SCALARS & VECTORS SCALAR QUANTITIES Physical quantities which can completely be specified by a number (magnitude) having an appropriate

unit are known as "SCALAR QUANTITIES". Scalar quantities do not need direction for their description. Scalar quantities are comparable only when they have the same physical dimensions. Two or more than two scalar quantities measured in the same system of units are equal if they have the same magnitude and sign. Scalar quantities are denoted by letters in ordinary type. Scalar quantities are added, subtracted, multiplied or divided by the simple rules of algebra. EXAMPLES Work, energy, electric flux, volume, refractive index, time, speed, electric potential, potential difference, viscosity, density, power, mass, distance, temperature, electric charge etc. VECTORS QUANTITIES Physical quantities having both magnitude and direction with appropriate unit are known as "VECTOR QUANTITIES". We can't specify a vector quantity without mention of deirection. vector quantities are expressed by using bold letters with arrow sign such as: vector quantities can not be added, subtracted, multiplied or divided by the simple rules of algebra. vector quantities added, subtracted, multiplied or divided by the rules of trigonometry and geometry. EXAMPLES Velocity, electric field intensity, acceleration, force, momentum, torque, displacement, electric current, weight, angular momentum etc. REPRESENTATION OF VECTORS On paper vector quantities are represented by a straight line with arrow head pointing the direction of vector or terminal point of vector. A vector quantity is first transformed into a suitable scale and then a line is drawn with the help of the scale choosen in the given direction.

Addition of vectors by Head to Tail method (Graphical Method)

Head to Tail method or graphical method is one of the easiest method used to find the resultant vector of two of more than two vectors. DETAILS OF METHOD Consider two vectors and acting in the directions as shown below:

In order to get their resultant vector by head to tail method we must follow the following steps: STEP # 1 Choose a suitable scale for the vectors so that they can be plotted on the paper. STEP # 2 Draw representative line Draw representative line head of vector . of vector of vector such that the tail of coincides with the

STEP # 3 Join 'O' and 'B'. represents resultant vector of given vectors and i.e.

STEP # 4 Measure the length of line segment and multiply it with the scale choosen initially to get the magnitude of resultant vector. STEP # 5 The direction of the resultant vector is directed from the tail of vector head of vector . Contact us: info@citycollegiate.com to the

Addition of vectors by Head to Tail method (Graphical Method)

Head to Tail method or graphical method is one of the easiest method used to find the resultant vector of two of more than two vectors. DETAILS OF METHOD Consider two vectors and acting in the directions as shown below:

In order to get their resultant vector by head to tail method we must follow the following steps: STEP # 1 Choose a suitable scale for the vectors so that they can be plotted on the paper. STEP # 2 Draw representative line Draw representative line head of vector . of vector of vector such that the tail of coincides with the

STEP # 3 Join 'O' and 'B'. represents resultant vector of given vectors and i.e.

STEP # 4 Measure the length of line segment and multiply it with the scale choosen initially to get the magnitude of resultant vector. STEP # 5 The direction of the resultant vector is directed from the tail of vector head of vector . to the

ADDITION OF VECTORS
PARALLELOGRAM LAW OF VECTOR ADDITION Acccording to the parallelogram law of vector addition: "If two vector quantities are represented by two adjacent sides or a parallelogram then the diagonal of parallelogram will be equal to the resultant of these two vectors." EXPLANATION Consider two vectors . Let the vectors have the following orientation

parallelogram of these vectors is :

According to parallelogram law:

MAGNITUDE OF RESULTANT VECTOR Magintude or resultant vector can be determined by using either sine law or cosine law.

UNIT VECTOR-FREE VECTOR-POSITION VECTOR-NULL VECTOR

UNIT VECTOR "A unit vector is defined as a vector in any specified direction whose magnitude is unity i.e. 1. A unit vector only specifies the direction of a given vector. " A unit vector is denoted by any small letter with a symbol of arrow hat ( ). A unit vector can be determined by dividing the vector by its magnitude. For example unit vector of a vector A is given by:

In three dimensional coordinate system unit vectors having the direction of the positive X-axis, Y-axi and Z-axis are used as unit vectors.These unit vectors are mutually perpendicular to each other.

FREE VECTOR A vector that can be displaced parallel to itself and applied at any point is known as a FREE VECTOR. A free vector can be specified by giving its magnitude and any two of the angles between the vector and coordinate axes.

POSITION VECTOR Avector that indicates the position of a point in a coordinate system is referred to as POSITION VECTOR. Suppose we have a fixed reference point O, then we can specify the position the position of a given point P with respect to point O by means of a vector having magnitude and direction represented by a directed line segment OP .This vector is called POSITION VECTOR.

In a three dimensional coordinate system if O is at origin then,O(0,0,0) and P is any point say P(x,y,z) in this situation position vector of point P will be:

NULL VECTOR A null vector is a vector having magnitude equal to zero.It is represented by . A null vector has no direction or it may have any direction. Generally a null vector is either equal to resultant of two equal vectors acting in opposite directions or multiple vectors in different directions.

MULTIPLICATION & DIVISION OF VECTOR BY A NUMBER (SCALAR)

MULTIPLICATION OF A VECTOR BY A SCALAR When a vector is multiplied by a positive number (for example 2, 3 ,5, 60 unit etc.) or a scalar only its magnitude is changed but its direction remains the same as that of the original vector. If however a vector is multiplied by a negative number (for example -2, -3 ,-5, -60 unit etc.) or a scalar not only its magnitude is changed but its direction also reversed.

The product of a vector (m) m(n

by a scalar quantity (m) follows the following rules:

(m) which is called commutative law of multiplication. which is called associative law of multiplication . +n which is called distributive law of multiplication .

) = (mn) =m

(m + n)

DIVISION OF A VECTOR BY A SCALAR The division of a vector by a scalar number (n) involves the multiplication of the vector by the reciprocal of the number (n) which generates a new vector. Let n represents a number or scalar and m is its reciprocal then the new vector by : where m = 1/n and its magnitude is given by: is given

The direction of The direction of

is same as that of is opposite as that of

if (n) is a positive number. if (n) is a negative number.

RESOLUTION OF VECTOR
DEFINI TION The process of splitting a vector into various parts or components is called "RESOLUTION OF VECTOR" These parts of a vector may act in different directions and are called "components of vector". We can resolve a vector into a number of components .Generally there are three components of vector viz. Component along X-axis called x-component Component along Y-axis called Y-component Component along Z-axis called Z-component Here we will discuss only two components x-component & Y-component which are perpendicular to each other.These components are called rectangular components of vector. METHO D OF RESOL VING A VECTO R INTO RECTA NGULA R COMPO NENTS

Consider a vector

acting at a point making an angle with positive X-axis.

Vector is represented by a line OA.From point A draw a perpendicular AB on X-axis.Suppose OB and BA represents two vectors.Vector OA is parallel to X-axis and vector BA is parallel to Yaxis.Magnitude of these vectors are Vx and Vy respectively.By the method of head to tail we notice that the sum of these vectors is equal to vector rectangular components of vector Vx = Horizontal component of Vy = Vertical component of . . . .Thus Vx and Vy are the

MAGNI TUDE OF HORIZ ONTAL COMPO NENT Consider right angled triangle

MAGNI TUDE OF VERTIC AL COMPO

NENT Consider right angled triangle

ADDITION OF VECTORS BY RECTANGULAR COMPONENTS METHOD INTR ODUC TION Rectangular component method of addition of vectors is the most simplest method to add a number of vectors acting in different directions. DETA ILS OF METH OD Consider two vectors making angles and with +ve x-axis respectively.

STEP #01 Resolve vector into two rectangular components

and . Magnitude of these components are: and

STEP #02 Resolve vector into two rectangular components

and . Magnitude of these components are: and For latest information , free computer courses and high impact notes visit : www.citycollegiate.com STEP #03 Now move vector parallel to itself so that its initial point (tail) lies on the terminal point (head) of vector as shown in the diagram.

Representative lines of and are OA and OB respectively.Join O and B which is equal to resultant vector of and STEP #04 Resultant vector along X-axis can be determined as:

STEP # 05 Resultant vector along Y-axis can be determined as:

STEP # 06 Now we will determine the magnitude of resultant vector. In the right angled triangle BOD: HYP2 = BASE2 + PERP2

STEP # 07 Finally the direction of resultant vector will be determined. Again in the right angled triangle BOD:

Where is the angle that the resultant vector makes with the positive X-axis. In this way we can add a number of vectors in a very easy manner. This method is known as ADDITION OF VECTORS BY RECTANGULAR COMPONENTS METHOD.

PROPERTIES OF VECTOR ADDITION

COMMUTATIVE LAW OF VECTOR ADDITION Consider two vectors and . Let these two vectors represent two adjacent sides of a parallelogram. We construct a parallelogram OACB as shown in the diagram. The diagonal OC represents the resultant vector

From above figure it is clear that: This fact is referred to as the commutative law of vectr addition . ASSOCIATIVE LAW OF VECTOR ADDITION The law states that the sum of vectors remains same irrespective of their order or grouping in which they are arranged. Consider three vectors , and

Applying "head to tail rule" to obtain the resultant of ( + ) and ( + ) Then finally again find the resultant of these three vectors :

This fact is known as the ASSOCIATIVE LAW OF VECTOR ADDITION.

Multiplication of two vectors

MORE DETAILS ON VECTORS There are two types of the multiplication of two vectors: Scalar Product OR Dot Product Vector Product OR Cross Product SCALAR PRODUCT OR DOT PRODUCT Type of multiplication of two vectors in which the product is a scalar quantity is referred to as "Scalar Product OR Dot Product" MATHEMAT ICAL REPRESENT ATION OF SCALAR PRODUCT Consider two vectors and making an angle with each other. Their scalar product or dot product is defined as: Scalar product of two vectors and is a scalar quantity which is equal to the and the cosine of the angle between them.

product of the magnitudes of and

EXPLANATI ON EXAMPLE # 01 When we multiply two vector quantities force and displacement we

get work which is a scalar quantity. Therefore, we can say that work is the scalar product or dot product of force and displacement.

EXAMPLE # 02 When we multiply two vector quantities electric intensity and normal area we get electric flux which is a scalar quantity. Therefore, we can say that electric flux is the scalar product or dot product of electric intensity and normal area

Contact us:

|PHOTOSHOP|FLASH|SWISH|FLAX|INTERNET |PHYSICS|CHEMISTRY|HOME|

info@citycollegiate.com For latest information , free computer courses and high impact notes visit : www.citycollegiate.com