3

Description of Motion in
Two and Three Dimensions
AIEEE Syllabus
Scalars and Vectors, Vector addition and Subtraction, Zero Vector,
Scalar and Vector products, Unit Vector, Resolution of a Vector. Relative
Velocity, Motion in a plane, Projectile Motion, Uniform Circular Motion.

CHAPTER
THIS CHAPTER
COVERS :

SCALARS AND VECTORS

Scalars
Scalars are physical quantities which are completely described by their
magnitude only. For example: mass, length, time, temperature energy etc.

Vectors
Vectors are those physical quantities having both magnitude as well as
direction and they obeys vector algebra (eg. parallelogram law or triangle law
of vector addition). For example: displacement, velocity, acceleration, force,
momentum, impulse, electric field intensity etc.

TYPES OF VECTOR

Scalars and
Vectors

Types of Vector

Vector Addition

Vector Subtraction

Resolution of
Vectors

Scalar and Vector

product

Relative Motion

Projectile Motion

Circular Motion

Axial and Polar Vectors

Vectors, which have some starting point or point of application are called polar
vectors. E.g., displacement, force but those vectors representing rotational
effects and are always along the axis of rotation in accordance with right
hand screw rule are axial vectors.
E.g., angular velocity, angular acceleration, angular displacement, torque etc.
Unit Vector : A vector having unit magnitude is called a unit vector. Thus, unit

V
vector of a vector V is V
= V where | V | = V = Magnitude of V .
V
|V |
i, j and k are unit v ectors along x, y and z axis respectiv ely..
| i | | j | | k | 1 .

Unit vector along a direction is unique and have no unit.

Coplanar vectors are vectors lying in same plane.
I

J
I and J are in the plane of paper so they are Coplaner
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AIEEE/State CETs

Description of Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

Collinear vectors are vectors having common line of action. These are of two types
(i)

Parallel or like (angle between them is 0)

A
B
A and B are parallel vectors ( = 0)
Parallel vectors having equal magnitude are known as equal vectors
(ii)

Antiparallel or unlike (angle between them is 180).

C
D
C and D are antiparallel vectors (q = 180)

Antiparallel vectors of equal megnitude are known as negative vectors of each other.

Null vector ( 0 ) : Two opposite vectors added to form a null vector it has zero magnitude. If A and B are

two negative vectors then A B 0 vector

VECTOR ADDITION
1.

Triangle Law of Vector Addition : If a and b are two vectors represented as sides of a triangle in

same order then other side c in opposite order is the resultant.

c=a

+b

b
a
2.

Polygon Law : If a number of vectors are represented as sides of a polygon in same order then the
side which closes the polygon in opposite order in the resultant.

b
a

Vector addition obeys commutative law ( A B B A ) and associative law ( A B ) C = A (B C )

3.

Parallelogram Law of Vector Addition : If two vectors having common origin are represented both in
magnitude and direction as the two adjacent sides of a parallelogram, then the diagonal which originates
from the common origin represents the resultant of these two vectors. The result are listed below:
(a)

R AB.

(b)

| R | ( A 2 B 2 2 AB cos )1 / 2

B sin
A sin
, tan
A B cos
B A cos

(c)

tan

(d)

If | A | | B | x (say) , then R = x 2(1 cos ) = 2 x cos

and
i.e., resultant bisect
2
2

angle between A and B .

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Description of Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

AIEEE/State CETs

(e)

If | A | | B | then <

(f)

Rmax = A + B, when = 0 and Rmin = |A B| when = 180.

(g)

R 2 A 2 B 2 , if = 90 i.e., A and B are perpendicular..

(h)

If | A | | B | | R | then = 120.

(i)

If R is perpendicular to A , then cos

(j)

A
and A2 + R2 = B2.
B

360
, the resultant
For n equal vectors acting at a point such that angle between them are equal
n
is zero.

VECTOR SUBTRACTION
Subtraction of vector B from vector A is simply addition of vector B with A i.e., A B A ( B )
Using parallelogram law

( )

Result : R = | A B | A 2 B 2 2 A cos , tan

A
AB

B sin
B sin

A B cos( ) A B cos

Note : If | A | | B | x (say) , then R = x 2(1 cos ) = 2 x sin

.
2

RESOLUTION OF VECTORS
Any vector V can be represented as a sum of two vectors P and Q which are in same plane as
V P Q , where and are two real numbers. We say that V has been resolved in two component

vector P and Q along P and Q respectively..

Rectangular components in two dimensions :

V V x V y , V V x i V y j , V Vx2 Vy2

V
V x and V y are rectangular component of vector in 2-dimension.

Vy

Vx = V cos
Vy = V sin = V cos(90 )
Vz = zero.

V V cos i V sin j

X
Vx

Note : Unit vector along V cos i sin j

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AIEEE/State CETs

Description of Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

Rectangular Component in Three Dimension :

A vector V is in a space which is making , and with x-axis, y-axis and z-axis respectively..

V Vx Vy Vz
2

Vy

| V | ( V x V y V z ) 2

V V x i V y j V z k

Vx V cos cos l

Vx
V

Vy V cos cos m

Vz V cos cos n

V
Vx

Vz

Vy

Vz
V

V V cos i V cos j v cos k

l, m, n are called direction cosines of vector V .

l 2 m 2 n 2 cos 2 cos2 cos 2 1, sin 2 sin 2 sin 2 2.

Unit vector along V l i mj nk cos i cos j cos k .

SCALAR AND VECTOR PRODUCTS

Scalar (dot) Product of Two Vectors : The scalar product of two vectors a and b is defined as

a . b ab cos

b
a.b
cos
ab

If a and b are perpendicular, then a . b 0

If < 90 , then a . b 0 and if a . b 0 , then > 90.

Projection of vector a on b is (a . b )

b
b2

a2 a .a

i . i j . j k . k 1.

Scalar product is commutative i.e., a . b b . a .

Vector Product of two Vectors :

A B

A B

Mathematically, if is the angle between vectors A and B , then

(i)

A B AB sin n

The direction of vector A B is the same as that

of unit vector n . It is decided by any of the following two rules :

(a)

B A

(b)

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Description of Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

(a)

AIEEE/State CETs

Right handed screw rule : Rotate a right handed screw from vector A to B through the smaller angle

between them; then the direction of motion of screw gives the direction of vector A B (Fig. a)
(b)

Right hand thumb rule : Bend the finger of the right hand in such a way that they point in the direction

of rotation from vector A to B through the smaller angle between them; then the thumb points in the

direction of vector A B (Fig. b)

Some Important Points :
1.

The cross product of the two vectors does not obey commutative law. As discussed above

A B (B A) i .e., A B (B A)
2.

The cross product follows the distributive law i.e.,

A (B C ) A B A C
3.

The cross product of a vector with itself is a NULL vector i.e.,

A A ( A) ( A) sin 0 n 0
4.

The cross product of two vectors represents the area of the parallelogram formed by them,
(Figure., shows a parallelogram PQRS whose adjacent sides PQ and PS are represented by vectors

A and B respectively..

Now, area of parallelogram = QP SM = QPAB sin Because, the magnitude of vectors A B is AB

sin , hence cross product of two vectors represents the area of parallelogram formed by it. It is worth

noting that area vector A B acts along the perpendicular to the plane of two vectors A and B .
5.

In case of unit vectors i, j, k, we obtain following two important properties:

(a) i i j j k k (1) (1) sin 0 (n ) 0
(b) i j (1) (1) sin 90 (k ) k
where, k is a unit vector perpendicular to the plane of i and j in a direction in which a right hand
screw will advance, when rotated from i to j
Also, j i (1) (1) sin 90 ( k ) k
Similarly, j k k j i and k i i k j

6.

Cross product of two vectors in terms of their rectangular components :

A B ( Ax i Ay j Az k ) (Bx i By j Bz k )
( Ay B z Az B y ) i ( Az B x Ax Bz ) j ( Ax By Ay B x ) k

Ax
Bx

Ay
By

Az
Bz

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AIEEE/State CETs

7.

Description of Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

Multiplication of a vector A with a real number m

If m is positive real number then a parallel vector is obtained having magnitude m times the magnitude of A

If m is negative real number then antiparallel vector is obtained having magnitude m times the magnitude
of A
8.

If angle between A and B is , then angle between A and B or between A and B is (180 ).

RELATIVE MOTION IN TWO DIMENSIONS

Relative velocity :

Velocity of object A w.r.t. object B is v AB v A v B , v BA v B v A

1.

Direction of Umbrella : A person moving one straight road has to hold his umbrella opposite ot direction
of relative velocity of rain. The angle is given by tan

vM
with vertical in forward direction.
vR

Umbrella
vRM
vR
vM

2.

vR

vM

Closest approach : Two objects A and B having velocities vA and v B at separation x are shown in
figure

vA

vB

B
x

-vB

The relative velocity of A with respect to B is given by

v AB v A v B

tan

vAB

vA

vA
vB

-vB

The above situation is similar to figure given below

Now, sin

(D
ire
c
of tio
A no
w. f m
r.t o
. B ti
) on

y is the distance of closest approach.

y
x

y = x sin
y

x tan
1 tan 2

vAB

xVA

VB2 V A2

v=0
B

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Description of Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

AIEEE/State CETs

3. Crossing a river :
v = velocity of the man in still water.

= angle of which man swims w.r.t. normal to bank such that

vx = v sin , vy = v cos
Time taken to cross the river is given by t

d
d

v y v cos

d
v cos

v sin A

Velocity along the river

v x u v sin

Distance drifted along the river D t v x

D

d
(u v sin )
v cos

Case I :
The Minimum time to cross the river is given by
min

d
v

(whencos = 1, = 0, u v)

Distance drifted is given by

D

d
u
v

Case II :
v

To cross the riven straight

drift D = 0 u v sin = 0
sin

u
v

v -u

(v > u)

Time to cross the river straight across is given by

t

d
d

2
v cos
v u2

PROJECTILE MOTION
An object moving in space under the influence of gravity is called projectile. Two important cases of interest
are discussed below :
1. Horizontal projection :
A body of mass m is projected horizontally with a speed u from a height h at the moment t = 0. The path
followed by it is a parabola.

It hits the ground at the moment t = T, with a velocity v such that

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AIEEE/State CETs

Description of Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

2H
g

t=0

v u 2 2gH ui gTj

x-axix

y
t = t0

y-axix

The position at any instant t0 is given by

x = ut0
y
y

1 2
gt 0
2
gx

t=T
v

2u 2

The velocity at any instant t0 is given by

v 0 ui gt 0 j

2. Oblique projection : A body of mass m is projected from ground with speed u at an angle above
horizontal at the moment t = 0.
It hits the ground at a horizontal distance R at the moment t = T.
T
t= 2

uy
u

t=0

u cos = ux

ux
2u y

R
2u sin
g

1. Time of flight

2. Maximum height

3. Horizontal range

R u x T

u y2
2g

t=T

u 2 sin2
2g

4. Equation of trajectory; y x tan

2u x u y

u 2 sin 2
g

gx 2
2

2u cos 2

or y x tan 1
R

5. Instantaneous velocity v u 2 (gt )2 2u(gt ) sin

and direction of motion is such that, tan tan

gt
u cos

u cos
[ Horizontal component is same every where]
cos

(a)

(b)

v sin = u sin gt

v sin

v cos

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Description of Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

AIEEE/State CETs

When v (velocity at any instant t) is perpendicular to u (initial velocity)

(c)

= 90

(i)

(ii)

u cos
u cot
cos(90 )

u
g sin

Applications :
1. The height attained by the particle is largest when = 90. In this situation, time of flight is maximum
and range is minimum (zero).
2. The horizontal range is same for complimentary angles like (, 90 ) or (45 + , 45 ). It is maximum
for = 45.
3. When horizontal range is maximum, H

Rmax
4

4. When R is range, T is time of flight and H is maximum height, then

(a) tan

gT 2
2R

(b) tan

4H
R

5. If A and B are two points at same level such that the object passes A at t = t1 and B at T = t2, then
y

t = t1

t = t2

t=T
x

t=0

(i)

(ii) h

2u sin
t1 t 2
g
1
gt1t 2
2

(iii) Average velocity in the interval AB is

vav = ucos [ vertical displacement is zero]

CIRCULAR MOTION
An object of mass m is moving on a circular track of radius r. At t = 0, it was at A. At any moment of time
t, it has moved to B, such that AOB . Let its speed at this instant be v and direction is along the tangent.
In a small time dt, it moves to B such that BOB d .
The angular displacement vector is d dk
d
The angular velocity vector is
k.
dt
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AIEEE/State CETs

Description of Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

At B, the speed of the object has become v + dv.

The tangential acceleration is at

v+dv
B

dv
dt

B
d

The radial (centripetal acceleration) is ac

The angular acceleration is

v
2 r
r

d
dt

Relations among various quantities.

1. v r
2.

dv dr d
a

r ac at
dt
dt dt

3.

ac v

4.

at r

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