Activity 3.

Addition of Vectors and The Force Table Method

July 14, 2010
Physics deals mostly on vector quantities that employ mathematical methods apart from simple
mathematical operations on whole numbers. Since vector quantities are described by both magnitude
and direction, they can be resolved from different methods in finding their sum and/or resultant value.
One method used is graphically present vectors quantities in Cartesian plane (or in three dimension).
Here, vectors must be drawn to scale (e.g. 1000N = 10 mm), then known vectors are connected head
to tail. The resultant of these vectors is found by connecting the tail of the first vector to the head of
the last vector and measure its magnitude. The direction of this resultant vector, on the other hand, is
measured from the +x axis to the resultant (See Figure 3.1) vector. Alternatively, the parallelogram
method (graphical) can also be done by drawing parallel lines to the given vectors (See Figure 3.2). The
resultant vector is measured from the main diagonal of the parallelogram.
y

y
B
R

A
R

Figure 3.1 Graphical method with given vectors A

and B. The resultant vector R with its direction R.

R A

A
x

Figure 3.2 Parallelogram method to find the

resultant vector R and its direction R.

Mathematical analysis can be employed from the graphical method and make use of the
relations such as the Pythagorean Theorem to determine the magnitude of the resultant vector and the
trigonometric functions to determine its direction. However, this works well with only two given
vectors. For more than two vectors, an intermediate method can be done by summing up the
components of each vector. We call this method a component method.

Bx

By

Ax

Ay
x

Materials:
Linear air track with accessories, digital timer (recommended) and/or stop watch

Activity 3. Addition of Vectors and The Force Table Method

July 14, 2010
Procedure:
A. Distance (displacement) vs. Time
1. Set the linear air track horizontally, parallel to the surface of the table. Connect the nozzle
of the air pump to the air track and turn it on when ready.
2. In the case of the digital timer, set this up with the input sensor at the 10 cm mark and the
output sensor on the 20 cm mark. Fix this such that the glider can pass the sensor without
hitting it. In case you are using a stop watch, you will determine the time interval the glider
passes the 20 cm mark.
3. Put the glider with its front end to the 10 cm mark and release. Give a slight push if it
doesnt glide immediately.
4. Record your data in the table below.
5. Repeat the procedure with the output sensor placed at the 30 cm, 40 cm, 50 cm, 60
cm, 70 cm, 80 cm, 90 cm, and 100 cm mark. For the ones using a stop watch, you
can change the interval of the marks to have optimum measurement of the time interval
without difficulty.
6. Record your data in the table below.
7. Graph distance (y axis) vs. time (x axis).
Table 2A. Distance (displacement) vs. Time
Distance
(cm)

Time (sec)

10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Questions:
1. What is the average speed of the object? its average velocity?
Average speed:__________________
Average velocity:_________________
2. From your graph, generate an equation of the line of the form y = m x + b. What does the
slope of your graph represents?
3. Calculate the displacement at a t = 1.5 s and at t = 2.5 sec.

Activity 3. Addition of Vectors and The Force Table Method

July 14, 2010
B. Speed (velocity) vs. Time
1. From the data you get from procedure A, generate a table for speed vs. time.
2. Fill the table below.
3. Graph speed (y axis) vs. time (x axis).
Table 2B. Speed (velocity) vs. Time
Speed
(cm/s)

Time (sec)

Questions:
1.

What is the average acceleration of the object?

Average acceleration: ____________________

2. From the graph of velocity vs. time, generate an equation of the line in form y = mx + b.
What does the slope m represents?

3. Calculate the instantaneous speed at t = 1.5 sec and at t = 2.5 sec.

4. a) From your equation y = mx + b transform this with y = v and x = t. This is the equation of
your instantaneous speed. Then apply the derivative of this to determine the equation for
instantaneous acceleration. b) Calculate the instantaneous acceleration of the object at t =
1.5 sec and t = 2.5 sec.

Conclusion: