Part 5 Vectors

32
Vectors
(i) bold print,
32.1 Introduction
(ii) two capital letters with an arrow above them
Some physical quantities are entirely dened by a !
numerical value and are called scalar quantities or to denote the sense of direction, e.g. AB,
scalars. Examples of scalars include time, mass, where A is the starting point and B the end
temperature, energy and volume. Other physical point of the vector,
quantities are dened by both a numerical value (iii) a line over the top of letters, e.g. AB or a
and a direction in space and these are called vector
quantities or vectors. Examples of vectors include (iv) E
letters with an arrow above, e.g. aE, A
force, velocity, moment and displacement.
(v) underlined letters, e.g. a
(vi) xiCjy, where i and j are axes at right-angles
32.2 Vector addition to each other; for example, 3i C 4j means
3 units in the i direction and 4 units in the j
A vector may be represented by a straight line, direction, as shown in Fig. 32.2.
the length of line being directly proportional to the
magnitude of the quantity and the direction of the
line being in the same direction as the line of action j
of the quantity. An arrow is used to denote the 4 A(3,4)
sense of the vector, that is, for a horizontal vector, 3
say, whether it acts from left to right or vice-versa. 2
The arrow is positioned at the end of the vector
and this position is called the nose of the vector. 1
Figure 32.1 shows a velocity of 20 m/s at an angle
O 1 2 3 i
of 45 to the horizontal and may be depicted by
oa D 20 m/s at 45 to the horizontal. Figure 32.2

a  
a
(vii) a column matrix ; for example, the vec-
20 m/s b
o 45 tor OA shown
  in Fig. 32.2 could be repre-
3
sented by
Figure 32.1 4

Thus, in Fig. 32.2,  

To distinguish between vector and scalar quanti- 
! 3
ties, various ways are used. These include: OA  OA  OA  3i C 4j 
4
282 ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS

The one adopted in this text is to denote vector Scale in Newtons

quantities in bold print. Thus, oa represents a vector 0 2 4 6
quantity, but oa is the magnitude of the vector oa.
Also, positive angles are measured in an anticlock- 4N
45
wise direction from a horizontal, right facing line O
7N
and negative angles in a clockwise direction from (a)
this line as with graphical work. Thus 90 is a
line vertically upwards and 90 is a line vertically r 4N R
downwards. 4N 45
The resultant of adding two vectors together, O 45 O
say V1 at an angle 1 and V2 at angle 2 , as 7N a 7N
(b) (c)
shown in Fig. 32.3(a), can be obtained by drawing
oa to represent V1 and then drawing ar to repre-
Figure 32.4
sent V2 . The resultant of V1 Y V2 is given by or.
This is shown in Fig. 32.3(b), the vector equation
being oa Y ar = or. This is called the nose-to-tail respectively. These intersect at R. Vector OR gives
method of vector addition. the magnitude and direction of the resultant of vector
addition and as obtained by the nose-to-tail method
a is 10.2 units long at an angle of 16 to the 7 N
V1 V1
q1 q1
R
force.
r O
q2 O q2
V2 V2
(a) (b) (c)
Problem 2. Use a graphical method to
Figure 32.3 determine the magnitude and direction of the
resultant of the three velocities shown in
Fig. 32.5.
Alternatively, by drawing lines parallel to V1 and
V2 from the noses of V2 and V1 , respectively, and
letting the point of intersection of these parallel lines v2
be R, gives OR as the magnitude and direction
of the resultant of adding V1 and V2 , as shown 15 m/s
in Fig. 32.3(c). This is called the parallelogram 10 m/s v1
method of vector addition. 20
10
v3 7 m/s

Problem 1. A force of 4 N is inclined at an

angle of 45 to a second force of 7 N, both
forces acting at a point. Find the magnitude
of the resultant of these two forces and the
direction of the resultant with respect to the
7 N force by both the triangle and the
parallelogram methods
The forces are shown in Fig. 32.4(a). Although the
7 N force is shown as a horizontal line, it could have
been drawn in any direction.
Using the nose-to-tail method, a line 7 units long
is drawn horizontally to give vector oa in Fig. 32.4(b).
To the nose of this vector ar is drawn 4 units long at
an angle of 45 to oa. The resultant of vector addition
is or and by measurement is 10.2 units long and at
an angle of 16 to the 7 N force.
Figure 32.4(c) uses the parallelogram method
in which lines are drawn parallel to the 7 N and 4 N
forces from the noses of the 4 N and 7 N forces,
Figure 32.5
Often it is easier to use the nose-to-tail method
when more than two vectors are being added. The
order in which the vectors are added is immaterial.
In this case the order taken is v1 , then v2 , then v3 but
just the same result would have been obtained if the
order had been, say, v1 , v3 and nally v2 . v1 is drawn
10 units long at an angle of 20 to the horizontal,
shown by oa in Fig. 32.6. v2 is added to v1 by
drawing a line 15 units long vertically upwards from
a, shown as ab. Finally, v3 is added to v1 C v2 by
drawing a line 7 units long at an angle at 190 from
b, shown as br. The resultant of vector addition is or
and by measurement is 17.5 units long at an angle
of 82 to the horizontal.
Thus v1 Y v2 Y v3 = 17.5 m=s at 82 to the
horizontal.
 VECTORS 283

10
b horizontal into a horizontal and a vertical
r
component
0 2 4 6 810 12
Scale in m/s For a vector A at angle  to the horizontal, the
82
a horizontal component is given by A cos  and the
O 20 vertical component by A sin . Any convention of
signs may be adopted, in this case horizontally
Figure 32.6 from left to right is taken as positive and vertically
upwards is taken as positive.
Horizontal component H D 17 cos 120 D
32.3 Resolution of vectors 8.50 m=s2 , acting from left to right.
A vector can be resolved into two component parts Vertical component V D 17 sin 120 D 14.72 m=s2 ,
such that the vector addition of the component parts acting vertically upwards.
is equal to the original vector. The two components These component vectors are shown in Fig. 32.9.
usually taken are a horizontal component and a
vertical component. For the vector shown as F in +V
Fig. 32.7, the horizontal component is F cos  and 2
the vertical component is F sin . 17 m/s
2
14.72 m/s

F sin q F 120
H +H
q 2
8.50 m/s
F cos q

Figure 32.7
V
For the vectors F1 and F2 shown in Fig. 32.8, the
horizontal component of vector addition is: Figure 32.9

H D F1 cos 1 C F2 cos 2
Problem 4. Calculate the resultant force of
V the two forces given in Problem 1

With reference to Fig. 32.4(a):

Horizontal component of force,
F1 sin q1

F1 F2
F2 sin q2

H D 7 cos 0 C 4 cos 45
q1
q2 D 7 C 2.828 D 9.828 N
F1 cos q2 H

F2 cos q2
Vertical component of force,

V D 7 sin 0 C 4 sin 45
Figure 32.8
D 0 C 2.828 D 2.828 N
and the vertical component of vector addition is:
V D F1 sin 1 C F2 sin 2 The magnitude of the resultant of vector addition
 p
Having obtained H and V, thepmagnitude of the D H2 C V2 D 9.8282 C 2.8282
resultant vector R is given by: H 2 Y V 2 and its p
V D 104.59 D 10.23 N
angle to the horizontal is given by tan1
H The direction of the resultant of vector addition
   
Problem 3. Resolve the acceleration vector 1 V 1 2.828
D tan D tan D 16.05
of 17 m/s2 at an angle of 120 to the H 9.828
284 ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS
Thus, the resultant of the two forces is a single
vector of 10.23 N at 16.05 to the 7 N vector.
Problem 5. Calculate the resultant velocity
of the three velocities given in Problem 2
With reference to Fig. 32.5:
Horizontal component of the velocity,
H D 10 cos 20 C 15 cos 90 C 7 cos 190
D 9.397 C 0 C 6.894 D 2.503 m=s
Vertical component of the velocity,
V D 10 sin 20 C 15 sin 90 C 7 sin 190
D 3.420 C 15 C 1.216 D 17.204 m=s
Magnitude of the resultant of vector addition
 p
D H2 C V2 D 2.5032 C 17.2042
p the vertical. Calculate the tensions in the
D 302.24 D 17.39 m=s
Direction of the resultant of vector addition
   
1 V 1 17.204
D tan D tan
H 2.503
D tan1 6.8734 D 81.72
Thus, the resultant of the three velocities is a
single vector of 17.39 m/s at 81.72 to the hor-
izontal.
Now try the following exercise
Exercise 117 Further problems on vector
addition and resolution
1. Forces of 23 N and 41 N act at a point
and are inclined at 90 to each other. Find,
by drawing, the resultant force and its
direction relative to the 41 N force.
[47 N at 29 ]
2. Forces A, B and C are coplanar and act
at a point. Force A is 12 kN at 90 , B
is 5 kN at 180 and C is 13 kN at 293 .
Determine graphically the resultant force.
[Zero]
3. Calculate the magnitude and direction of
velocities of 3 m/s at 18 and 7 m/s at
115 when acting simultaneously on a
point. [7.27 m/s at 90.8 ]
4. Three forces of 2 N, 3 N and 4 N act as
shown in Fig. 32.10. Calculate the magni-
tude of the resultant force and its direction
relative to the 2 N force.
[6.24 N at 76.10 ]
4N
60
60 3N
2N
Figure 32.10
5. A load of 5.89 N is lifted by two strings,
making angles of 20 and 35 with
strings. [For a system such as this, the
vectors representing the forces form a
closed triangle when the system is in equi-
librium]. [2.46 N, 4.12 N]
6. The acceleration of a body is due to
four component, coplanar accelerations.
These are 2 m/s2 due north, 3 m/s2 due
east, 4 m/s2 to the south-west and 5 m/s2
to the south-east. Calculate the resultant
acceleration and its direction.
[5.7 m/s2 at 310 ]
7. A current phasor i1 is 5 A and horizontal.
A second phasor i2 is 8 A and is at 50
to the horizontal. Determine the resultant
of the two phasors, i1 C i2 , and the angle
the resultant makes with current i1 .
[11.85 A at 31.14 ]
32.4 Vector subtraction
In Fig. 32.11, a force vector F is represented by oa.
The vector .oa / can be obtained by drawing a
vector from o in the opposite sense to oa but having
the same magnitude, shown as ob in Fig. 32.11, i.e.
ob = .oa /.
For two vectors acting at a point, as shown
in Fig. 32.12(a), the resultant of vector addi-
tion is os = oa Y ob. Fig. 32.12(b) shows vectors
ob Y .oa /, that is, ob oa and the vec-
tor equation is ob oa = od. Comparing od
in Fig. 32.12(b) with the broken line ab in
 VECTORS 285

F a Magnitude of

F O a1 Y a2 D 2.132 C 2.992
b D 3.67 m=s2
 
2.99
Figure 32.11 Direction of a1 Y a2 D tan1 and
2.13
must lie in the second quadrant since H is
b s d b negative and V is positive.
 
o
a 2.99
tan1
a o a
D 54.53 , and for this to be
(a) (b)
2.13
in the second quadrant, the true angle is 180
Figure 32.12
displaced, i.e. 180  54.53 or 125.47
Thus a1 Y a2 = 3.67 m=s2 at 125.47 .
Fig. 32.12(a) shows that the second diagonal of the
parallelogram method of vector addition gives the Horizontal component of a1 a2 , that is,
magnitude and direction of vector subtraction of oa a1 Y .a2 /
from ob. D 1.5 cos 90 C 2.6 cos145  180 
D 2.6 cos35  D 2.13
Problem 6. Accelerations of a1 D 1.5 m/s2
at 90 and a2 D 2.6 m/s2 at 145 act at a Vertical component of a1 a2 , that is,
point. Find a1 Y a2 and a1 a2 by: a1 Y .a2 /
(i) drawing a scale vector diagram and D 1.5 sin 90 C 2.6 sin35  D 0
(ii) by calculation p
Magnitude of a1 a2 D 2.132 C 02
D 2.13 m/s2
(i) The scale vector diagram is shown in  
Fig. 32.13. By measurement, 0
Direction of a1 a2 D tan1 D 0
2.13
a1 Y a2 = 3.7 m=s2 at 126
Thus a1 a2 = 2.13 m/s2 at 0
a1 a2 = 2.1 m=s2 at 0

a1 + a2 Problem 7. Calculate the resultant of

0 1 2 3 (i) v1 v2 Y v3 and (ii) v2 v1 v3 when
v1 D 22 units at 140 , v2 D 40 units at 190
Scale in m/s2
a1 and v3 D 15 units at 290
a2

1.5 m/s2
(i) The vectors are shown in Fig. 32.14.
2.6 m/s2 145 126 a1 a 2

+V

22
a2

Figure 32.13 190 140

H 290 +H
(ii) Resolving horizontally and vertically gives: 40
Horizontal component of a1 Y a2 , 15
H D 1.5 cos 90 C 2.6 cos 145 D 2.13
Vertical component of a1 Y a2 , V

V D 1.5 sin 90 C 2.6 sin 145 D 2.99 Figure 32.14

286 ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS

The horizontal component of v1 v2 Y v3 D v2  v1  v3 then

Let R 
D 22 cos 140   40 cos 190  jRj D 27.672 C 6.992 D 28.54 units
 
C 15 cos 290  1 6.99
and arg R D tan
D 16.85  39.39 C 5.13 27.67
D 27.67 units and must lie in the third quadrant since both
The vertical component of v1 v2 Y v3 H and V are negative quantities.
 
D 22 sin 140   40 sin 190  1 6.99
tan D 14.18 ,
C 15 sin 290  27.67
D 14.14  6.95 C 14.10 hence the required angle is 180 C 14.18 D
D 6.99 units 194.18
The magnitude of the resultant, R, which can Thus v2 v1 v3 = 28.54 units at 194.18
be represented by the mathematical symbol for This result is as expected, since v2 v1 v3
the modulus of as jv1  v2 C v3 j is given by: = .v1 v2 Y v3 / and the vector 28.54 units
 at 194.18 is minus times the vector
jRj D 27.672 C 6.992 D 28.54 units 28.54 units at 14.18
The direction of the resultant, R, which can be
represented by the mathematical symbol for Now try the following exercise
the argument of as arg v1  v2 C v3  is
given by:
  Exercise 118 Further problems on vectors
1 6.99 subtraction
arg R D tan D 14.18
27.67
1. Forces of F1 D 40 N at 45 and
Thus v1 v2 Y v3 = 28.54 units at 14.18 F2 D 30 N at 125 act at a point. Deter-
(ii) The horizontal component of v2 v1 v3 mine by
D 40 cos 190   22 cos 140  drawing and by calculation (a) F1 Y F2
(b) F1 F2
 15 cos 290   
(a) 54.0 N at 78.16
D 39.39  16.85  5.13 (b) 45.64 N at 4.66
D 27.67 units
2. Calculate the resultant of (a) v1 Y v2 v3
The vertical component of v2 v1 v3 (b) v3 v2 Y v1 when v1 D 15 m/s at
D 40 sin 190   22 sin 140  85 , v2 D 25 m/s at 175 and
v3 D 12 m/s at 235
 15 sin 290   
(a) 31.71 m/s at 121.81
D 6.95  14.14  14.10
(b) 19.55 m/s at 8.63
D 6.99 units