ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT

VECTORS AND FORCES

A vector is a mathematical entity used to describe a physical quantity
having both magnitude and direction. You have probably already taken
courses involving vector addition and multiplication etc. Here we summarize
the important features of vectors that you will need for this course and also
try to organize them so that you dont have so many things to remember.
Elementary treatments of vectors are often based on trigonometric methods, such as triangles and polygons of forces. These can be useful for visualization in two dimensions, but three-dimensional trigonometry is conceptually difficult and almost impossible to represent on the page with intelligable
figures. Also trigonometric methods require you to be familiar with the various trigonometric identities, such as formul for compound angles, the sine
and cosine rules, etc. We can avoid all this by performing all the necessary
operations using algebraic operations rather than trigonometry.

Cartesian vectors
For this purpose, the first step in almost any vector problem will be to write
the vector in terms of its Cartesian components. For example, the vector F
in Cartesian coordinates x, y, z can be written
F = {Fx , Fy , Fz } .

(1)

This notation is easy to write and has the added advantage that it is similar
to the notation used for vectors in linear algebra classes.
The sum of two vectors is obtained by summing the respective Cartesian
components. For example
F + G = {Fx , Fy , Fz } + {Gx , Gy , Gz }
= {(Fx + Gx ), (Fy + Gy ), (Fz + Gz )} .

(2)

The magnitude of a vector |F | is defined by

|F | =

Fx2 + Fy2 + Fz2 .

(3)

Unit vectors
A unit vector is a vector with unit magnitude. Here we shall denote it by the
symbol
e = {ex , ey , ez } .
(4)
It follows from the definition that
|e|2 = e2x + e2y + e2z = 1 .

(5)

However, we use the special notation i, j, k for unit vectors aligned with the
x, y, or z coordinate axes respectively. Notice that with this notation
i = {1, 0, 0} ; j = {0, 1, 0} ;

k = {0, 0, 1} .

(6)

A general vector F can be defined in terms of magnitude and direction

by the product
F = e|F | ,
(7)
where e is a unit vector in the same direction as F . From this equation, we
see that
(
)
Fx Fy Fz
F
=
,
,
.
(8)
e=
|F |
|F | |F | |F |
Another way to represent the vector F is
F = iFx + jFy + kFz .

(9)

Position vectors
A point in space P with Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z) can be defined by a
position vector
r P = {x, y, z} .
(10)
This is a vector with dimensions of length representing a line drawn from
the origin O to P . If another point Q has coordinates (x , y , z ), we can
construct the relative position vector r P Q representing the line drawn from
P to Q, as shown in Figure 1. From this figure, it is clear that
rQ = rP + rP Q .

(11)

Another way to think of this is that if we wanted to go from the O to Q, we

could either go straight to Q (r Q ), or we could go to P first (r P ), and then
from P to Q (r P Q ).
2

From (11), we then have

r P Q = r Q r P = {x , y , z } {x, y, z} = {(x x), (y y), (z z)} . (12)

rPQ
rQ
rP

P
x

O
z
Figure 1

Dot product
The dot product of two vectors F , G is defined as
F G = Fx Gx + Fy Gy + Fz Gz .

(13)

This defines a scalar quantity and hence is also known as the scalar product.
An alternative form is
F G = |F ||G| cos() ,

(14)

where is the angle between the two vectors.

A special case of this equation is the result
e i = cos(x ) ,

(15)

where x is the angle between the unit vector e and the x-axis. Also, since
e i = {ex , ey , ez } {1, 0, 0} = ex ,

(16)

using (13,4,6), we have

ex = cos(x ) .

(17)

Similar results can be established for the y and z-axes, so

e = {cos(x ), cos(y ), cos(z )} .
3

(18)

For this reason, the components ex , ey , ez of the unit vector are sometimes
referred to as direction cosines. Notice that from (5),
cos2 (x ) + cos2 (y ) + cos2 (z ) = 1 ,

(19)

so only two of the three direction cosines can be chosen independently.

Equations (13, 14) are useful for finding the angle between two intersecting lines. For example, if the two lines are represented as (known) relative
position vectors r, s, we have
r s = |r||s| cos() = rx sx + ry sy + rz sz .

(20)

The magnitudes of the two vectors are easily found using (3) after which
equation (20) can be solved for .
Another important use of the dot product is to find the component of a
vector F in a specified direction. If the direction is specified by a known unit
vector e, then the component of F along e is simply
F e.

(21)

Examples
1. A straight bar AB extends from the point A(3, 7, 10) to B(2, 5, 3),
where the coordinates are in meters. Find the coordinates of the
point C on the bar if C is 2 meters from A.
Solution
The coordinates of C can be combined in a position vector r C . We can also
write
r C = r A + r AC ,
where
r A = {3, 7, 10} .
We can also write
r AC = |r AC |eAC ,
where the magnitude |r AC | = 2 meters and that the direction eAC is the
same as that of r AB . In other words, eAC = eAB . For the latter, we have
r AB = r B r A = {2, 5, 3} {3, 7, 10} = {5, 2, 13} ,
4

so the magnitude
|r AB | =

(5)2 + (2)2 + 132 = 14.07 m

and the unit vector in direction AB is

eAB =

{5, 2, 13}
r AB
=
= {0.355, 0.142, 0.924} = eAC .
|r AB |
14.07

Thus
r AC = 2 , eAC = 2{0.355, 0.142, 0.924} = {0.710, 0.282, 1.848} m
and
r C = r A + r AC = {3, 7, 10} + {0.710, 0.282, 1.848}
= {2.290, 6.718, 8.152} m.

2. A rope is attached to the wall at the point P (3, 10, 0), where
coordinates are in meters and the y-direction is vertically upwards.
A man standing at the point Q(5, 0, 8) holds the other end of the
rope. If he pulls on the rope with a force of 100 N, find a vector
description of the force F applied by the rope to the wall. Also,
if the man weighs 600 N, find the component of his weight in the
direction P Q.
Solution
Here, we know the magnitude of F . All we have to do is to find its direction.
As in the first example, we can find a position vector describing the whole
length P Q of the taut rope and hence find a unit vector in the same direction.
We have
r P Q = r Q r P = {5, 0, 8} {3, 10, 0} = {2, 10, 8} .
The magnitude of this vector is
|r P Q | =

22 + (10)2 + 82 = 12.96 m
5

and hence the unit vector

eP Q =

{2, 10, 8}
rP Q
=
= {0.154, 0.772, 0.617} .
|r P Q |
12.96

Thus
F = 100 eP Q = {15.4, 77.2, 61.7} N.
The mans weight is defined by the vector
W = {0, 600, 0} N,
so its component in the direction P Q is obtained from the dot product
W eP Q = {0, 600, 0} {0.154, 0.772, 0.617} = (600)(0.772) = 463.2 N.
The other terms in the dot product are zero.