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Scalars and Vectors Fundamentals of Physics Halliday, Resnick & Walker

This chapter discusses vectors and scalars in physics. Vectors have both magnitude and direction, and can be represented with arrows. Examples of vector quantities include displacement, velocity, and acceleration. Scalars do not have direction, and include things like temperature, mass, and time. The chapter explains how to add and subtract vectors geometrically by combining their directions and magnitudes. It also introduces vector components, unit vectors, and how to add and multiply vectors using their components.

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104 views16 pages

Scalars and Vectors Fundamentals of Physics Halliday, Resnick & Walker

This chapter discusses vectors and scalars in physics. Vectors have both magnitude and direction, and can be represented with arrows. Examples of vector quantities include displacement, velocity, and acceleration. Scalars do not have direction, and include things like temperature, mass, and time. The chapter explains how to add and subtract vectors geometrically by combining their directions and magnitudes. It also introduces vector components, unit vectors, and how to add and multiply vectors using their components.

Uploaded by

Mina Sam
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Chapter 03

Scalars and Vectors


Fundamentals of Physics
Halliday, Resnick & Walker

By: Danish Ali Hamza


Physics

 There are many quantities that have some magnitude and direction, so there
must be some mathematical formulation/language to describe those
quantities.
 This language is helpful in many fields, which include sciences and
engineering and even it is used in our common speech.
 The quantities which need this language are, velocity,
displacement, acceleration, Force, curl of magnetic fields, divergence of
electric fields, etc.
Vectors and Scalars
 A particle moving along a straight line can move in only two directions.
  We can take its motion to be positive in one of these directions and negative in the other. 
 For a particle moving in three dimensions, however, a plus sign or minus sign is no longer enough to
indicate a direction. Instead, we must use a vector.
 A vector has magnitude as well as direction, and vectors follow certain rules of combination,. 
 A vector quantity is a quantity that has both a magnitude and a direction and thus can be
represented with a vector. 
 Some physical quantities that are vector quantities are displacement, velocity, and acceleration. 
 A vector quantity is a quantity that has both a magnitude and a direction and thus can be
represented with a vector. 
 Not all physical quantities involve a direction.
 Temperature, pressure, energy, mass, and time, for example, do not “point” in the spatial sense. We
call such quantities scalars.

Simplest Vector/displacement vector
 The simplest vector quantity is displacement, or change of
position.
 A vector that represents a displacement is called, a
displacement vector
 In Fig. 3-1a, the arrows from A to B, from A’ to B’ and
from A” to B” have the same magnitude and direction.
Thus, they specify identical displacement vectors and
represent the same change of position for the particle.
 A vector can be shifted without changing its value if its
length and direction are not changed.
 The displacement vector tells us nothing about the
actual path that the particle takes.
 In Fig. 3-1b, for example, all three paths connecting
points A an B correspond to the same displacement
vector, that of Fig. 3-1a.

Adding Vectors Geometrically 

 A particle moves from A to B and then later from B


to C. We can represent its overall displacement (no
matter what its actual path) with two successive
displacement vectors, AB and BC.
 The net displacement of these two displacements
is a single displacement from A to C.
 AC is called as the vector sum (or resultant) of
the vectors AB and BC. This sum is not the usual
algebraic sum.
 The Vector equation is given as
Properties
Vector subtraction

we can add only vectors of the same kind. For


example, we can add two displacements, or two
velocities, but adding a displacement and a velocity
makes no sense. In the arithmetic of scalars, that would
be like trying to add 21 s and 12 m.
Sample problem pg. 40
Components of Vectors
 A component of a vector is the projection of the vector on an
axis.
 ax is the component of vector on (or along) the x axis
 ay is the component along the y axis.
 To find the projection of a vector along an axis, we draw
perpendicular lines from the two ends of the vector to the
axis, as shown.
Resolving The Vector
 The projection of a vector on an x axis is its x component, and
similarly the projection on the y axis is the y component. The
process of finding the components of a vector is called
resolving the vector.
Cont.
 A component of a vector has the same direction (along
an axis) as the vector.
 In Fig. 3-7, ax and ay are both positive because extends in
the positive direction of both axes. (Note the small
arrowheads on the components, to indicate their
direction.)
 If we were to reverse vector then both components
would be negative and their arrowheads would point
toward negative x and y.
 Resolving vector , Fig. 3-8 yields a positive component bx
and a negative component by.
Finding the components
Unit Vectors

 A unit vector is a vector that has a magnitude of exactly 1 and


points in a particular direction.
 It has no dimensions and unit.
 Represented by I, j  and k for positive directions of x,y and z.
 Hat is used above these unit vectors to distinguish them from
other vectors.
Adding Vectors by Components
 Sample Problem:
Multiplying Vectors 

 Multiplying vectors by scalar


If we have a vector a and we multiply it with some number 'n', we will get a new               
vector which  will be the product of magnitude of vector a and the absolute                       
value of  n 
 Multiplying vector by vector:
     Scalar Product 
     Vector Product 

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