Chapter 1

VECTOR
 VECTOR

Concept
- Unit Vector
- Position Vector
- Scalar Multiplication, Application of Vectors
addition and
subtraction - Area of parallelogram
- Scalar Product - Angle between two lines
- Vector Product - Point of intersection of
two lines
- Vector and Cartesian
equations of a line
- Vector and Cartesian
equation of a plane
Introduction to Vector
 A vector is a quantity that has both
magnitude and a direction in space.

 A scalar is a quantity having only

magnitude.

 Vector denoted by a single lower case bold

letter, p or lower case and underline it (i.e.
p) or by putting an arrow above the letter


OP
 Exercises
 Determine whether the following is a vector
or scalar.
a) The distance between P and Q is 200m.
b) The volume of the prism is 65cm3.
c) The time taken to run round the block was 184s.
d) A man walks 2 km on a bearing of 062o.
e) A horizontal force of 3 N was applied at right
angles to the length of the book.
f) The velocity of the airplane is 800 km/h on a
bearing 158o.
 Directed Line segment

 Vector represented by a directed line segment.

Direction of vectors
B

AB
End point of directed line
A segment

 The arrow represents the direction from A

to B, and
 The length of the line represents the
magnitude of the vector.
Component
 A vector may be represented by its
component, which we write it column.
 Example
 2
a=   is vector in two dimensions
 3

 4 
b=  
  3 is vector in three dimensions
 1 
 

 Zero Vectors
◦ Any vector with all its components zero.
0
◦ Can be written as 0 =  
0
0
 
MAGNITUDE
 The modulus of a vector is its magnitude.

 Simply the length of the vector

 The modulus of the vector PQ is denoted by



the symbols | PQ |.


 The modulus of the vector a is written |a|.

 MAGNITUDE
 It can be calculated as follows

 

a
if PQ    then PQ  a2  b2
b

a


  

if PQ   b  then PQ  a2  b2  c2
c
 
Distance in Three Dimensions
The distance between the points A and B

is dAB = AB

The distance d between the point

x1 , y1 , z1  and x2 , y2 , z 2 
d x2  x1  2

 y 2  y1 
2
 ( z 2  z1 ) 2 units
exercise
Example
 5 
  12 
1. Given 𝐴𝐵=   , find |𝐴𝐵|
8 

 5
 
2. Find the magnitude of a =  6 
 
 3 
 Equality of Vectors
B

 Vectors are said to be equal D

only if: A
F
◦ They have the same magnitude C
H
and direction.
E
G

a and b are equal  a and b have the same direction and a  b .

 Equality of Vectors
 Example:
Figure shows parallelogram E D

ABDE and BCDE,

A B C

◦ The directed line segment AB, BC , and ED

have same magnitude and direction, therefore,
AB  BC  ED

◦ ED and DE have same magnitude but

different direction, therefore, ED  DE
 Negative Vectors
B
 The directed line segment
D
AB and CD are equal length but
A
in opposite directions.
C

o The vectors AB and CD are negative vectors

of each other and we write:
a  b  a and b are in opposite direction and a  b .

AB  CD or CD   AB
 Using negative vector,
◦ Example 1: B
BA  BO  OA
 
  OB  OA b

 b  a
 a b O A
a
 Addition of Vectors
Triangle Law of Vector Addition R
◦ In the triangle PQR, the vectors are
related as follows:

𝑃𝑄 P Q
 Let be the displacement from P to Q,
𝑄𝑅 be the displacement from Q to R, and

𝑃𝑅 be the displacement from P to R.

 In physical situation, the displacement 𝑃𝑄followed by the 𝑄𝑅

displacement , is the displacement 𝑃𝑅 and we write:
PQ  QR  PR

 This process of adding the two vectors using the triangle PQR is
known as the triangle law of addition.
Test yourself

1) Simplify :
a) AB  BC  CF

b)
PQ  ST  QS  TU
c)
AC  FC  HF
d)
PQ  QR  QS  RQ
 Addition of Vectors
2) Parallelogram Law of Vector Addition
◦ Refer to the parallelogram ABCD.

C D
v u+v

A u B
◦ Let the two vectors be the two sides of a parallelogram,
which starts at the same initial point, as in the figure above.
◦ Then the sum of u+v is the diagonal of the parallelogram.
◦ Note: v = AC = BD, therefore u+v = AB + BD = AD
◦ This process of adding and using the parallelogram ABCD is
known as the Parallelogram law. (same as the triangle law
for addition.
Exercise
ABCD is a parallelogram with 𝐵𝐶 = 𝒎,
𝐵𝐴 = 𝒏. T is the midpoint of AD. Express
𝐴𝐶 , 𝐵𝐷 and 𝐵𝑇 in term of m and n.
Exercise
 O, A, B, C and D are 5 points with 𝑂𝐴 =
𝒂, 𝑂𝐵 = 𝒃, 𝑂𝐶 = 2𝒂 − 3𝒃 and 𝑂𝐷 =
5𝒂 − 𝒃. Find 𝐴𝐵, 𝐵𝐶,𝐴𝐶, 𝐶𝐷 and 𝐷𝐵 in
terms of a and b.
Algebraic Properties of Vector
 Vector addition, vector subtraction and
scalar multiplication are operations
involving algebraic properties similar to
real numbers.
Example
2 5
 Given vector 𝑂𝐴 = 1 and 𝑂𝐵 = 2 .
3 4
Find the vector 𝐴𝐵.
 Cartesian components of a vector in 3D

◦ If Vector P has coordinates (x, y, z) in a

Cartesian plane, then the position vector of P
can be written as OP = P. z
P (x, y, z)
 Coordinates
 Row vector: p = (x, y, z). y

 Column vector:
 x O
p   y 
x
z 
 
• In term of basic vector:
𝒑 = 𝑥𝒊 + 𝑦𝒋 + 𝑧𝒌
 Unit vector

Where i , j and z are unit vectors in the positive

direction along the x-axis and the y-axis respectively.

The magnitude of the vector P,

Exercise
Find unit vector of 𝑃𝑄 = 2𝑖 + 5𝑗 + 7𝑧.
Exercise
Given that a = 2i – 6j + 3k and b= – i +7j –
5k, find
a) ‫ ׀‬a-b‫׀‬
b) 2a + 3b
c) a unit vector in the direction of 2a – b.
Exercise
1. The position vectors of points A and B are a and
b respectively. Calculate the distance between A
and B of each the following.
(a) a = i – j ; b = 2i + j -2k
(b) a = 6i -2j +2k ; b=-i + 2j +6k
(c) a = 2i-2j+k ; b= 3i+2j-3k

2. A(2, 0, 3), B(1, -2, 1) and C(-1, 2, 2) are vertices of

a triangle. Find the vectors AB, BC and AC.
Hence calculate the lengths of the sides of the
triangle.
Exercise
1. If a=2i+4j-5k, b=i-3j+4k and c=5i-2k.
Find
(a) a + b + c
(b) a – c
(c) 2(b - 3c)
Exercise
 The point A and B have position vectors
by a=2i-j+3k and b=4i+3j-k respectively
a) Find the vector b – a
b) Calculate the distance between A and B
c) Find a unit vector in the direction of vector
b – a.
Exercise
ABCD is a trapezium with BC parallel to
AD. If AB= a, BC= b, BC = 1/3AD and E
is the mid point of BC, find, in terms of a
and b:
(a) CD
(b) AE
(c) DB
(d) DE
Exercise
In the figure, OA= a, OB = b and C divides AB in the ratio 5:1
(a) Write down, in terms of a and b, expressions for AB, AC and OC .
(b) Given that OE= λb, where λ is a scalar. Write down, in terms of a, b
and λ, an expression for CE .
(c) Given that OD= μ (b – a), where μ is a scalar. Write down, in terms
of a, b, λ and μ, an expression for ED.
(d) Given also that E is the mid-point of CD. Deduce the values of λ and
μ.

C
A B

O D
 Parallel vectors

 From scalar multiplication of vector,

◦ If two vectors a and b are parallel then one is a scalar
multiple of the other, that is:
a  b
 If  is positive then a is in the same direction as b.
 If  is negative then a is in the opposite direction to
b.
a
a
or
b
b
 Non-parallel vectors
 If a and b are not parallel and
a + b = a + b, where , , ,  are
scalars, then:
◦ a - a = b - b
( - )a = ( - )b
◦ ( - )  ( - ) since a and b are not parallel.
except when  -  = 0 and  -  = 0.
that is:  = , and  = .
a  b  a  b where a and b are non  parallel
    and    .
 Exercise
1. Vector a and b are not parallel.
If (m-3)a=(n-m+1)b, find the values of m
and n?

2. The vectors a and b are not parallel and


 
 
 

    a  (   1) b 7 a  (  2) b
where  and  are scalar. Find the value of
 and 
Exercise
3. Find the value of λ and μ given that a and
b are not parallel:
a) 5a + λb = (6 – μ)a + 7b
b) (8 + λ)a + (μ – 2)b =0
c) 2a + 3b - (λ – 4)a + (2 – μ)b=0
d) (2λ – 3) a + 7b = (5– λ)a + (2 – μ)b
 Collinear points
◦ Figure shows three distinct points, A
A, B, and C.
◦ If A, B, and C lie on a straight line, B
the vectors AB and BC
are parallel. The converse is also C
true.
Hence, we have the following
results:
Three distinct points A, B, and C
are collinear  AB  k BC , where k is a scalar .
Exercise
 If OA = 6a, OB = 3b and OC = 4a + b.
Show that the point A, B and C are
collinear.
Exercise
 A, B, C and D are four points with 𝐴𝐵=3b
𝐴𝐶=6b-3a and 𝐴𝐷=3a. Show that B, C
and D are collinear.