Section 6.

1b

Direction Angles
Velocity, Speed
Let’s start with a brain exercise…
Find the unit vector in the direction of the given vector. Write
your answer in (a) component form and (b) as a linear
combination of the standard unit vectors i and j.

u  3, 4
u 3, 4 3, 4 3 4
Unit Vector:    ,
u 3   4  5 5 5
2 2

3 4
With standard unit vectors: i j
5 5
Direction Angle – the angle O that a vector makes with
y the positive x-axis
v

|v|sin θ using trigonometry…

θ
x
|v|cos θ
Thus,
v = (|v|cos 0)i + (|v|sin 0)j
And the unit vector in the direction of v is
v
u= = (cos 0)i + (sin 0)j
|v|
Guided Practice
Find the components of the vector v with direction angle
123 and magnitude 5.

v  5cos123,5sin123
 2.723, 4.193
Does this answer make sense graphically ???
Guided Practice
Find the magnitude and direction angle of each vector.

w = 3, 2

w  13 θ  33.690
Guided Practice
Find the magnitude and direction angle of each vector.

w = 5i – 8j

w  89 θ  302.005
Guided Practice
Find the vector v with the given magnitude and the same
direction as u.
Can we see this
v =5 u = –5, 7 problem in a graph?

First, find the unit vector in the direction of u:

u 5, 7 5, 7 5 7
   ,
u  5 7
2 2
74 74 74
Now, simply multiply this vector by |v| (the magnitude of v):

5 7 25 35
v v ,  ,  2.906, 4.069
74 74 74 74
 Velocity – distance covered per unit time – this is a vector
b/c it has both magnitude and direction
Speed – the magnitude of velocity (a scalar)

Ex: An aircraft is flying on a bearing of 65 at 500mph. Find

the component form of the velocity of the plane
Start with a graph…do you remember the definition of bearing ?

v  500cos 25,500sin 25  453.154, 211.309

Ex: An aircraft is flying on a compass heading (bearing) of
350 at 355 mph. A wind is blowing with the bearing
285 at 42 mph. Find (a) the component form of the
aircraft’s velocity, and (b) the actual ground speed and
direction of the aircraft.

(a) v  102.214,360.477
(b) Actual speed = 374.688 mph
Direction = 344.169 bearing
Cool problem… F1 F2 F3
Three forces with magnitudes 100, 50, and 80 lb, act on an
object at angles of 50 , 160 , and –20 , respectively. Find the
direction and magnitude of the resultant force.

Start with a diagram:

F1
100 lb
F2
160
50
50 lb
–20
80 lb
F3
More of our cool problem…F1 F2 F3
Three forces with magnitudes 100, 50, and 80 lb, act on an
object at angles of 50 , 160 , and –20 , respectively. Find the
direction and magnitude of the resultant force.

Find the component form of each force:

F1  100cos50,100sin 50
F2  50cos160,50sin160
F3  80 cos  20  ,80sin  20 

Sum the forces: FR  F1  F2  F3  92.470,66.344

Still more for our cool problem…
F1 F2 F3
Three forces with magnitudes 100, 50, and 80 lb, act on an
object at angles of 50 , 160 , and –20 , respectively. Find the
direction and magnitude of the resultant force.
Magnitude of the resultant force:

FR  92.470  66.344  113.808 lb

2 2

FR Direction of the resultant force:

66.344
113.808 lb tan  
66.344 lb 92.470

 66.344 
92.470 lb   tan 
1
  35.658
 92.470 
 More fun examples!!!
A pilot’s flight plan has her flying due east from Flagstaff.
There is a 65-mph wind bearing 60 , and the aircraft has
a 450 mph speed with no wind. What heading should
the pilot follow, and what will be the aircraft’s resultant
ground speed?

Heading = 94.142 , Speed = 505.116 mph