Week 3 Engineering Physics

Lecture 3 – Engineering Physics
Dr. Danyal Mahmood

What we have studied so far
• What is Physics?
• Measurements & S.I Units
• Motion in a straight line
• Position and Displacement
• Average and Instantaneous Velocity and Speed
• Acceleration
• Free-Fall Acceleration
• Graphical Integration in Motion Analysis
• Constant Acceleration: A Special Case
Today’s Lecture: Vector (Chapter 3)
1. Adding Vectors Geometrically
2. Components of Vectors
3. Unit Vectors
4. Adding Vectors by Components
5. Multiplying Vectors
What is Physics?
Physics deals with a great many quantities that have both size and
direction, and it needs a special mathematical language—the language of
vectors—to describe those quantities.
• 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.
Vectors and Scalars
• Vector: A vector has magnitude as well as direction, and vectors follow certain (vector) rules of
combination, which we examine in this chapter. 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.
• Scalars: 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, and we deal with them
by the rules of ordinary algebra. A single value, with a sign (as in a temperature of 40°F), specifies a
scalar.
Adding Vectors Graphically
 
s a  b
General procedure for adding two vectors
graphically: 
• (1) On paper, sketch vector a

a to some
convenient scale and at the proper angle.

• (2) Sketch vector b to the same scale,
with its tail at the head of vector , again at
the proper angle.

• (3) The vector sum s is the vector that
 
extends from the tail of a to the head b
of .
Examples
Two important properties of vector additions
(1) Commutative law:

 
a  b b  a
(2) Associative law:


(a  b )  c a  (b  c )
Subtraction

d a  b a  ( b )
Check Your Understanding
Two vectors, A and B, are added by means of vector addition to
give a resultant vector R: R=A+B. The magnitudes of A and B are
3 and 8 m, but they can have any orientation. What is
(a) the maximum possible value for the magnitude of R?
(b) the minimum possible value for the magnitude of R?

Unit Vectors
The unit vectors are dimensionless vectors that
point in the direction along a coordinate axis
that is chosen to be positive
How to describe a two-dimension vector?
Vector Components:The projection of a vector on an axis

is called its component .
ax a cos  a y a sin 
  
a ax  a y ax i  a y j
Properties of vector component
• The vector components of the vector
depend on the orientation of the axes used
as a reference.
• A scalar is a mathematical quantity whose

value does not depend on the orientation of
a coordinate system. The magnitude of a
vector is a true scalar since it does not
change when the coordinate axis is rotated.
However, the components of vector (Ax, Ay)
and (Ax′, Ay′), are not scalars.
• It is possible for one of the components of a

vector to be zero. This does not mean that
the vector itself is zero, however. For a
vector to be zero, every vector
component must individually be zero.
• Two vectors are equal if, and only if, they

have the same magnitude and direction
Example 1 Finding the Components of a
Vector
A displacement vector r has

a magnitude of r
175 m and points at an
angle of 50.0° relative to
the x axis in Figure. Find
the x and y components
of this vector.
Reconstructing a Vector from Components

Magnitude: a  ax2  a y2
 ay 
1
Direction:  tan  
 ax 
Addition of Vectors by Means of
Components
 
C A  B
q
=
 tan  1 (C y / C x )
Check Your Understanding
• Two vectors, A and B, have vector components that are
shown (to the same scale) in the first row of drawings.
Which vector R in the second row of drawings is the vector
sum of A and B?
Example 2 The Component Method of Vector Addition
A jogger runs 145 m in a

direction 20.0° east of north
(displacement vector A) and
then 105 m in a direction
35.0° south of east
(displacement vector B).
Determine the magnitude
and direction of the resultant
vector C for these two
displacements.
Multiplying and Dividing a Vector by a Scalar
    
eV e(Vx  Vy ) e(Vx i  Vy j ) (eVx )i  (eVy ) j
The Scalar Product of Vectors
(dot product )
•The dot product is a scalar.

•If the angle between two
vectors is 0°, dot product is
maximum
•If the angle between two
vectors is 90°, dot product is
zero
The commutative law
Example
What is the angle between
and?
The Vector Product (cross product )
 
c a b
(1) Cross production (3) Direction is
is a vector determined by
right-hand rule
(2) Magnitude is
c ab sin 
Property of vector cross product
• The order of the vector multiplication is important.
If two vectors are parallel or anti-parallel, .
If two vectors are perpendicular to each other , the

magnitude of their cross product is maximum.
Sample Problem
In Fig. 3-22, vector

lies in the xy plane, has a
magnitude of 18 units
and points in a direction
250° from the +x
direction. Also, vector
has a magnitude of 12
units and points in the +z
direction. What is the
vector product
?
Sample Problem
If and , what
is ?
When two vectors are in unit-vector notation, we can find their cross product by using the
distributive law.
Summary
• Scalars and Vectors
• Adding Vectors Geometrically
• Components of a Vector
• Unit-Vector Notation
• Adding Vectors in Component Form
• Product of a Scalar and a Vector
• The Scalar Product
• The Vector Product

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Lecture 3 – Engineering Physics

Dr. Danyal Mahmood

• Vectors and Scalars

(1) Commutative law:

(2) Associative law:

(a) the maximum possible value for the magnitude of R?

(b) the minimum possible value for the magnitude of R?

Vector Components:The projection of a vector on an axis

• A scalar is a mathematical quantity whose

• It is possible for one of the components of a

• Two vectors are equal if, and only if, they

A displacement vector r has

A jogger runs 145 m in a

•The dot product is a scalar.

If two vectors are parallel or anti-parallel, .

If two vectors are perpendicular to each other , the

In Fig. 3-22, vector

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