VECTOR ALGEBRA

Some quantities that you have studied in your earlier Physics Courses

volume mass density energy pressure

displacement velocity acceleration torque electric field

Scalar Quantities
A scalar is a number which defines

a magnitude.
It does not point to any direction in space.

Examples: mass, volume, speed, density,

temperature, energy, electrical potential and charge.

50 kg

40 C

What are vectors ?

i. A vector has a both a magnitude and a direction.
ii. It must satisfy the parallelogram law of addition.
A physical quantity which has both a magnitude and a direction is represented by a vector. Examples: moment of inertia, acceleration, force, velocity, displacement, momentum, magnetic induction, magnetic and electric intensities.

Examples
B

A Displacement

Electric Field

Vector Notation
Vectors are written as a symbol with an arrow over the symbol

x, F, v, a
Magnitude of a vector quantity can be written as: a

Representation
A vector is represented by an arrow. The arrow points direction of the vector. in the

The length of the arrow represents the magnitude of the vector quantity.

11 mA 5 mA 5 mA

2 mA 6 mA 6 mA

Addition of Vectors
Triangle Law c=a+b c b b

a
Head-to-tail

Addition of Vectors
a c=b+a c c

Commutative Law

Addition of Vectors (contd.)

a c b b c

b a

a
c=a+b

Parallelogram Law

Addition of Vectors (contd.) Head-to-tail c d b a b c e e d f a f = a + b + c + d +e

Addition of Vectors (contd.) c

b c a

b a

e (a b ) c

Addition of Vectors (contd.) Associative Law a

b c a d c e

e b

e a (b c )

Subtraction of Vectors a
-b b c

a
c = a b = a +( b)

ADDITION OF VECTORS (CONTD.) Can be manipulated as in usual algebra

c=ab

a=b+c

Vectors are geometrical objects independent of any coordinate system

Let us look for a convenient description !

2D Cartesian Coordinates
Look a two dimensional vector in a 2D Cartesian Coordinate System
Y

y2 ay y1
O

a
X

x1 ax

x2

2D Cartesian Coordinates (contd.)

Y

ay
O

ay
X

ax ax

a = ax2 + ay2 ax=x2 x1= a cos ay=y2 y1= a cos

2D Cartesian Coordinates (contd.)

Could I then say that the set of

numbers (ax , ay ) is a complete

description of the vector a ?

Both the magnitude and the direction of a are completely specified by ax & ay

2D Cartesian Coordinates (contd.)

Y

Unit vectors: i , j

ay
O

a
X

Components: ax , ay

ax

a = a x i + ay j

Direction cosines: cos , cos

More on Direction cosines

The direction cosines of a vector are not independent. They satisfy the following relation:
cos cos
2 2 2

ay ax 2 2 a a 1

VECTOR COMPONENTS
Resolving a vector : The process of finding the components of the vector.

Coordinate System

Component of a vector
The component of the vector along an axis is its projection along that axis
y

ay

ax
O

3D Cartesian System
k
j i
Z

az

ay
ax
O Y

3D Cartesian System (contd.)

Direction Cosines

a = a x i + ay j + az k a = ax2 + ay2 + az2 ax=x2 x1= a cos ay=y2 y1= a cos az=z2 z1= a cos cos cos cos

3D Cartesian System(contd.)
The direction cosines satisfy the following relation:
cos cos cos
2 2 2 2

ay az ax 2 2 2 a a a 1

Unit Vectors
Magnitude = 1 Indicates direction only

a=aa

a= i + 6 j+ k a = 12 + 62 +12 = 38

a = a /a

a= i + 6 j+ k 38

Addition of Vectors (contd.) b a

a = ax i + ay j + a z k b = bx i + by j + b z k c=a+b
= (ax + bx ) i + (ay + by ) j + (az + bz ) k = cx i + cy j + c z k cx = (ax + bx ) cy = (ay + by ) cz = (az + bz )

Examples

a = 4i + 3 j + 2 k
b=3 i -2 j+ k

c=a+b
c=a- b

c=7 i + j+3 k
c= i + 5 j+ k

Examples
y
0.2 Km

R
1.5 Km

d
0.8 Km

d = 0.8 j + 0.2 i + 1.5 j = 0.2 i + 2.3 j

x

SUMMARY
A physical quantity which has both a magnitude and a direction is represented by a vector A geometrical representation An analytical description: components Can be resolved into components along any three directions which are non planar.

Vector operations:
1. Addition and subtraction of two vectors:

Addition: By placing tail of B at the head of A, the sum vector (R), A+B is drawn from the tail of A to the head of B
A R B

R A B

Subtraction: By placing tail of B at the head of A, the resultant vector (R), A-B is drawn from the tail of B to the head of A
B A R

R A B

Addition is commutative: A B B A Already discussed

2. Multiplication by a scalar: multiplication is distributive.

Scalar

a ( A B ) aA aB
If a is negative, the direction is reversed.
3. Scalar Product or Dot product of two vectors: is a scalar quantity. A.B AB cos where is the angle they form when placed tail to tail.

 Dot product is Commutative: A.B B. A

Dot product is also distributive:

A.( B C ) A.B A.C

Physical Significance of A.B : is the product of A times the projection of Balong A or the product of B times the Aprojection of B along.

Let two vectors are parallel:

A.B AB

Let two vectors are perpendicular: A.B 0

4. Cross product of two vectors is itself a vector: A B AB sin n here n is a unit vector pointing perpendicular to the plane of A and B

The direction of n can be found by right hand rule: If fingers point in the direction of
the first vector and curl around toward the second, the thumb gives the direction of n.

The cross product is distributive:

A ( B C ) ( A B) ( A C )

The cross product is not commutative:

( A B ) ( B A)

Cross product gives the area of the parallelogram generated by A and B

Vector algebra: Component form

, y and z Let x be unit vectors parallel to the x, y, and z axes respectively.

Any vector A can be expanded in terms of these basic vectors, with Ax, Ay and Az are components of A:
Ay y Az z A Ax x

Here, Ax, Ay and Az are the projections of A along the three coordinate axes.

Rule 1: To components.

add

vectors,

add

like

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

( Ay By ) y ( Az Bz ) z ( Ax Bx ) x

Rule 2: To multiply by a scalar, multiply each component.

(aAy ) y (aAz ) z A (aAx ) x

Rule 3: To calculate the dot product, multiply like components, and add.
Ay y Az z By y Bz z ).( Bx x ) A.B ( Ax x Ax Bx Ay By Az Bz
. x x . y x . y z .z 1 Because x y are mutually , y and z . y x . z 0 perpendicular unit vectors. x

Rule 4: To calculate the cross product, form , y , z ,whose the determinant whose first row is x second row is A (in component form), and whose third row is B.