Ain Shams University Freshmen level

Faculty of Engineering Electricity and Magnetism

Department of Eng. Phys. & Math. PHM 122 / Fall2025

Problem set 1 (Model Answer)

Vectors

Part I: Choose the best answer in the following:

1. The value of k. k  ı̂ is:

(a) zero (b) +1 (c) -1 (d) 3 (e) 3

k  ı̂ ȷ̂ → k. ȷ̂ 0
Ans: a

2. If A  B  A  B, and neither A nor B

 vanishes, then:
(a) A and B  are parallel and in the same direction.
(b) A and B  are opposite in direction.
(c) the angle between A  and B
 is 
(d) the angle between A  and B
 is 
(e) A is perpendicular to B .

  B
A  √A  B  2ABcosθ. Trying all angles given in the answers, we find that θ 0 gives
Ans: a

  B
A  √A  B  2AB √A  2AB  B !A  B" A  B

  B
 A  B , and neither A nor B
 vanishes, then:

3. If A
(a) A and B
 must be in the same direction  and B
(b) A  must be perpendicular
(c) A must be in the opposite direction of B  (d) the angle between A  and B
 must be 600.
(e) none of the previous is true.

  B
A  √A  B  2ABcosθ. Trying all angles given in the answers, we find that θ 90$ gives
Ans: b

  B
 √A  B or A  B


A A  B

4. Vectors A and B  = B if:

 lie in the xy plane. We can deduce that A
() +)
(a) A&  A' B&  B' (b) A&  A' B&  B' (c) A& A' and B& B' (d) ( +*
*
(e) A& B& and A' B'

Ans: e
For two vectors to be exactly equal, all the components of one should be identical to their counterparts of the
other.

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5. The component of the vector B in the direction of the vector A is
(a) A  B 
, A (b) A. B
, B
 (c) A. B 
, A (d) A  B
, B
 (e) A  B . B
, A 

The component of B in direction of A is B. A

- B /|A
. A |
Ans:C

 2ı̂  3k and B

6. Two vectors lying in the xz plane are given by the equations A  −ı̂  2k. The
  B
value of A  is
3
(a) 2 3
(b)−2 (c) 45̂ (d) −45̂ 3
(e) 6̂  2

 2ı̂  −ı̂  2k  3k  −ı̂  2k

A  B −7ȷ̂
Ans: d

7. Two vectors lie with their tails at the same point. When the angle between them is increased by 20

(a)  (b) 89 (c) : (d)  (e) ;

degrees, the magnitude of their vector product doubles. The original angle between them was about:

Ans: B
c< ABsinθ; c ABsin!θ  20"; ?@ 2
? BCD!θEF"
BCDθ


A

2sinθ cosθsin20  sinθcos20
tanθ →θ 18F

BCDF
I?$BF
Verification: BCD!<M" ≅ 2
BCD!LM"

8. Let R S  T, R ≠ 0, T ≠ 0 and U≠ 90V , where θ is the angle between S and T when they are drawn


(a) R S T
 sin θ (b) −R  T  S (c) R. S 0 (d) R
. T
 0 (e) S. T
 0
with their tails at the same point. Which of the following is NOT true?

Ans: e

9. A certain vector in the xy plane has an x-component of 4m and a y-component of 10m. It is then rotated

(a) 20W (b) 7.2W (c) 5.0W (d) 4.5W (e) 2.2W
in the xy plane so its x component is doubled. Its new y-component is about:

The vector keeps the same length while rotating
4  10 8  y 
y √52 7.2m
Ans: b

 A
10. If C   B . B
, A  0 and C  and B
2B then the angle between C  is equal to
] ] :] ] ]
^  ^  :
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)

 A
If C   B
and A . B
 0
C  is the hypotenuse of a right angled triangle of sides A
 and B
. If the angle
Ans: a

between C and B is ϕ then cosϕ 0.5
ϕ

` b
a L

11. If A, B  are three unit vectors and C

 and C   B
A , then the angle between A and B
 is equal to
π π 2π π π
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)
2 6 3 4 3

2π
Ans: c
C -B
A - →1 √1  1  2cosθ → 1 2  2cosθ → cosθ −0.5 → θ 120$
3

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 Part II: Problems:


1. Show that d 3 and e
6̂ − :5̂ − 2  3 are orthogonal.
6̂  5̂ − 2

A. B
 4 − 8  4 . B
0
A   B
A  cosθ 0
θ | nor |B
90$ since neither |A | equals zero.
Ans:

3 g.
coordinates are measured in meter] if the applied force is f :6̂ − 5̂ − 2
2. Find the work done in moving an object between the two points P( 2,3,10) and Q(5,5,5) [the

The displacement vector is given by S !5 − 2"ı̂  !5 − 3"ȷ̂  !5 − 10"k 3ı̂  2ȷ̂ − 5k
Ans:

W F . S 2 ∗ 3 − 1 ∗ 2 − 1 ∗ −5 9 Joules

3. Find a vector of length  o that is perpendicular to both vectors:

 ^6̂ − :5̂  2
d 3 and e 3 . The dimensions are in meters
 6̂ − ^5̂ − 2

To form a vector perpendicular to A  and B

 we need to calculate C  A  B 
 or C   B
−A 
Ans:

ı̂ ȷ̂ k
We can choose for example C  A   B p 3 − 2 4 p 14ı̂  19ȷ̂ − k
4 −3 −1
 and Bis C
a -
A vector of unit length in a direction normal to A
<qr̂E<st̂Iu

a L.v

A vector of length 5 in that direction is D 5C 2.96ı̂  4.02ȷ̂ − 0.211k

4. Prove that the area of a parallelogram with sides d and e equals |d
  e
| then find the area of the
triangle having vertices at P(1, 3, 2), Q(2, -1, 1), R(-1, 2, 3). The coordinates are measured in meter.

It is well known that the area of a parallelogram of sides A  and B

 equals ABsinθ where θ is the angle
Ans:

between the two vectors A  and B

.
Since |A  B
| ABsinθ
the area of the parallelogram equals |A   B
|
The area of a triangle of the same sides A and B   B
 is half that of the parallelogram = 0.5|A |

Let A PQ  !2 − 1"ı̂  !−1 − 3"ȷ̂  !1 − 2"k ı̂ − 4ȷ̂ − k and

B PR  !−1 − 1"ı̂  !2 − 3"ȷ̂  !3 − 2"k −2ı̂ − ȷ̂  k.
ı̂ ȷ̂ k
Then the area of the triangle = 0.5 A  B  0.5 {p 1 −4−1p{ 0.5 −5ı̂ − ȷ̂ − 9k 0.5√25  1  81
−2−1 1
0.5√107 5.17m 

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