110 Chapter 3 • Two-Dimensional Kinematics

3.3 Vector Addition and Subtraction: Analytical Methods

Analytical methods of vector addition and subtraction employ geometry and simple trigonometry rather than the ruler and
protractor of graphical methods. Part of the graphical technique is retained, because vectors are still represented by arrows for
easy visualization. However, analytical methods are more concise, accurate, and precise than graphical methods, which are
limited by the accuracy with which a drawing can be made. Analytical methods are limited only by the accuracy and precision
with which physical quantities are known.

Resolving a Vector into Perpendicular Components

Analytical techniques and right triangles go hand-in-hand in physics because (among other things) motions along
perpendicular directions are independent. We very often need to separate a vector into perpendicular components. For
example, given a vector like in Figure 3.26, we may wish to find which two perpendicular vectors, and , add to produce
it.

Figure 3.26 The vector , with its tail at the origin of an x, y-coordinate system, is shown together with its x- and y-components, and
. These vectors form a right triangle. The analytical relationships among these vectors are summarized below.

and are defined to be the components of along the x- and y-axes. The three vectors , , and form a right
triangle:

3.3

Note that this relationship between vector components and the resultant vector holds only for vector quantities (which include
both magnitude and direction). The relationship does not apply for the magnitudes alone. For example, if east,
north, and north-east, then it is true that the vectors . However, it is not true that the sum
of the magnitudes of the vectors is also equal. That is,

3.4

Thus,

3.5

If the vector is known, then its magnitude (its length) and its angle (its direction) are known. To find and , its x-
and y-components, we use the following relationships for a right triangle.
3.6
and

3.7

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 3.3 • Vector Addition and Subtraction: Analytical Methods 111

Figure 3.27 The magnitudes of the vector components and can be related to the resultant vector and the angle with
trigonometric identities. Here we see that and .

Suppose, for example, that is the vector representing the total displacement of the person walking in a city considered in
Kinematics in Two Dimensions: An Introduction and Vector Addition and Subtraction: Graphical Methods.

Figure 3.28 We can use the relationships and to determine the magnitude of the horizontal and vertical
component vectors in this example.

Then blocks and , so that

3.8

3.9

Calculating a Resultant Vector

If the perpendicular components and of a vector are known, then can also be found analytically. To find the
magnitude and direction of a vector from its perpendicular components and , we use the following relationships:

3.10

3.11
112 Chapter 3 • Two-Dimensional Kinematics

Figure 3.29 The magnitude and direction of the resultant vector can be determined once the horizontal and vertical components and
have been determined.

Note that the equation is just the Pythagorean theorem relating the legs of a right triangle to the length of the

hypotenuse. For example, if and are 9 and 5 blocks, respectively, then blocks, again consistent with
the example of the person walking in a city. Finally, the direction is , as before.

Determining Vectors and Vector Components with Analytical Methods

Equations and are used to find the perpendicular components of a vector—that is, to go from
and to and . Equations and are used to find a vector from its perpendicular
components—that is, to go from and to and . Both processes are crucial to analytical methods of vector addition
and subtraction.

Adding Vectors Using Analytical Methods

To see how to add vectors using perpendicular components, consider Figure 3.30, in which the vectors and are added to
produce the resultant .

Figure 3.30 Vectors and are two legs of a walk, and is the resultant or total displacement. You can use analytical methods to
determine the magnitude and direction of .

If and represent two legs of a walk (two displacements), then is the total displacement. The person taking the walk ends
up at the tip of There are many ways to arrive at the same point. In particular, the person could have walked first in the
x-direction and then in the y-direction. Those paths are the x- and y-components of the resultant, and . If we know

and , we can find and using the equations and . When you use the analytical
method of vector addition, you can determine the components or the magnitude and direction of a vector.

Step 1. Identify the x- and y-axes that will be used in the problem. Then, find the components of each vector to be added along

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 3.3 • Vector Addition and Subtraction: Analytical Methods 113

the chosen perpendicular axes. Use the equations and to find the components. In Figure 3.31,
these components are , , , and . The angles that vectors and make with the x-axis are and , respectively.

Figure 3.31 To add vectors and , first determine the horizontal and vertical components of each vector. These are the dotted vectors ,
, and shown in the image.

Step 2. Find the components of the resultant along each axis by adding the components of the individual vectors along that axis.
That is, as shown in Figure 3.32,
3.12
and

3.13

Figure 3.32 The magnitude of the vectors and add to give the magnitude of the resultant vector in the horizontal direction.
Similarly, the magnitudes of the vectors and add to give the magnitude of the resultant vector in the vertical direction.

Components along the same axis, say the x-axis, are vectors along the same line and, thus, can be added to one another like
ordinary numbers. The same is true for components along the y-axis. (For example, a 9-block eastward walk could be taken in
two legs, the first 3 blocks east and the second 6 blocks east, for a total of 9, because they are along the same direction.) So
resolving vectors into components along common axes makes it easier to add them. Now that the components of are known,
its magnitude and direction can be found.

Step 3. To get the magnitude of the resultant, use the Pythagorean theorem:

3.14

Step 4. To get the direction of the resultant:

3.15

The following example illustrates this technique for adding vectors using perpendicular components.
114 Chapter 3 • Two-Dimensional Kinematics

EXAMPLE 3.3

Adding Vectors Using Analytical Methods

Add the vector to the vector shown in Figure 3.33, using perpendicular components along the x- and y-axes. The x- and
y-axes are along the east–west and north–south directions, respectively. Vector represents the first leg of a walk in which a
person walks in a direction north of east. Vector represents the second leg, a displacement of in a
direction north of east.

Figure 3.33 Vector has magnitude and direction north of the x-axis. Vector has magnitude and direction
north of the x-axis. You can use analytical methods to determine the magnitude and direction of .

Strategy

The components of and along the x- and y-axes represent walking due east and due north to get to the same ending point.
Once found, they are combined to produce the resultant.

Solution

Following the method outlined above, we first find the components of and along the x- and y-axes. Note that ,
, , and . We find the x-components by using , which gives

3.16

and

3.17

Similarly, the y-components are found using :

3.18

and

3.19

The x- and y-components of the resultant are thus

3.20
and

3.21

Now we can find the magnitude of the resultant by using the Pythagorean theorem:

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 3.3 • Vector Addition and Subtraction: Analytical Methods 115

3.22

so that
3.23
Finally, we find the direction of the resultant:

3.24

Thus,

3.25

Figure 3.34 Using analytical methods, we see that the magnitude of is and its direction is north of east.

Discussion

This example illustrates the addition of vectors using perpendicular components. Vector subtraction using perpendicular
components is very similar—it is just the addition of a negative vector.

Subtraction of vectors is accomplished by the addition of a negative vector. That is, . Thus, the method for
the subtraction of vectors using perpendicular components is identical to that for addition. The components of are the
negatives of the components of . The x- and y-components of the resultant are thus
3.26
and

3.27

and the rest of the method outlined above is identical to that for addition. (See Figure 3.35.)

Analyzing vectors using perpendicular components is very useful in many areas of physics, because perpendicular quantities are
often independent of one another. The next module, Projectile Motion, is one of many in which using perpendicular
components helps make the picture clear and simplifies the physics.
116 Chapter 3 • Two-Dimensional Kinematics

Figure 3.35 The subtraction of the two vectors shown in Figure 3.30. The components of are the negatives of the components of . The
method of subtraction is the same as that for addition.

PHET EXPLORATIONS

Vector Addition
Learn how to add vectors. Drag vectors onto a graph, change their length and angle, and sum them together. The magnitude,
angle, and components of each vector can be displayed in several formats.

Click to view content (https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/vector-addition/vector-addition_en.html)

3.4 Projectile Motion

Projectile motion is the motion of an object thrown or projected into the air, subject to only the acceleration of gravity. The
object is called a projectile, and its path is called its trajectory. The motion of falling objects, as covered in Problem-Solving
Basics for One-Dimensional Kinematics, is a simple one-dimensional type of projectile motion in which there is no horizontal
movement. In this section, we consider two-dimensional projectile motion, such as that of a football or other object for which
air resistance is negligible.

The most important fact to remember here is that motions along perpendicular axes are independent and thus can be analyzed
separately. This fact was discussed in Kinematics in Two Dimensions: An Introduction, where vertical and horizontal motions
were seen to be independent. The key to analyzing two-dimensional projectile motion is to break it into two motions, one along
the horizontal axis and the other along the vertical. (This choice of axes is the most sensible, because acceleration due to gravity
is vertical—thus, there will be no acceleration along the horizontal axis when air resistance is negligible.) As is customary, we
call the horizontal axis the x-axis and the vertical axis the y-axis. Figure 3.36 illustrates the notation for displacement, where is
defined to be the total displacement and and are its components along the horizontal and vertical axes, respectively. The
magnitudes of these vectors are s, x, and y. (Note that in the last section we used the notation to represent a vector with
components and . If we continued this format, we would call displacement with components and . However, to
simplify the notation, we will simply represent the component vectors as and .)

Of course, to describe motion we must deal with velocity and acceleration, as well as with displacement. We must find their
components along the x- and y-axes, too. We will assume all forces except gravity (such as air resistance and friction, for
example) are negligible. The components of acceleration are then very simple: . (Note that this
definition assumes that the upwards direction is defined as the positive direction. If you arrange the coordinate system instead
such that the downwards direction is positive, then acceleration due to gravity takes a positive value.) Because gravity is vertical,
. Both accelerations are constant, so the kinematic equations can be used.

Review of Kinematic Equations (constant )

3.28

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