Vector Basics

Adarsh Dubey

July 31, 2021

Introduction
In the study of Physics, We study about certain quantities and they are usually Classified as Scalar,
Vector and tensor Quantity. Scalar Quantity is a simple quantity which only needs its magnitude
(value) for identification, like for mentioning weight we need to tell only How much does it measure
and nothing else. Whereas vector quantity are those which require magnitude as well as the direction
of the quantity. For Example, If someone ask me the position of a shop in a street We not only need
to tell how far the shop is but also to tell in which direction the shop is.

In order to represent we use overheaded arrow above the symbol, For example In order to
→
−
represent a vector A, we write it as A and in space we figuratively represent it as a ray which
→
−
represent it’s direction and it’s length represent the magnitude of the vector (| A |).

Figure 1

Unit Vector
Vector Quantity which has magnitude equal to 1 is known as Unit Vector. It is represented as b a
(read as a cap) and it is generally used to represent direction of a vector. Unit Vector of any vector
is given by
→
−
a
a= → (1)
|−
a |
b

→
−
So If a vector ( A ) has it’s magnitude as K and unit vector in it’s direction is A,
b then it can also be
represented as
→
−
A = KA b (2)
For 3-D plane, unit vector for x, y, z axis are given as

x − axis 7→ bi
y − axis 7→ b
j
z − axis 7→ b
k

So for writing the position vector of a point P (x,y,z) we can add it’s position vector in all 3 directions.
→
−
P = xbi + yb
j + zb
k (3)

And it’s magnitude is given by

→
− p
| P | = x2 + y 2 + z 2 (4)

But In our course of Physics, We will only be studying about vectors in 2-D planes so we will
only require x and y axis for that.

1
Components of Vector
We can always break a two dimensional vector in two sub-vectors along x and y axis and they are
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−
called Component of Vector along that axis. Let’s Assume a vector F in x-y plane which makes
−
→ −
→
an angle θ with x-axis, then we can break it into two sub-vectors along x and y axis as Fx and Fy
respectively.

Figure 2
So We can write both component vectors as
−
→ →
−
Fx = | F | cosθ bi
−
→ →
−
Fy = | F | sinθ bj

Addition of Vector
Addition of vector gives the resultant of the two vectors. It follows the parallelogram Law of Addition
i.e. Resultant vector of two given vectors is given by a vector which originates at common tales of
two vectors and is diagonal of parallelogram formed by given two vectors as shown in the figure

Figure 3 : Parallelogram Law of Vector Addition

→
− →
− → − → − →
−
Let’s P = A + B , | A | = A and | B | = B, then addition figure will be like

Figure 4

2
Derivation of magnitude of Resultant vector
→
−
From Figure 4, We can easily get the magnitude of x and y component of resultant vector P

Px = A + Bcosθ
Py = Bsinθ

Now we can can get the magnitude of resultant vector by applying Pythagoras theorem on bigger
triangle as
q
P = Px2 + Py2
p
P = (A + Bcosθ)2 + (Bsinθ)2
p
P = A2 + B 2 + 2ABcosθ
→
− → − p
∴ | A + B | = A2 + B 2 + 2ABcosθ