Vectors

Scalar quantity - quantities completely Vector quantity - is a quantity that has both
specified by a single value with an magnitude and a direction in space.
appropriate unit and has no direction
▪▪length
▪▪displacement
velocity
time
▪▪
temperature
▪▪
acceleration
force
mass
Distance vs Displacement
Distance total amount the object has moved. This depends on the whole path traveled,
not just the starting and ending points.

Displacement refers to an object's change in position independent of the path taken. We

use the symbol ∆x for displacement, where ∆ means “change”.

Graphical Representation & the Components of a Vector

Vector Addition
A process of combining two or more vectors acting at the same point on an object
to determine a single equivalent vector known as the “Resultant” vector.
1. Graphical Methods
These involve plotting and drawing the vectors (using a convenient scale) and directly
measuring the resultant from these vectors. The resultant is determined by laying the
vectors tail to head in series. Once the last vector is in placed, the resultant is drawn
from the tail of the origin vector up to the tip of the last vector.
2. Analytical Methods
The magnitude of the Resultant

Rx – is the algebraic sum of all the x components of each given vector.

Ry – is the algebraic sum of all the y components of each given vector.
The angle of the resultant with the x-axis can be found from the relation

To properly locate the resultant direction, keep track the quadrant where the
resultant vector lies.
Ѳ is acute angle measured from the x-axis.

Vectors
Vectors, in Maths, are objects which have both, magnitude and direction. Magnitude
defines the size of the vector. It is represented by a line with an arrow, where the length
of the line is the magnitude of the vector and the arrow shows the direction. It is also
known as Euclidean vector or Geometric vector or Spatial vector or simply “vector“.
The vectors are defined as an object containing both magnitude and direction.
Vector describes the movement of an object from one point to another. Vector
math can be geometrically picturised by the directed line segment.
The length of the segment of the directed line is called the magnitude of a vector
and the angle at which the vector is inclined shows the direction of the vector. The
starting point of a vector is called “Tail” and the ending point (having an arrow) is
called “Head.”
Unit Vectors
A unit vector is a vector that has a magnitude of 1, with no units. Its only purpose is to
describe a direction in space

Components of vectors can be expressed using unit vector

notations, x comp is i and y comp is j.
For example:
A = Axi + Ayj
B = Bxi + Byj
Then the resultant R equals
R=A+B
R = Ax + Bx i + Ay + By j
Additional notes:
A unit vector (sometimes called versor) is a vector with magnitude equal to one.
e.g. Three unit vectors defined by orthogonal components of the Cartesian
coordinate system:
i = (1,0,0), obviously |i| = 1
j = (0,1,0), |j| = 1
k = (0,0,1), |k| = 1
A unit vector in the direction of general vector a is written aˆ = a/|a|
a is written in terms of unit vectors a = ax i + ay j + az

DOT PRODUCT (SCALAR PRODUCT)

If the vectors do not lie in the xy plane, then we need a

third component. We introduce a third unit vector k
that points in the direction of the positive z-axis. And
the magnitude of the 3 dimensional vector is,

The dot product or scalar product is an algebraic operation that takes two equal-
length sequences of numbers (usually coordinate vectors), and returns a single
number. It is often called the inner product (or rarely projection product) of
Euclidean space.
Algebraically, the dot product is the sum of the products of the corresponding
entries of the two sequences of numbers.
Geometrically, it is the product of the Euclidean magnitudes of the two vectors
and the cosine of the angle between them. These definitions are equivalent when
using Cartesian coordinates. In modern
The name "dot product" is derived from the dot operator " · " that is often used
to designate this operation;
the alternative name "scalar product" emphasizes that the result is a scalar,
rather than a vector (as with the vector product in three-dimensional space).

The dot product may be defined algebraically or geometrically. The geometric

definition is based on the notions of angle and distance (magnitude) of vectors. The
equivalence of these two definitions relies on having a Cartesian coordinate system
for Euclidean space.
 CROSS PRODUCT (VECTOR PRODUCT)

Cross product is a binary operation on two vectors in three-dimensional space. It

results in a vector that is perpendicular to both vectors. The Vector product of two
vectors, a and b, is denoted by a × b. Its resultant vector is perpendicular to a and b.
Vector products are also called cross products. Cross product of two vectors will
give the resultant a vector and calculated using the Right-hand Rule.
The vector product or cross product of two vectors A and B is denoted by A × B, and
its resultant vector is perpendicular to the vectors A and B. The cross product is
mostly used to determine the vector, which is perpendicular to the plane surface
spanned by two vectors, whereas the dot product is used to find the angle between
two vectors or the length of the vector. The cross product of two vectors, say A × B,
is equal to another vector at right angles to both, and it happens in the three
dimensions.

Kinematics
Kinematics deals only on the nature of motion without taking into consideration
the causes of motion.
Kinematics is the branch of classical mechanics that describes the motion of points,
objects and systems of groups of objects, without reference to the causes of motion
(i.e., forces ). The study of kinematics is often referred to as the “geometry of
motion.”

Terminologies:
Displacement – is the change of position of a body.
It is a vector quantity, meaning it has both magnitude and direction. For example, if
an object moves from point A to point B, its displacement is the straight-line
distance from A to B in a specified direction. ∆x = xf − xi
Note:
For horizontal straight-line motion, distance traveled of the object is equal to its
displacement.
Velocity (v) – is the rate of change of position. It is also a vector quantity, meaning it
has both magnitude (speed) and direction. Velocity is often expressed as meters per
second (m/s) and includes information about the direction of motion
Acceleration (a) – is the rate of change of velocity per unit of time. Like velocity,
acceleration is a vector quantity. It indicates how quickly an object's velocity is
changing, either by speeding up, slowing down, or changing direction. Acceleration is
commonly measured in meters per second squared (m/s²)
Average velocity – is defined as the particle's displacement Δx divided by the time
interval during which that displacement occurs. total displacement of an object
divided by the total time taken. It gives an overall sense of the object's motion over a
given period. Average velocity is a vector quantity, and its direction may differ from
the object's actual path.

Average speed – total distance travelled divided by the total time interval required
to travel that distance. Unlike velocity, speed is a scalar quantity, meaning it only has
magnitude and no direction. It does not provide information about the direction of
motion, only how fast the object is moving on average.

Instantaneous Velocity – is the velocity at a specific instant of time. It is calculated

by finding the derivative of the object's position function with respect to time.
Instantaneous velocity gives the object's speed and direction at a single moment.

Instantaneous Acceleration – is the acceleration at a specific instant of time. It is

calculated by finding the derivative of the object's velocity function with respect to
time. Instantaneous acceleration gives the rate at which the object's velocity is
changing at a particular moment.
Free Fall
We do not necessarily refer to an object dropped from rest. A freely falling object is
an object moving freely under the influence of gravity alone, regardless of its initial
motion.
A free falling object is an object that is falling under the sole influence of gravity. Any
object that is being acted upon only by the force of gravity is said to be in a state of
free fall. There are two important motion characteristics that are true of free-falling
objects:
Free-falling objects do not encounter air resistance.
All free-falling objects (on Earth) accelerate downwards at a rate of 9.8 m/s/s
(often approximated as 10 m/s/s for back-of-the-envelope calculations)
QUESTION:
If two objects of different mass are dropped from the same height at the same time,
ignoring air resistance, which will hit the ground first, the more or the less massive
object?
Galilei Galileo - Leaning Tower of Pisa Experiment
He dropped two spheres of different masses from
the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa because he
wanted to demonstrate that the objects would fall
at the same rate independent of their masses.
Indeed, the two spheres hit the ground at the same
time.
David Scott performed a version of the experiment
on the Moon during the Apollo 15 mission in 1971.
Projectile Motion
Projectile motion is the motion of an object thrown (projected) into the air when,
after the initial force that launches the object, air resistance is negligible and the only
other force that object experiences is the force of gravity. The object is called
projectile, and its path is called its trajectory.
Projectile problems can be solved easily if air resistance is negligible.
One simply considers the motion to consists two independent parts:
horizontal and vertical motion.
x-comp: ax = 0,
y-comp: ay = −g = −9.8 m/s
Rotational Motion
▪▪ The Earth rotates around its axis
The blades of a fan
▪▪ The motion of a tire on a moving vehicle
Rotating wind turbine
▪▪ Motion of Ferris wheel
Rotating satellite

Rotational Kinematics
Investigates laws of motion of objects along circular path without any reference to force
that cause the motion to change.
Angular displacement (θ) – is usually expressed in radians, degrees or in revolutions.
1 rev = 360° = 2π rad
One radian is the angle subtended at the center of a circle by an arc equal in length of the
radius of the circle. The radian measure of an angle is a dimensionless number.
Angular speed (ω) – of an object whose axis of rotation is fixed is the rate at which its
angular displacement changes with time. (rad/s , rev/s , rpm or rev/min)
Angular acceleration (α) – of an object whose axis of rotation is fixed is the rate at which its
angular speed changes with time.
Forces
It is hard to define force with a single statement. It is better understood by considering
the different aspects about it as a physical quantity:
Force is exerted either as a push or a pull.
In many systems, force is exerted by one body to another through contact
(contact force), but force can be exerted without the bodies in contact (non-
contact force).
Force is a vector quantity
Any force acting on a body can be replaced by its components.
Any number of forces acting on a body can be replaced by a single force which is
the vector sum or the resultant of the forces.
Mass is the amount of matter, which a certain body, contains. It is a scalar quantity that
remains constant wherever it is.
Weight is the magnitude of the gravitational force acting on the object. Weight is always
directed towards the earth.
w = mg

Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation

States that every particle in the universe attracts every other particle with a force
that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance between them.

Derivation of g (acceleration due to gravity)

Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion
States that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting
on it and inversely proportional to its mass.

Circular Motion