Physics Class – XI

Vector Analysis
 Vector

Scalars and Vectors: All physical quantities are divided into Scalars and Vectors. Scalars are those quantities
which have a magnitudes but no direction whereas vectors are those which posses both magnitude and
direction
Representation of Vector : A vector quantity is represented by an arrow. Length of this arrow represent
magnitude of vector on a suitable scale and arrow head represent direction of vector. Symbolically a vector is
  
represented by placing an arrow above symbol of physical quantity (e.g. v, s , F ). The magnitude of vector is

represented by symbol without arrow or by placing bars oh both side of symbol (e.g v or | v |)
Direction Sense : All directions in free space are represented in terms of six basic direction. These basic
directions are East, West, North, South, Vertically upward and Vertically downward.
If you are standing with face towards east then your back is towards west, left hand towards north, right hand
towards south, head vertically up and feet vertically down.
A direction North East means vector makes an angle of 45 with both North and East.
A direction 60 North of East (or 30 east of north) means vector makes an angle of 60 with East and 30 with
North.
Polar – Vectors : are the vectors, which have starting point or point of application.
Axial – Vectors : are the vectors, which represent rotational effects and are always along the axis of rotation in
accordance. Angular velocity, torque and angular momentum, etc., are examples of physical quantities of this
type.
Equal Vectors: Two vectors are called equal if the magnitude as well as direction of both is same

Negative Vectors: Any vector is called negative of other if the magnitude of both the vectors is same and the
 
directions are opposite i.e. B  A

Unit Vectors : Unit vectors of any vector quantity A has the unit magnitude and
  
direction same as of A . Unit vector of A represent the direction of A and written as Â

A
and is given by  
A
Orthogonal unit vectors  The unit vector along the xaxis, yaxis and zaxis of the
right handed Cartesian coordinate system are
written as î , ĵ and k̂ respectively. These are
called orthogonal unit vectors
Position and Displacement Vectors : Suppose at any time t1 an object is at point A in XY
plane then a vector OA drawn from O to A is the position vector of object at time t1.
Similarly OB is the position vector of object at time t2. The displacement of object during
time interval (t2  t1) is thus from A to B and a vector drawn A to B, AB is the displacement
vector of object for time interval t2  t1 and is the difference of final position and initial
position vector that is AB  OB  OA
Multiplication of vector by real number : If a vector is multiplied by a positive real
number the resultant posses same direction and magnitude of resultant is multiplied by
that number.
If a vector A is multiplied by ‘x’ the magnitude of resultant vector B is xA and the direction same as of A .
If a vector is multiplied by a negative number the resultant posses opposite direction and magnitude of resultant
is multiplied by that number.

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Graphical Method of Addition of vectors :
(a) Triangle Method of addition : If two vectors represent
sides of a triangle taken in order the third side in reverse
order represent their addition.
 
As shown if two vectors are given as A and B then to add the
 
vectors, first draw vector A and than at the tip of A draw
 
vector B . The resultant vector drawn from the tail of A to
    
the tip of B is the addition of A and B represented by A + B
(b) Parallelogram Method of Addition : If two vectors represent adjacent sides of
a parallelogram drawn from the same point the diagonal of parallelogram drawn
from same point represent addition of vectors.
 
As shown in fig. the addition of A and B by this method is represented by the
 
diagonal of parallelogram formed by vector A and B .
(c) Addition of more then two vectors : If some vector represent (n – 1) sides of ‘n’ sided
polygon taken in order the nth side in reverse order represent the addition of vectors
As shown in figure the process of addition by this method is same as triangle method. Here
vector R is the sum of vector A , B , C , D and E . The method is known as polygon law of
addition.
Analytical Method of Vector Addition : In case of addition of two vectors by
parallelogram method as shown in fig., the magnitude of resultant will be
given by,
(AC)2 = [(AE) 2 + (EC) 2]

or R2 = [(P + Q cos) 2 + (Q sin)2]

R= P 2  Q 2  2PQ cos  ...(a)


And the direction of resultant from P will be given by

CE Q sin   Q sin  
tan    i.e.   tan 1  
AE P  Q cos   P  Q cos  

Notes :
1. To a vector only a vector of same type can be added and the resultant is a vector of the same type. For
example, to a force only a force and not velocity can be added and the resultant will be a force.
2. Vector addition is commutative, i.e., P  Q  Q  P

3. Vector addition is associative, i.e., P  (Q  R )  (P  Q)  R

4. As R = P 2  Q 2  2PQ cos  so R will be max. when, cos  = 1, i.e.,  = 0°, i.e., vectors are like or parallel
and Rmax = P + Q
5. The resultant will be min. if. cos  = -1, i.e.,  = 180°, i.e., vectors are anti-parallel and Rmin = P ~ Q
6. From points 4 & 5 it is evident that the resultant of two vectors can have any value from (P ~ Q) to (P + Q)
depending on the angle between them and the magnitude of resultant decreases as  increases from 0° to
180°.
Subtraction of vector : Subtraction of a vector from a vector is the addition of its negative vector, i.e.,
P  Q  P  (  Q)

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As shown in fig if vector Q makes angle  with P , its negative vector  Q makes angle (180 - ) with P

So, in case of subtraction

R = [(P)2 + (Q) 2+ 2PQ cos (180 - )] 1/2

i.e. R= P 2  Q 2  2PQ cos  [as cos (180 - ) = - cos]

Subtraction is not commutative, i.e., PQ  QP

Resolution of Vector : Any vector can be resolved in two or more vectors whose combined effect is same as
that of given vector, The resolved vectors are called components.
Resolution of Vector in Rectangular component : If a vector is resolved in
mutually perpendicular component then the components are called rectangular
component. A vector can have maximum three rectangular components directed
along X, Y and Z axis.
Rectangular components in a plane : If a vector is resolved in a plane (XY, YZ or
ZX) it has maximum two components directed along two axis describing the plane.
Let a vector R makes an angle  with X-axis in XY plane as shown in fig.
The component shall be R x and R y as shown in fig.

By law of vector addition, R  Rx  Ry


or R  R x î  R y ĵ

where Rx = R cos  ………………………..(1)

and Ry = R sin  ………………………..(2)

from 1 & 2 R  R 2x  R 2y and tan   (R y / R x ) or   tan 1 (R y / R x )

Rectangular components in three dimension : If a vector is resolved in three dimension it has maximum
three components directed along three axis. Let a vector R makes an angle  with X-axis, angle  with Y-axis
and angle  with Z-axis.
If the component are R x , R y and R z

then R  R x î  R y ĵ  R z k̂

where Rx = R cos ; Ry = R sin  ; Rz = R cos ;

also R  R 2x  R 2y  R 2z

On placing values R R cos  2  R cos 2  R cos  2

and cos  2  cos 2  cos  2  1
Scalar Product of Two Vectors : The scalar product (or dot product) of two vectors is defined as the product of
the magnitude of two vectors with cosine of angle between them, Thus if there are two vectors A and B having
angle  between them, then their scalar product written as A.B and is given by

A.B = AB cos 
Properties
1. It is always a scalar which may be positive as well as negative.

2. It is commutative, i.e., A.B = B.A

3. It is distributive, i.e., A.(B  C)  A.B  A.C

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  A.B 
4. As by definition A.B = AB cos  , The angle between two vectors   cos 1  
 AB 
5. The scalar product of a vector by itself is termed as self dot product and is given by

(A) 2  A.A  AA cos   A 2

6. In case of orthogonal unit vector î.î  ĵ. ĵ  k̂.k̂  1 and î.ˆj  ĵ.k̂  k̂.î  1 1 cos 90  0

7. In terms of components A.B  (A x î  A y ĵ  A z k̂ ).(B x î  B y ˆj  B z k̂ )

or A.B  [A x B x  A y B y  A z B z ]

Vector Product of Two Vectors The vector product or cross product of

two vectors is defined as a vector having a magnitude equal to the
product of the magnitudes of two vectors with the sine of angle between
them, and direction perpendicular to the plane containing the two vectors
in accordance with right hand screw rule. CAB
Thus, if A and B are two vectors, then their vector product written as
A  B is a vector C given by C = A  B = AB sinθ n̂

The direction of A  B , i.e., C is perpendicular to the plane containing vectors A and B and in the sense of
advance of a right handed screw rotated from A (first vector) to B (second vector) through the smaller angle
between them.

1. Vector product of two vectors is not commutative, i.e., A  B  B  A

2. The vector product is distributive when the order of the vectors is strictly maintained, i.e.,

A  ( B  C)  A  B  A  C
3. The self cross product, i.e., product of a vector by itself vanishes, i.e., is a null vector
i.e., A  A = 0
4. In case of orthogonal unit vector î  î  ˆj  ĵ  k̂  k̂  0

5. In case of orthogonal unit vectors î , ĵ, andk̂ in accordance with right hand screw rule:

î  ĵ  k̂ ĵ  k̂  î k̂  î  ĵ
6. As cross product is not commutative,
ĵ  î  k̂ k̂  ĵ  î î  k̂   ĵ

î ĵ k̂
7. In terms of components A  B  Ax Ay Az
Bx By Bz

Relative Velocity : If v A and v B are velocities of two bodies relative to earth, the velocity of B relative to A will
be given by v BA = v B - v A
Example: If rain is falling vertically with a velocity V R and an observer is moving horizontally with speed V M
the velocity of rain relative to observer will be
v RM  V R  V M

which by law of vector addition has magnitude

VRM  VR2  VM2

and direction   tan 1 (VM / VR ) with the vertical as shown in fig.