Introduction to Vectors

Scalars and Vectors

SCALAR: something with magnitude only
VECTOR: something with magnitude and direction

Scalar or vector?

length? force? temperature?

velocity? speed? voltage?

time? volume? displacement?

Note: magnitude = size = modulus = length

 Directed line segments
Represent vectors as directed line segments

magnitude is length of line segment

arrow is the direction from O to A
(So O is as important as A.)

Represent the direction of the line?: direction cosines

 Notation
A

O
Many alternative notations:
OA a
OA, , OA, OA, OA, a, a, a, a ,

We typeset a and handwrite a

Magnitude of a written as |a|
(pronounced mod a)
Note |a| 0 (since lengths always 0)
 Equality of vectors
Two vectors are equal if:
they have same magnitude and direction

a b c d

a = b, but c and d are different.

c has same direction as a, b (different magnitude)

d has same magnitude as a, b (different direction)
 Negative vectors
a has same magnitude as a, but has opposite
direction

a a

So
| a| = |a|,
(magnitude mops up minus sign)
Resultant of two displacement vectors

Sum (resultant) of OP and PQ is OQ (obvious!)

Needs end of previous vector to coincide with next

 Exercises
A
D

C

Simplify AB + BC DC

Simplify AC BC + BD
 Adding vectors
Vectors are added in the same way as journeys
triangle law q
p

r
r=p+q

parallelogram law

a+b
b

a
 Properties of addition

Commutativity
p+q=q+p

Associativity

(p + q) + r = p + (q + r)
 Subtracting vectors
Just add the negative!

a b = a + (b)

Graphically:

b
a

c
b
b

Here c = a b
 Scalar multiplication
Scalar multiplication: multiply vector by scalar
direction stays same
magnitude stretched by given scalar
(negative scalar reverses direction)

a 1
2a a
2

Parallel vectors: a = b where is a scalar

Unit vectors and the zero vector
Unit vectors

If |a| = 1, a is a unit vector

Given any old vector b, a unit vector may be made
from it:
b
b = , so that |b| = 1
|b|
b is pronounced b hat

Zero vector

If |b| = 0, then b is the zero vector

 Coordinate vectors: i, j and k
y

z k

i, j, k are unit vectors parallel to the x, y , z Cartesian

coordinate axes
Follows that |i| = |j| = |k| = 1.
Note: hats are not used
 Direction cosines
To represent the direction of a vector OA

y
A

r
z
O x

Define the direction cosines

x y z
cos = cos = cos =
r r r
The vector (cos , cos , cos ) is a unit vector (prove it!)