Example 3.

1 Rain is falling vertically with

a speed of 35 m s–1. Winds starts blowing
after sometime with a speed of 12 m s–1 in
east to west direction. In which direction
should a boy waiting at a bus stop hold
his umbrella ?
Fig. 3.7
Answer The velocity of the rain and the wind
are represented by the vectors vr and vw in Fig.
3.7 and are in the direction specified by the
problem. Using the rule of vector addition, we
see that the resultant of vr and vw is R as shown
in the figure. The magnitude of R is
Rvv
r
2
w
2 
35 12 m s 37 m s
2211
The direction that R makes with the vertical
is given by
12
tan 0.343
35
w
r
v
v

Or, tan 
-
.
1
0 343 19
Therefore, the boy should hold his umbrella
in the vertical plane at an angle of about 19o
with the vertical towards the east.

Example 3.2 Find the magnitude and

direction of the resultant of two vectors A
and B in terms of their magnitudes and
angle between them.

Answer Let OP and OQ represent the two vectors

A and B making an angle (Fig. 3.10). Then,
using the parallelogram method of vector
addition, OS represents the resultant vector R :
R=A+B
SN is normal to OP and PM is normal to OS.
From the geometry of the figure,
OS2 = ON2 + SN2
but ON = OP + PN = A + B cos 
SN = B sin 
OS2 = (A + B cos )2 + (B sin )2
or, R2 = A2 + B2 + 2AB cos 
R A B 2AB 2 2 = + + cosq (3.24a)
In OSN, SN = OS sin= R sinand
in PSN, SN = PS sin = B sin 
Therefore, R sin = B sin 
or,
RB
sin q sin a
= (3.24b)
Similarly,
PM = A sin = B sin 
or,
AB
sin b sin a
= (3.24c)
Combining Eqs. (3.24b) and (3.24c), we get
RA
sin sin sin 

B
(3.24d)
Using Eq. (3.24d), we get:
sin sin 
B
R
(3.24e)
where R is given by Eq. (3.24a).
or,
sin
tan
cos
SN B
OP PN A B




(3.24f)
Equation (3.24a) gives the magnitude of the
resultant and Eqs. (3.24e) and (3.24f) its direction.
Equation (3.24a) is known as the Law of cosines
and Eq. (3.24d) as the Law of sines.

Example 3.3 A motorboat is racing

towards north at 25 km/h and the water
current in that region is 10 km/h in the
direction of 60° east of south. Find the
resultant velocity of the boat.
Answer The vector vb representing the velocity
of the motorboat and the vector vc representing
the water current are shown in Fig. 3.11 in
directions specified by the problem. Using the
parallelogram method of addition, the resultant
R is obtained in the direction shown in the
figure.
Fig. 3.11
We can obtain the magnitude of R using the Law
of cosine :
R=vvvv b
2
c
2 v
bc+ + 2 cos120o
25 10 2 25 10 -1/2 22 km/h 2 2 
To obtain the direction, we apply the Law of sines
R vc
sin sin 
or, sin 
v
R
c sin

10 sin120
21.8
10 3
2 21.8
0.397




_
23.4
_Example 3.4 The position of a particle is
given by
r 3.0t ˆi 2.0 ˆj 5.0kˆ 2 t
where t is in seconds and the
coefficients have the proper units for r to
be in metres. (a) Find v(t) and a(t) of the
particle. (b) Find the magnitude and
direction of v(t) at t = 1.0 s.
Answer
v
r
tijk
tt
tt
2 
d
d
d
d
3.0 2.0 5.0
ɵɵɵ
3.0 .0
ɵɵ
i4tj
a 
v
tj
t

d
d
= +4.0
ɵ
a = 4.0 m s–2 along y- direction
At t = 1.0 s, v = 3.0ˆi + 4.0ˆj
It’s magnitude is
v = 32 42 5.0 m s-1
and direction is

−with x-axis.

Example 3.5 A particle starts from origin

at t = 0 with a velocity 5.0 î m/s and moves
in x-y plane under action of a force which
produces a constant acceleration of
(3.0iɵ+2.0jɵ ) m/s2. (a) What is the
y-coordinate of the particle at the instant
its x-coordinate is 84 m ? (b) What is the
speed of the particle at this time ?
Answer From Eq. (3.34a) for r0
= 0, the position
of the particle is given by
2 1
2
t t t 0 r v a

5.0ˆi t 1/2 3.0ˆi 2.0ˆj t 2

 
 5.0t 1.5t 2 ˆi 1.0t 2ˆj
Therefore, 2 x t 5.0t 1.5t
2 y t 1.0t
Given x (t) = 84 m, t = ?
5.0 t + 1.5 t2 = 84 t = 6 s
At t = 6 s, y = 1.0 (6)2 = 36.0 m
Now, the velocity d ˆ ˆ 5.0 3.0 2.0
d
tt
t
r
vij
At t = 6 s, v 23. i j
ɵɵ
0 12.0
speed
2 2 1 v 23 12 26 m s.

Example 3.6 Galileo, in his book Two new

sciences, stated that “for elevations which
exceed or fall short of 45° by equal amounts,
the ranges are equal”. Prove this statement.
Answer For a projectile launched with velocity
vo at an angle o , the range is given by
02 sin2
0 v
R
g


Now, for angles, (45° + ) and ( 45° – ), 2o is
(90° + 2) and ( 90° – 2) , respectively. The
values of sin (90° + 2) and sin (90° – 2) are
the same, equal to that of cos 2. Therefore,
ranges are equal for elevations which exceed or
fall short of 45° by equal amounts .

Example 3.7 A hiker stands on the edge

of a cliff 490 m above the ground and
throws a stone horizontally with an initial
speed of 15 m s-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 = 9.8 m s-2 ).
Answer We choose the origin of the x-,and yaxis
at the edge of the cliff and t = 0 s at the
instant the stone is thrown. Choose the positive
direction of x-axis to be along the initial velocity
and the positive direction of y-axis to be the
vertically upward direction. The x-, and ycomponents
of the motion can be treated
independently. The equations of motion are :
x (t) = xo + vox t

y (t) = yo + voy t +(1/2) ay t2

Here, xo = yo = 0, voy = 0, ay =
–g = –9.8 m s-2,
vox = 15 m s-1.
The stone hits the ground when y(t) = – 490 m.
– 490 m = –(1/2)(9.8) t2.
This gives t =10 s.
The velocity components are vx = vox and
vy = voy – g t
so that when the stone hits the ground :
vox = 15 m s–1
voy = 0 – 9.8 × 10 = – 98 m s–1
Therefore, the speed of the stone is

x y v v −⊳
2 2 2 2 15 98 99 m s 1

vExample 3.8 A cricket ball is thrown at a

speed of 28 m s–1 in a direction 30° above
the horizontal. Calculate (a) the maximum
height, (b) the time taken by the ball to
return to the same level, and (c) the
distance from the thrower to the point
where the ball returns to the same level.
Answer (a) The maximum height is given by


22
o
sin 28sin30
m
2 2 9.8
0
m
v
h
g






14 14
2 9.8
10.0 m
(b) The time taken to return to the same level is
Tf = (2 vo sin o )/g = (2× 28 × sin 30° )/9.8
= 28/9.8 s 2.9 s
(c) The distance from the thrower to the point
where the ball returns to the same level is
R
  2
oo
sin2 28 28 sin60
69 m

Example 3.9 An insect trapped in a

circular groove of radius 12 cm moves along
the groove steadily and completes 7
revolutions in 100 s. (a) What is the
angular speed, and the linear speed of the
motion? (b) Is the acceleration vector a
constant vector ? What is its magnitude ?
Answer This is an example of uniform circular
motion. Here R = 12 cm. The angular speed is
given by
= 2/T = 2× 7/100 = 0.44 rad/s
The linear speed v is :
v =R = 0.44 s-1 × 12 cm = 5.3 cm s-1
The direction of velocity v is along the tangent
to the circle at every point. The acceleration is
directed towards the centre of the circle. Since
this direction changes continuously,
acceleration here is not a constant vector.
However, the magnitude of acceleration is
constant:
a = 2 R = (0.44 s–1)2 (12 cm)
= 2.3 cm s-2