 22 m/s
o 20 m/s

A stone is dropped from a height h. Simultaneously another stone is thrown up from the ground with such a velocity
that it can reach a height of 4h. Find the time when two stones cross each other
o square root(h/6g)
o square root(h/8g)
o square root(h/4g)
o square root(h/2g)

A particle is proj ected in the X-Y plane. 2 sec after projection the velocity of the particle makes an angle 45 with
the X - axis. 4 sec after projection, it moves horizontally. Find the velocity of projection
o 44.7
o 22.4
o 89.4
o 67.2

A particle is proj ected upwards with a velocity of 100 m/sec at an angle of 60 with the vertical. Find the time when
the particle will move perpendicular to its initial direction, taking g=10 m/sec2
o 10 s
o 20 s
o 30 s
o 25 s

A ball is thrown horizontally from a cliff such that it strikes ground after 5 sec. The line of sight from the point of
projection to the point of hitting makes an angle of 37 with the horizontal. What is the initial velocity of projection
o 100/3 m/s
o 50/3 m/s
o 80/3 m/s
 o 20/3 m/s

The traj ectory ofa proj ectile in a vertical plane is y = ax - bx2, where a, b are constants & x and y are respectively
the horizontal & vertical distances of the projectile from the point of projection. The maximum height attained is
o a^2 / 2b
o a^2 / 3b
o a^2 / 4b
o a^2 / b

In the above question the tan of angle of projection from the horizontal is .
o a^2
o (a ^ 2)/2
o a
o a^2 / 4

A particle is projected with a velocity 2*Squareroot(ag) so that it just clears two walls of equal height 'a' which are
at a distance '2a' apart. Find the time of passing between the walls
o 2 * (Squareroot(a/g))
o Squareroot(a/g)
o 3 * (Squareroot(a/g))
o 4 * (Squareroot(a/g))

Two guns, situated at the top of a hill of height 10 m, fire one shot each with the same speed 5 yfs m/s at; some
interval of time. One gun fires horizontally and other fires upwards at an angle of 60 with the horizontal. The shots
collide in air at a point P. Find the time interval between the firings
o 1 sec
o 2 sec
o 5 sec
o 10 sec

A particle of mass 10~2 kg is moving along the positive x-axis under the influence of a force F(x) = -K/2x^2 where
K= 10^-2 Nm2.At time t = 0 it is at x-1.0m & its velocity is v = 0. Find: its velocity vector in m/s when it reaches x =
0.50 m
o i
o 2i
o -i
o -2i

A butterfly is flying with velocity 10 i +12 j m/s and wind is blowing along x axis y with velocity u. If butterfly
starts motion from A and after some time reaches point B, find the value of u.
3 m/s
6 m/s
8 m/s
4 m/s
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vectors
Vectors are quantities which have both magnitude and direction. A vector can be 2 dimensional, 3 dimensional or
more.
Every vector has 2 parts : Magnitude and Direction
There are 2 ways to represent a vector : Graphical and Analytical
Graphical- A vector is represented by an arrow with the direction of arrow representing the direction of vector and
length of arrow representing the magnitude.

Fig 1.Graphical representation of a vector

Analytical- This way of representing vectors is used while doing the analytical analysis of a problem. In this, the
vectors are represented with respect to a coordinate system.
There are mainly 2 coordinate systems used:
1)Cartesian coordinate system
2)Polar coordinate system
Cartesian coordinate system-

fig 2. fig 3.

In this system the vector is represented by its components in various directions.

A = A + A & A = (Ax)2 + (Ay)2
x y (bold represent vector)
Polar coordinate system-

fig 4.
In the polar representation of vectors, r represents the magnitude of vector and denotes the direction of the
vector with respect to the fixed coordinate system.
Polar coordinates could be converted to cartesian coordinates by simply taking components along the axes such
as,
|A | = r sin &
x |A | = r cos and tan = AxAy
y

Unit Vector-
A unit vector is a vector with magnitude 1.

fig 5.
Vector Addition-

. fig 6
For vector addition of A and B, draw a vector from ending tip of A to starting tip of B. The resulting vector is the
sum of the given vectors.
Analytically if,
A=A +Ax y

B=B +Bx y

A + B = (A + B ) + (A + B )
x x y y

Vector subtraction-
Vector subtraction is similar to vector addition. For A - B just reverse the direction of B and then add A to it.
Ex- C = A - B

fig 7.
Resolution of vectors along coordinate axes-
Let i ,j & k be unit vectors along the coordinate axes X, Y & Z. Then any vector could be resolved along these
axes using these unit vectors. Let A ,A and A be the components of A along X, Y and Z axes, then:
x y z

A= A i +A j + A k
x y z

Component along another vector-

Let b be a unit vector along B, then component of A along B is given by
component = |A.b|

Vector Dot Product-

fig 8.
A.B = |A||B| cos = A B + A B + A B
x x y y z z

Properties of vector dot product

1) A.A = |A| 2

2) A.B = B.A
3) A.(B + C) = A.B + A.C
4) m(A.B) = (mA).B = A.(mB) = (A.B)m

Vector Cross Product-

fig 9. If C = AxB, then |C| = |A||B| sin

Direction of C is perpendicular to both A & B ie. perpendicular to plane containing both A & B.

Angle between 2 vectors -

Angle between 2 given vectors A and B = = cos-1(A . B|A||B|)

Rectilinear Motion
Rectilinear or planar motion could be thought of as vector sum of 2 linear motions.
For simplicity,often any motion in a plane is resolved along the 2 coordinate. Both motions are then solved
separately and finally added vectorially to get the final solution.
Concepts:
Let position vector of a particle be r = x i + y j + z k
Then , velocity vector, v = drdt= (dxdt)i + (dydt)j + (dzdt)k
acceleration vector,a = dvdt = d2rdt2 = (d2xdt2)i + (d2ydt2)j + (d2zdt2)k
Relative velocity:-
Relative velocity of A with respect to B = v = v - v
AB A B

Relative acceleration of A with respect to B = a = a - a

AB A B

Constant acceleration motion-

For a motion with constant acceleration, following relations are useful, derived from the differential equations
mentioned above:
v = u + at here, u = initial velocity of particle, v = final velocity of particle
s = ut + 0.5at
2
a = acceleration of the particle, s = displacement of the particle
v = u + 2as
2 2
t = time passed since u

Projectile Motion

fig10.
Equation of projectile motions path where, u = magnitude of initial velocity of projectile
= angle made by initial velocity and X-axis
v = velocity of particle at any instant
t = time passed
x = displacement along x axis
y = displacement along y axis
g = acceleration due to gravity downward
Equation = y = x(tan ) - (g2 u2 cos2 ) x2
by equation, we could say that path of motion of a projectile is parabolic.
Formulas for projectile motion
Horizontal range of motion, R = u2 sin 2g (As can be seen, range is maximum for = 45 ) 0

Maximum height , H = (u sin)22g

time of maximum height, t = u sing
time of flight, T = 2t = 2u sing

Questions
Easy:
1. Problem: Find angle between 2 vectors, A = i + j and B = -i + j ?
Solution: A . B = (i+j).(-i+j) = (i).(-i) + (j).(j) = -1 + 1 = 0
|A| = (12+12) = 2 |B| = (-1)2 + 12 = 2
=cos-1(A . B|A||B|) = cos-1(02 . 2) = cos-1(0) = 90 0
Ans.
2. Problem: If A = 8 i + 4 j and B = 4 i + 1 j , find magnitude of A + B and A-B?
Solution: A + B = (8 i + 4 j) + (4 i + 1 j) = (8+4) i + (4+1) j = 12 i + 5 j
|A + B| = 122 + 52 = 13
A - B = (8 i + 4 j) - (4 i + 1 j) = (8-4) i + (4-1) j = 4 i + 3 j
|A - B| = 42 + 32 = 5 Ans.
3. Problem: Which one of the following statements is true?
(a) A scalar quantity is the one that is conserved in a process.
(b) A scalar quantity is the one that can never take negative values.
(c) A scalar quantity is the one that does not vary from one point
to another in space.
(d) A scalar quantity has the same value for observers with
different orientations of the axes.
Solution: A scalar quantity has magnitude only therefore it is independent of orientation of coordinate axes.
4. Problem: In a river with current velocity 5 kmph in 60 east to south, a steamer is racing towards north with
0

velocity 20 kmph. Find resultant velocity of boat.

Solution:

Let velocity of boat = V and velocity of current = V

b c

Magnitude of resultant velocity,R could be found using law of cosines,

R = Vb2 + Vc2 + 2VbVc cos120 = 202 + 52 + 2.20.5 cos120 = 325 18 kmph
For direction, we apply law of sines
Rsin=Vcsin or sin = Vc sin R =5 sin 1200 325 =0.2402
= sin 0.2402 13.9
-1 0

5. Problem: The component of a vector r along X-axis will have maximum value if
(a) r is along positive Y-axis
(b) r is along positive X-axis
(c) r makes an angle of 45 with the X-axis
(d) r is along negative Y-axis
Solution:Answer is (b) as component is maximum if whole vector is along the X-axis.
6. Problem: In a two dimensional motion, instantaneous speed V is a positive constant. Then which of the
0

following are necessarily true?

(a) The average velocity is not zero at any time.
(b) Average acceleration must always vanish.
(c) Displacements in equal time intervals are equal.
(d) Equal path lengths are traversed in equal intervals.
Solution: Answer is (d) since, only speed is constant and direction of motion may vary. Since path length
traversed depends only on speed and time independent of direction of motion, therefore equal lengths are
traversed in equal time intervals with constant speed.
7. Problem: If a stone is thrown with initial speed of 20 ms at an angle of 45 with horizontal, find the horizontal
-1 0

range?(assume g = 10 ms ) -2

Solution: Given u = 20 ms and = 45

-1 0

horizontal range, R = u2 sin 2g = 202 sin 2.4510 = 40 m Ans.

8. Problem: For the same stone as in previous question, find the maximum height achieved by the stone?
Solution: Maximum height ,H = (u sin)22g = (10 sin 45)22.10 = 2.5 m Ans.
9. Problem: For problem 7,find the time of flight of the stone?
Solution: Time of flight , T = 2u sing = 2.10 sin 4510 = 2 s = 1.41 s Ans.
10. Problem: If in the problem 7, angle of throw is changed from 45 to 30 ,find the new horizontal range of
0 0

throw?
Solution: For u = 20 ms and = 30
-1 0

horizontal range, R = u2 sin 2g = 202 sin 2.3010 = 20 3 m = 34.64 m Ans.

Moderate difficulty
11. Problem: The horizontal range of a projectile fired at an angle of 30 is 50 m.
If it is fired with the same speed at an angle of 45, its range will be ?
Solution: Assuming the initial speed u remains constant in both cases.
Range, R = u2 sin 2g , R = 50 m, we need to find R
1 2

since u and g remain constant in both cases, therefore R sin 2

thus R1R2 = sin 2.30sin 2.45 = 50R2 = sin 60sin 90 = 3 (0.5)=0.866 R2 = 500.866 = 57.74
mAns.
12. Problem: A particle starts from the origin at t = 0 s with a velocity of 10.0 j ms and moves in the x-y plane with
-1

a constant acceleration of ( 8.0 i + 4.0 j) m s .At what time is the x-coordinate of the particle 16 m? What is the y-
-2

coordinate of the particle at that time?

Solution: Initial velocity in x-direction,u = 0 x

Initial velocity in y-direction,u = 10 y

Acceleration in x-direction,a = 8 x

Acceleration in y-direction,a = 2 y

For s = 16, using equation s = ut + 0.5at

x
2

16 = 0.t + (0.5)8t 16 = (0.5)8t t = 4 t = 2 s

2 2 2
Ans.
At t = 2 s using s = ut + 0.5at 2

s = 10.2 + 0.5(4)(2) = 28 m
y
2
Ans.
13. Problem: i and j are unit vectors along x and y- axis respectively. What are the components of a vector A= 2 i
+3 j along the directions of i + j and i j ?
Solution: B = i + j and C = i j
unit vectors b = B|B|= 12(i + j) and c = C|C|= 12(i - j)
component of A along B = A.b = 22 +32= 3.54 Ans.
component of A along C = A.c = 22 -32= - 0.707 Ans.
14. Problem: Rain is falling vertically with a speed of 20 ms . Winds blowing after some time with a speed of 20
-1 -1

ms in east to west direction. In which direction should a boy waiting at a bus stop hold his umbrella ?
-1

Solution: To find the direction of rain with wind, we vectorially add the velocity of rain and wind.As shown in the
diagram resultant direction of rain,
= tan (20/20) = tan (1) = 45
-1 -1 0

Therefore the boy should hold the umbrella at 45 to vertical. 0

Ans.
15. Problem: A hiker stands on the edge of a cliff 500 m above the ground and throws a stone

horizontally with an initial speed of 20 ms . Neglecting air resistance, find the time taken by the stone to reach the
-1

ground, and the speed with which it hits the ground. (Take g = 10 ms ). -2

Solution: Here, a = -10 ms (since g is downwards while initial velocity is upwards)

-2

u = 0 (stone is thrown horizontally, the component of its initial velocity along downward is 0)
and s = 500 m
therefore, s = ut + 0.5at 2

500 = 0.t + 0.5(10)t gives t = 10 s

2
Ans.
16. Problem: A football is kicked into the air vertically upwards. What is its (a) acceleration, and (b) velocity at the
highest point?
Solution: The acceleration on football would be due to gravity only as it is the only force acting on it mid-flight.
Since in any projectile motion, the highest point is reached when the upward component of velocity of projectile
becomes 0, therefore at highest point the velocity of ball is 0.
acceleration,a = g downwards and v = 0 at highest point. Ans.
17. Problem: A fighter plane is flying horizontally at an altitude of 1 km with speed 360 km/h. At what angle of
sight (w.r.t. horizontal) when the target is seen, should the pilot drop the bomb in order to attack the target?
Solution:
Given H = 1 km = 1000 m and u = u = 360 km/h = 100 ms
x
-1

taking downward positive

time of flight,t could be found using relation s = ut + 0.5at , where s = 1000 m , u = u = 0,
2
x

a = g = 10 ms giving
-2

1000 = 0.5(10)t => t = 102 s = 14.14 s

2

R = u t = ut = 100 . 102 = 10002

x

tan = H/R => = tan (1000/10002) = tan (1/2) = 35.26

-1 -1 0
Ans.
18. Problem: A projectile is fired in such a way that its horizontal range is equal to twice its maximum height.
What is the angle of projection?
Solution: Given R = 2 H => R / H = 2
since H = (u sin)22g and R = u2 sin 2g
RH=u2 sin 2g(u sin)22g =2 sin 2sin2=2.2.sin . cossin2=4
cossin=4tan=2
tan = 42=2=tan-1(2)=63.440
Angle of projection = = 63.440 Ans.
19. Problem: The ceiling of a long hall is 20 m high. What is the maximum horizontal distance that a ball thrown
with a speed of 40 ms can go without hitting the ceiling of the hall ?
-1

Solution: Given H = 20 m and u = 40 ms ,R = u2 sin 2g and H = (u sin)22g

-1

using expression for H, 20 = (40 sin)22.10=80sin2sin2 = 2080=14

sin=12=300
therefore R = u2 sin 2g=402 sin 2.3010=160.32=803=138.56 m Ans.
20. Problem:A cricketer can throw a ball to a maximum horizontal distance of 90 m. How much
high above the ground can the cricketer throw the same ball ?
Solution: Cricketers hand strength decides initial speed i.e. u,therefore u would be same in both cases of
maximum horizontal distance and maximum height.
Maximum horizontal range is possible when throwing angle is 45 . 0

therefore R = 300 m, = 45 and g = 10 ms

0 -2

R = u2 sin 2g90=u2 sin 2.4510u2=900u=30 ms-1

since height is maximum when = 90 , 0

H= (u sin)22g=(30 sin90)22.10=90020=45 m Ans.

Hard diffic
Problem. 21: An athlete can throw the ball with a speed v. If he throws the ball while
running with speed u at an angle to the horizontal, find
(a)The effective angle to the horizontal at which the ball is projected in air as seen by a spectator.
(b)Time of flight?
(c)What is the distance (horizontal range) from the point of projection at which the
ball will land?
(d) Find at which he should throw the ball that would maximise the horizontal
range as found in (c).

Solution:
Spectator will see the velocity of ball w.r.t. inertial frame of reference.The velocity of ball could be found out by
vectorially adding u and v as shown in diagram.
|u+v|=(vsin)2+(u+vcos)2
The effective angle, = tan-1 (vsinu+vcos) Ans(a)
Time of flight,T = 2(|u + v|) sing=2(|u + v|) sing=2(|u + v|) vsin|u+v|g=2.v.sing
Time of flight,T = 2.v.sing Ans(b)
(|u+v|)2 sin 2g=(|u+v|)2 2.sin.cosg=(|u+v|)2
Horizontal range, R =
.2.vsin|u+v|.(vcos+u)|u+v|g=2.vsin.(vcos+u)g
therefore range,R = 2.vsin.(vcos+u)g Ans(c)
Since horizontal range is maximum when effective throwing angle is 45 0

therefore for maximum range, = 45 = tan-1 (vsinu+vcos)

0

vsinu+vcos=tan(45)=1vsin=u+vcossin-cos=uv
solving the equation, we will get (to solve put
sin=(1-cos ),square and then solve quadratic)
2

= cos-1(-u+u2+8v24v)
max Ans(d)

Problem. 22: A fighter plane flying horizontally at an altitude of 1 km with speed 1080 km/h passes directly
overhead an anti-aircraft gun. At what angle from the vertical should the gun be fired for the shell with muzzle
speed 600 ms to hit the plane ? At what minimum altitude should the pilot fly the plane to avoid being hit ? (Take
-1

g = 10 m s ).
-2

Solution:

For plane, H = 1 km = 1000 m and v = 1080 kmph = 300 ms -1

muzzle speed, u = 600 ms -1

Let be the angle for hitting and t be time between shot and hit.
Therefore (ucos)t = vt (since both cover equal horizontal distance for hitting)
600 cos=300 cos = 0.5 = 60 for hitting the plane.
0

Minimum height to avoid being hit depends on maximum height reached by projectile from bullet.
Therefore, maximum height, H = (u sin)22g
H = (600 sin60)22.10=225*3 = 675 m
Therefore plane should fly at minimum height of 675 m to avoid being hit. Ans.
Problem. 23: A hill is 400 m high. Supplies are to be sent across the hill using a canon that can hurl packets at a
speed of 100 m/s over the hill. The canon is located at a distance of 800m from the foot of hill and can be moved
on the ground at a speed of 2 m/s; so that its distance from the hill can be adjusted. What is the shortest time in
which a packet can reach on the ground across the hill ?
Solution:
Starting:

Vectors, Rectilinear and Projectile motion

Introduction
Often we need to work with quantities which have both numerical and directional properties. For example, in order
to pilot a small plane, you need to know the speed of the wind as well as its direction. In order to go to a store to
buy a pen, you need to know its distance from your current location as well the directions in which to proceed.
Thus, directions play a significant role in various everyday phenomena. Vectors are just another mathematical tool
for simplifying our understanding of such phenomena and they make our calculations a lot easier. Examples of
vector quantities are displacement, velocity, force, momentum, etc. By contrast a scalar is a quantity that has
magnitude but no direction. e.g; temperature of a body or its mass.

Now vectors have their own algebra i.e. their own addition, subtraction and multiplication rules. There can be a
cause of confusion here when trying to understand vector multiplication. Vectors multiply in two ways: dot product
and cross product. You might think how can two physical quantities multiply in two different ways which produce
totally different results. The important thing to remember here is that the result of these two different
multiplications are again two different physical quantities and not one which we tend to assume out of habit while
dealing with scalars.
Also, you must always keep in mind that vectors (and all the mathematics for that matter) and its rules came after
observing the behavior of physical phenomenon in a particular fashion and not otherwise though we study them in
reverse order.

Multiplication of a vector with a scalar

A vector A multiplied by a real number is also a vector, whose magnitude is times
the magnitude of the vector A and whose direction is the same or opposite depending
upon whether is positive or negative.

Addition of vectors
To add two vectors (say A and B), they are drawn with their lengths proportional to their magnitudes and then one
of the vectors (say B) is displaced parallel to itself so that its tail coincides with the head of the other vector (i.e. A).
The tail of vector A is then joined to the head of B which is the resultant vector i.e. vector A+B.

Vector addition is commutative as can be very easily verified graphically : A + B = B + A

It also obeys the associative law : (A + B) + C = A + (B + C)
The subtraction of vector B from A is defined as the sum of A and B :
A B = A+ (B)

Resolving a vector into components

Before learning more about vector algebra, lets have a look at the projections of a vector along the coordinate axes.
These projections are called the components of the vector. This is a very important tool which simplifies complex
calculations involving vectors. Once vectors are resolved into mutually perpendicular components, their
components add and subtract like scalar quantities. Multiplication is also simplified a great deal but you still need to
be a little careful while multiplying vectors.

Consider a vector A lying in the xy plane and making an arbitrary angle with the positive x axis. This vector can
be expressed as the sum of two other vectors Ax and Ay. From figure, we see that the three vectors form a right
triangle and that A = A + A . The component A represents the projection of A along the x axis, and the component
x y x

A represents the projection of A along the y axis. These components can be positive or negative. A positive x
y

component means A points in the positive x direction and a negative x component means A points in the negative
x x

x direction. The same holds for the y component.

Now, how do we exactly resolve a vector into its components?

We have to make use of trigonometric ratios for that purpose. From the figure we can see that the two components
make the two sides of a right triangle and that A = A + A .
x y

Now, using the definition of Sine and cosine , we see that

A = ACos
x

A = ASin
y

It is very easy to see that given the components, magnitude of a vector can be obtained using the relation,
A = (A + A )
x
2
y
2

and = tan (A /A )
-1
y x

So, in all the problems on vectors, a vector will be specified either with its components A and A or its magnitude
x y

and direction i.e. A and .