Introduction to Vectors

Introduction

A vector is a mathematical concept to quantify, or describe mathematically, quantities that have

a magnitude and a direction. Force, velocity and displacement are examples of quantities that
have magnitude and direction and may therefore be described using vectors.

Vectors in one dimension describe quantities along one direction and its opposite. Vectors in two
dimensions describe quantities in a plane, and vectors in three dimensions describe quantities in
3 dimensional space.

2-Dimensional vector

A two dimensional vector is used to represent a quantity in a plane. On the right, is shown vector
A in two dimensions with components Ax and Ay that may written as

A→ = Axi + Ayj or A→ = (Ax , Ay)

The magnitude of vector A→ is given by

| A |→ = √ Ax2 + Ay2

Fig1. - Vector in 2 dimensions.

3-dimensional Vectors

A three dimensional vector is used to represent a quantity in a 3 dimensional space. To the right,
is shown vector A in three dimensions with components Ax, Ay and Az that may written as

A→ = Axi + Ayj + Azk or A→ = (Ax , Ay , Az)

The magnitude of vector A→ is given by

| A |→ = √ Ax2 + Ay2 + Az2

Magnitude and Direction of 2-dimensional Vector

Referring to figure 1 above, θ , the angle between the vector and the positive x-axis direction, in

counterclockwise direction, is called the direction of the vector. The relationships between θ, | A

| and the components Ax and Ay of vector A are:

Ax = | A |cos (θ)

Ay = | A |sin (θ)
tan(θ)= Ay/Ax

Example 1

The magnitude of a 2-dimensional vector is 10 and its direction θ = 135 °. Find its

components Ax and Ay.

Solution

Ax = 10 cos(135°) = 10 (-√2 / 2) = -5 √2

Ay = 10 sin(135°) = 10 √2 / 2 = 5 √2

Example 2

Find the magnitude and direction of the vector B→ = 2i - 2 √3 j

Solution

|B|→ = √ 22 + (- 2 √3)2 =4

tan(θ)= Ay/Ax = - √3

Ignoring the sign, the reference angle to angle θ is equal to arctan(√3) = 60°

Since the x-component of the vector is positive and the y-component of the vector is negative,
the terminal side of angle θ is in quadrant IV, hence

θ = 360° - 60° = 300 °

Vector B makes an angle of 300 ° with the positive x-axis in counterclockwise direction.

Some of the most important formulas for vectors such as the magnitude, the direction, the unit

vector, addition, subtraction, scalar multiplication and cross product are presented.

Vector Defined by two Points

The components of a vector defined by two points and are given

as follows:

In what follows , and are 3-D vectors given by their components as follows

Magnitude of a Vector
The magnitude of vector written as is given by

Unit Vector

A unit vector is a vector whose magnitude is equal to 1.

The unit vector that has the same direction a vector is given by
Direction of a Vector

In 3-D, the direction of a vector is defined by 3 angles α , β and γ (see Fig 1. below) called

direction cosines.

Fig. - Direction cosine of a vector.

These are the angles between the vector and the positive x-, y- and z- axes respectively of a
rectangular system. The cosine of these angles, for vector ,are given by:

In 2-D, the direction of a vector is defined as an angle that a vector makes with the positive x-

axis. Vector (see Fig 2. on the right) is given by

taking into account the signs of Ax and Ay to determine the quadrant where the vector is located.

Fig. - Angle of a 2-D vector.

Operations on Vectors

 Addition The addition of vectors and is defined by

 Subtraction The subtraction of vectors and is defined by

 Multiply Vector by a Scalar The multiplication of vectors by a scalar k is defined by

Scalar Product of Vectors

Definition
The Scalar (or dot) product of two vectors and is given by

where θ is the angle between vectors A and B

Given the coordinates of vectors and , it can be shown that

Properties of Scalar Product

Orthogonal Vectors

Two vectors and are orthogonal if and only if

Angle Between Two Vectors

If θ is the angle made by two vectors and , then

Cross Product

The cross product of two vectors and is a vector orthogonal to both vectors and is given by
Properties of Cross Product

The cross product is a vector and there may a need as in eletromagnetism and many other topics
in physics to find the orientation of this vector. Use the right hand rule to find the orientation of
the cross product: point the index in the direction of vector A, the middle finger in the direction
of vector B and the direction of the cross product A × B is in the same direction of the thumb.
Geometrical Meaning of Cross Product: The area of a parallelogram defined by
vectors and is the magnitude of their cross product given by:

Addition and Subtraction of Vectors

Figure 1, below, shows two vectors on a plane. To add the two vectors, translate one of the

vectors so that the terminal point of one vector coincides with the starting point of the second

vector and the sum is a vector whose starting point is the starting point of the first vector and
the terminal point is the terminal point of the second vector as shown in figure 2.
 Fig. - 2 vectors in 2 dimensions.

Fig. - Add 2 vectors in 2 dimensions - Parallelogram.

When the components of the two vectors are known, the sum of two vectors is found by adding
corresponding components.

Example 1 Given vectors A = (2 , -4) and B = (4 , 8), what are the components of

A → + B→

Solution

A → + B→ = (2 ,-4 ) + (4 , 8) = (2 + 4 ,-4 + 8 ) = (6 , 4)

The subtraction of two vectors is shown in figure 3. The idea is to change the subtraction into
an addition as follows:
A → - B→ = A → + (-B)→
 Fig. - subtract 2 vectors.

Example 2

The magnitudes of two vectors U and V are equal to 5 and 8 respectively. Vector U makes an

angle of 20° with the positive direction of the x-axis and vector V makes an angle of 80° with

the positive direction of the x-axis. Both angles are measured counterclockwise. Find the

magnitudes and directions of vectors U + V and U - V.

Solution Let us first use the magnitudes and directions to find the components of vectors U and

V.

U → = (5 cos(20°) , 5 sin(20°))

V → = (10 cos(80°) , 10 sin(80°))

Magnitude and direction of vector U + V

U → + V→ = (5 cos(20°) , 5 sin(20°)) + (10 cos(80°) , 10 sin(80°))

= (5 cos(20°) + 10 cos(80°) , 5 sin(20°)+10 sin(80°))
Now that we have the components of vector U + V, we can calculate the magnitude as follows:

| U → + V→| = √ (5 cos(20°) + 10 cos(80°)) 2 + (5 sin(20°)+10 sin(80°)) 2 = 5√7 ≈ 13.22

If θ is the angle in standard position (angle between vector U+V and x-axis positive direction)

of vector U + V, then

tan(θ) =
y-component of U+V/ x-component of U+V
=
5 sin(20°)+10 sin(80°)/ 5 cos(20°) + 10 cos(80°)
θ ≈ 60.9°

We now approximate the components of vector U + V so that we can determine the quadrant of
U+V

U → + V→ = (5 cos(20°) + 10 cos(80°) , 5 sin(20°)+10 sin(80°)) ≈ (6.43 , 11.6)

Since both components of vector U + V are positive, the terminal side of angle θ is in quadrant
I. The direction of vector U + V is given by an angle approximately equal to 60.9°. This angle
is measured in counterclockwise direction from the positive x-axis.

Magnitude and direction of vector U - V

U → - V→ = (5 cos(20°) , 5 sin(20°)) - (10 cos(80°) , 10 sin(80°))

= (5 cos(20°) - 10 cos(80°) , 5 sin(20°) - 10 sin(80°))

Now that we have the components of vector U - V, we can calculate the magnitude as follows:

| U → - V→| = √ (5 cos(20°) - 10 cos(80°)) 2 + (5 sin(20°) - 10 sin(80°)) 2 = 5√3 ≈ 8.66

If β is the angle in standard position (angle between vector U - V and x-axis positive direction)
of vector U - V, then

tan(β) =
y-component of U-V/ x-component of U-V
 =
5 sin(20°) - 10 sin(80°) 5 cos(20°) - 10 cos(80°)
β = 70°

We now approximate the components of vector U - V so that we can determine the quadrant of
U-V

U → - V→ = (5 cos(20°) - 10 cos(80°) , 5 sin(20°) - 10 sin(80°)) ≈ (2.96 , -8.13 )

The signs of the components of vector U - V indicate that terminal side of angle β is in
quadrant IV and therefore

β = 360° - α = 360° - 70° = 290°

The direction of vector U - V is given by an angle equal to 290°. This angle is measured in
counterclockwise direction from the positive x-axis.

Scalar Product of Vectors

The scalar product (also called the dot product and inner product) of vectors A and B is written
and defined as follows

Fig. - Angle between vectors and scalar product.

A·B = | A | | B | cos (θ)

where |A | is the magnitude of vector A , | B | is the magnitude of vector B and θ is the angle
made by the two vectors. The result of a scalar product of two vectors is a scalar quantity.

For vectors given by their components: A = (Ax , Ay, Az) and B = (Bx , By, Bz), the scalar
product is given by
A·B = AxBx + AyBy + AzBz

Note that if θ = 90°, then cos(θ) = 0 and therefore we can state that: Two vectors, with
magnitudes not equal to zero, are perpendicular if and only if their scalar product is equal to
zero.

The scalar product may also be used to find the cosine and therefore the angle between two
vectors

cos (θ) = A·B / | A | | B |

Properties of the Scalar Product

1) A·B = B·A

2) A· (B + C) = A·B + A·C

Applications the Scalar Product

Question 1

Find the real number b so that vectors A and B given below are perpendicular

A = (-2 , -b) , B = (-8 , b).

Solution to Question 1

The condition for two vectors A = (Ax , Ay) and B = (Bx , By) to be perpendicular is that their
scalar product is equal to zero:

AxBx + AyBy = 0.

Substitute the components and simplify

(-2)(-8) + (-b)(b) = 0

16 - b 2 = 0

b 2 = 16

Solve for b

b = 4 and b = -4

Two possible values of b; b = 4 and b = - 4 make the above vectors perpendicular.

Question 2

Find the angle made by the vectors A and B given below

A = (2 , 1 , 3) , B = (3 , -2 , 1).

Solution to Question 2

We first use the components to find the scalar product of the two vectors.

A· B = (2)(3)+(1)(-2)+(3)(1) = 7

We next express the scalar product using the magnitudes and angle θ made by the two vectors.

A· B = |A| |B| cos(θ) = 7

Which gives

cos(θ) = 7 / (|A| |B|)

|A| = √(22 + 12 + 32 ) = √14

|B| = √(32 + (-2)2 + 12 ) = √14

cos(θ) = 7 / (√14√14) = 7/14 = 1/2

θ = arccos(1/2) = 60°
Question 3

Given vector U = (3 , -7), find the equation of the line through point B(2 , 1) and perpendicular

to vector U.

Solution to Question 3

A point M(x , y) is on the line through point B(2 , 1) and perpendicular to vector U = (3 , -7) if
and only if the vectors BM and U are perpendicular.

Let us first find the components of vectors BM.

BM = (x - 2 , y - 1)

Vectors BM = (x - 2 , y - 1) and U = (3 , -7) are perpendiclur if and only if their scalar product is

equal to zero. Hence

(x - 2) (3) + (y - 1)(-7) = 0 Expand and simplify to obtain the equation of the line

3x-7y=-1