CALCULUS-BASED

KIM MARINELLE C. TIAMSON, REE

LESSON 1
Some physical quantities, such as time, temperature, mass,
and density, can be described completely by a single
number with a unit. But many other important quantities in
physics have a direction associated with them and cannot
be described by a single number.
A simple example is the motion of an
airplane: We must say not only how fast
the plane is moving but also in what
direction. The speed of the airplane
combined with its direction of motion
constitute a quantity called velocity.

Another example is force, which in physics means a push or pull

exerted on an object. Giving a complete description of a force
means describing both how hard the force pushes or pulls on
the object and the direction of the push or pull.
When a physical quantity is described by a single number, we
call it a scalar quantity. In contrast, a vector quantity has both
a magnitude (the “how much” or “how big” part) and a
direction in space.

Calculations that combine scalar quantities use the operations of

ordinary arithmetic.
For example,
6 kg + 3 kg = 9 kg, or 4 * 2 s = 8 s.
However, combining vectors requires a different set of operations.
• When you handwrite a symbol for a vector, always write it
with an arrow on top.
• The magnitude of a vector quantity is a scalar quantity (a
number) and is always positive.
(Magnitude of 𝐀 ) = A = 𝑨
To understand more about vectors and how they combine, we
start with the simplest vector quantity, displacement.

Displacement is a change in the position of an object.

Displacement is a vector quantity because we must state not

only how far the object moves but also in what direction.
Walking 3 km north from your front door doesn’t get you to the
same place as walking 3 km southeast; these two displacements
have the same magnitude but different directions.
Figure 1.1 Displacement as a vector quantity.
 • If two vectors have the same
direction, they are parallel.

• If they have the same

magnitude and the same
direction, they are equal, no
matter where they are
located in space.

Figure 1.2 The meaning of vectors that have the same magnitude
and the same or opposite direction.
 • We define the negative of a
vector as a vector having the
same magnitude as the
original vector but the
opposite direction.

Figure 1.2 The meaning of vectors that have the same magnitude
and the same or opposite direction.
• When two vectors A and B have opposite directions, whether
their magnitudes are the same or not, we say that they are
antiparallel.
• Suppose a particle undergoes a displacement A followed by a
second displacement B. The final result is the same as if the
particle had started at the same initial point and undergone a
single displacement C.

• We call displacement C the vector sum or resultant of

displacements A and B. We express this relationship
symbolically as
𝑪=𝑨+𝐁
• Adding two vector quantities requires a geometrical process
and is not the same operation as adding two scalar quantities
such as 2 + 3 = 5.

• In vector addition, we usually place the tail of the second

vector at the head or tip of the first vector.
 Figure 1.3 Three ways to add two vectors.

• If we make the displacements A and B in reverse order, with B

first and A second, the result is the same, Thus
𝑪 = 𝑩 + 𝑨 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑨 + 𝑩 = 𝑩 + 𝑨
 𝑪 = 𝑩 + 𝑨 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑨 + 𝑩 = 𝑩 + 𝑨
• This shows that the order of terms in a vector sum doesn’t
matter. In other words, vector addition obeys the
commutative law.
CAUTION Magnitudes in vector addition
It’s a common error to conclude that if 𝑪 = 𝑩 + 𝑨 , then magnitude
C equals magnitude A plus magnitude B. In general, this
conclusion is wrong; for the vectors shown in Fig. 1.3, 𝐶 < 𝐴 + 𝐵.
Figure 1.4 Adding vectors that are (a) parallel and (b) antiparallel.
Figure 1.5 Several constructions for finding the vector sum 𝑨 + 𝑩 + 𝑪
• Vector addition obeys the associative law.
• Fig. 1.5 shows three vectors 𝑨 , 𝑩 , and 𝑪.
• In Fig. 1.5b. To find the vector sum of all three, we first add 𝑨 and 𝑩
to give a vector sum 𝑫; we then add vectors 𝑪 and 𝑫 by the same
process to obtain the vector sum 𝑹:
𝑹 = (𝑨 + 𝑩) + 𝑪 = 𝑫 + 𝑪

• Alternatively, we can first add 𝑩 and 𝑪 to obtain vector 𝑬(Fig. 1.5c),

and then add 𝑨 and 𝑬 to obtain 𝑹 :
𝑹 = 𝑨 + (𝑩 + 𝑪) = 𝑨 + 𝑬
• We don’t even need to draw vectors 𝑫 and 𝑬; all we need to do is
draw 𝑨 , 𝑩 , and 𝑪 in succession, with the tail of each at the head
of the one preceding it. The sum vector 𝑹 extends from the tail of
the first vector to the head of the last vector (Fig. 1.5d). The order
makes no difference.
• Vector addition obeys the associative law.
Figure 1.6 Multiplying a vector by a scalar.
A cross-country skier skis 1.00 km north and then 2.00 km
east on a horizontal snowfield. How far and in what direction
is she from the starting point?
A cross-country skier skis 1.00 km north and then 2.00 km east on a horizontal
snowfield. How far and in what direction is she from the starting point?
 The two numbers 𝑨𝒙 and 𝑨𝒚 are
called the components of 𝑨 .

CAUTION Components are not vectors

The components 𝐴𝑥 and 𝐴𝑦 of a
vector 𝑨 are numbers; they are
not vectors themselves.

Figure 1.7 Representing a vector 𝑨 in terms of its components 𝑨𝒙 and 𝑨𝒚 .

Figure 1.8 The components of a vector may be positive or negative numbers.
(a) What are the x- and y-
components of vector 𝑫 in Fig.
1.19a? The magnitude of the
vector is D = 3.00 m, and angle
𝛼 = 45°.

(b) What are the x- and y-

components of vector 𝑬 in Fig.
1.19b? The magnitude of the
vector is E = 4.50 m, and angle
𝛽 = 37.0°
• Using components makes it relatively easy to do various
calculations involving vectors. Let’s look at three important
examples: finding a vector’s magnitude and direction,
multiplying a vector by a scalar, and calculating the vector
sum of two or more vectors
1. Finding a vector’s magnitude and direction from its
components.
We can describe a vector completely by giving either its
magnitude and direction or its x- and y-components. We can find
the magnitude and direction if we know the components. By
applying the Pythagorean theorem, we find that the magnitude
of vector 𝑨
𝟐 𝟐
𝑨 = 𝑨𝒙 + 𝑨𝒚

𝑨𝒚 𝑨𝒚
𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝜽 = 𝜽 = 𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒏
𝑨𝒙 𝑨𝒙
2. Multiplying a vector by a scalar.
If we multiply a vector 𝑨 by a scalar 𝒄, each component of the
product 𝑫 = 𝒄𝑨 is the product of 𝒄 and the corresponding
component of 𝑨 :

𝑫𝒙 = 𝒄𝑨𝒙
Components of 𝑫 = 𝒄𝑨
𝑫𝒚 = 𝒄𝑨𝒚
3. Using components to calculate the vector sum (resultant) of
two or more vectors.
The 𝑥-component 𝑹𝒙 of the vector sum is simply the sum (𝑨𝒙 +
𝑩𝒙 ) of the 𝑥-components of the vectors being added. The same is
true for the 𝑦-components. In symbols,
𝑹𝒙 = 𝑨𝒙 + 𝑩𝒙 𝑹𝒚 = 𝑨𝒚 + 𝑩𝒚
We have talked about vectors that lie in the 𝑥𝑦-plane only, but the
component method works just as well for vectors having any
direction in space. We can introduce a 𝑧-axis perpendicular to the
𝑥𝑦-plane; then in general a vector 𝑨 has components 𝑨𝒙 , 𝑨𝒚 , and 𝑨𝒛
in the three coordinate directions. Its magnitude 𝐴 is

𝟐 𝟐 𝟐
𝑨= 𝑨𝒙 + 𝑨𝒚 + 𝑨𝒛
Three players on a reality TV show are brought to the center of a
large, flat field. Each is given a meter stick, a compass, a calculator, a
shovel, and (in a different order for each contestant) the following
three displacements:

𝑨 = 72.4 𝑚, 32.0° 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉

𝑩 = 57.3 𝑚, 36.0° 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑒𝑠𝑡
𝑪 = 17.8 𝑚 𝑑𝑢𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ

The three displacements lead to the point in the field where the
keys to a new Porsche are buried. Two players start measuring
immediately, but the winner first calculates where to go. What does
she calculate?
• A unit vector is a vector that has a magnitude of 1, with no units.
Its only purpose is to point—that is, to describe a direction in
space. Unit vectors provide a convenient notation for many
expressions involving components of vectors. We’ll always
include a caret, or “hat” (^), in the symbol for a unit vector to
distinguish it from ordinary vectors whose magnitude may or
may not be equal to 1.
• In an 𝑥𝑦 − 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒 system we can define a unit vector 𝒊Ƹ that
points in the direction of the positive 𝑥-axis and a unit vector 𝒋Ƹ
that points in the direction of the positive 𝑦-axis
• Then we can write a vector 𝑨 in terms of its components as:
𝑨 = 𝑨𝒙 𝒊Ƹ + 𝑨𝒚 𝒋Ƹ

Figure 1.9 (a) The unit vectors 𝒊Ƹ and 𝒋.Ƹ

(b) Expressing a vector 𝑨 in terms of its components.
• Using unit vectors, we can express the vector sum 𝑹 of two
vectors 𝑨 and 𝑩 as follows:
 • positive 𝑥-axis - unit vector 𝒊Ƹ
• positive 𝑦-axis - unit vector 𝒋Ƹ
෡
• positive 𝑧-axis - unit vector 𝒌

෡
Figure 1.10 The unit vectors 𝒊,Ƹ 𝒋,Ƹ and 𝒌.
• We saw how vector addition develops naturally from the
problem of combining displacements. It will prove useful for
calculations with many other vector quantities. We can also
express many physical relationships by using products of
vectors. Vectors are not ordinary numbers, so we can’t
directly apply ordinary multiplication to vectors. We’ll define
two different kinds of products of vectors. The first, called the
scalar product, yields a result that is a scalar quantity. The
second, the vector product, yields another vector.
• We denote the scalar product of two vectors 𝑨 and 𝑩 by
𝑨∙𝑩
Because of this notation, the scalar product is also called
the dot product. Although 𝑨 and 𝑩 are vectors, the quantity
𝑨 ∙ 𝑩 is a scalar.
• To define the scalar product 𝑨 ∙ 𝑩 we draw the two vectors 𝑨 and
𝑩 with their tails at the same point. The angle ∅ (the Greek letter
phi) between their directions ranges from 0° to 180°. Figure 1.11(b)
shows the projection of vector 𝑩 onto the direction of 𝑨; this
projection is the component of 𝑩 in the direction of 𝑨 and is equal
to 𝑩𝒄𝒐𝒔 ∅. (We can take components along any direction that’s
convenient, not just the 𝑥- and 𝑦-axes.)
• We define 𝑨 ∙ 𝑩 to be the magnitude of 𝑨 multiplied by the
component of 𝑩 in the direction of 𝑨 , or

• Alternatively, we can define 𝑨 ∙ 𝑩 to be the magnitude of 𝑩

multiplied by the component of A S in the direction of 𝑩 , as in
Fig. 1.11(c). Hence, 𝑨 ∙ 𝑩 = 𝑩 (𝑨cos ∅) = 𝑨𝑩 cos ∅
Figure 1.11 Calculating the scalar product
of two vectors, 𝑨 ∙ 𝑩 = 𝑨𝑩 cos ∅.
• The scalar product is a scalar quantity, not a vector, and it may
be positive, negative, or zero.
• When
• ∅ is between 0° and 90°, cos ∅ > 0 and the scalar product is
positive
• ∅ is between 90° and 180°, cos ∅ < 0, the component of 𝑩 in the
direction of 𝑨 is negative, and 𝑨 ∙ 𝑩 is negative
• ∅ =90°, 𝑨 ∙ 𝑩 = 𝟎

• The scalar product of two perpendicular vectors is always

zero.
• For any two vectors 𝑨 and 𝑩 , 𝑨𝑩 cos ∅ = 𝑩𝑨 cos ∅. This means that A
𝑨 ∙ 𝑩 = 𝑩 ∙ 𝑨. The scalar product obeys the commutative law of
multiplication; the order of the two vectors does not matter.

Figure 1.12 The scalar product 𝑨 ∙ 𝑩 = 𝑨𝑩 cos ∅ can be positive, negative,

or zero, depending on the angle between 𝑨 and 𝑩 .
• We can calculate the scalar product 𝑨 ∙ 𝑩 directly if we know the
x-, y-, and z-components of 𝑨 and 𝑩 . To see how this is done, let’s
෡
first work out the scalar products of the unit vectors 𝒊Ƹ , 𝒋,Ƹ and 𝒌.
All unit vectors have magnitude 1 and are perpendicular to
each other.
• Now we express 𝑨 and 𝑩 in terms of their components, expand
the product, and use these products of unit vectors:
• Thus the scalar product of two vectors is the sum of the
products of their respective components.
 Reference:
University Physics by Young and Freedman
(15 edition)
th