Chapter 3:

Motion in two and three dimensions

 To describe position, velocity, and acceleration

in two and three dimensions using the language
of vectors
 To see how the techniques of Chapter 2 can be
applied to multidimensional motion
 To understand motion under the influence of
gravity near the Earth's surface
 To see circular motion as a special case of
accelerated motion, and learn to find the
magnitude and direction of that acceleration
Vectors
 A vector is a quantity that has both magnitude and direction.
• In two dimensions it takes two numbers to specify a vector.
• In three dimensions it takes three numbers.
• A vector can be represented by an arrow whose length
corresponds to the vector's magnitude.
 Position is a vector quantity.
• An object's position is specified
by giving its distance from an
origin and its direction relative
to each axis.
• Here describes a point 2.0 m
from the origin at a 30º
angle to the axis.

Norm: Length of a vector = r1 = 2.0 m
Adding Vectors

 To add vectors graphically, place the tail of the second vector

at the head of the first vector.
• Their sum is then the vector from the tail of the first vector
to the head of the second vector.
• Here is the sum of and .

• Vector can be translated.

• Rotation and elongation results in 
  r2
a different vector
r1 r1


r2
 Vector Arithmetic
 To multiply a vector by a scalar, multiply the vector's magnitude by
the scalar.
• For a positive scalar the direction is unchanged.
• For a negative scalar the direction reverses.
 To subtract vectors, add the negative of the second vector to the
first:

 Vector addition is commutative and associative:

Addition and multiplication of vectors
 
r1 1 ⋅ r1
 
3 ⋅ r1 − 2 ⋅ r1

Negative vector: reverse direction !


− r2
  
r1 r1 − r2
  
r1 − r2 r1

r2
Unit Vectors
 Unit vectors have a magnitude of 1 and
no units.
• They're used to specify direction in
compact mathematical
representations of vectors.
• Unit vectors in the x, y, and z
directions are designated by
• Any vector in two dimensions
can be written as a linear
combination of 𝐴𝐴⃗ = 𝐴𝐴𝑥𝑥 𝚤𝚤⃗ + 𝐴𝐴𝑦𝑦 𝚥𝚥⃗
• Any vector in three dimensions
can be written as a linear
combination of
𝐴𝐴⃗ = 𝐴𝐴𝑥𝑥 𝚤𝚤⃗ + 𝐴𝐴𝑦𝑦 𝚥𝚥⃗ +𝐴𝐴𝑧𝑧 𝑘𝑘
 Vector Arithmetic with Unit Vectors

 To add vectors, add the individual components:

• , then

• Similarly,

 To multiply by a scalar, distribute the scalar; that is,

multiply the individual components by the scalar:
•
Position, velocity, and acceleration vectors
derivative derivative

 dv
a=
dt

  
r v a

   
r = ∫ vdt v = ∫ adt
integration integration
 Velocity and acceleration in 2D
    
∆v = a∆t v = v0 + a∆t

𝑎𝑎⃗ and 𝑣𝑣⃗ 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐: 𝑎𝑎⃗ and 𝑣𝑣⃗ 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝: I𝑛𝑛 𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔:
only speed changes only direction changes both speed and direction change
Relative Motion in different reference frames
 An object moves with velocity relative to one frame of reference.
 That frame moves at relative to a second reference frame.
 Then the velocity of the object relative to the second frame is

 Example 1:
A jetliner flies at 𝑣𝑣 ′ = 960 km/h relative
to the air in a wind blowing eastward at 𝑉𝑉 = 190 km/h.
In what direction should the plane point
to track northward (with the velocity 𝑣𝑣 along the y axis)?
From the vector diagram identifying the quantities,
we get the angle of 11º west of north.

Air = one frame of reference (frame 1)

Ground = second reference frame (frame 2)
𝑉𝑉 = air velocity (frame 1) relative to frame 2
𝑣𝑣 ′ = jetliner (object) velocity relative to air (frame 1)
Relative Motion in different reference frames
 Example 2:
𝑣𝑣⃗𝐴𝐴 = velocity of object A relative to ground = 60 km/h
𝑣𝑣⃗𝐵𝐵 = velocity of object B relative to ground = 100 km/h
𝑣𝑣⃗𝐴𝐴 − 𝑣𝑣⃗𝐵𝐵 = velocity of object A relative to object B = −40 km/h

100 km/h
A 60 km/h B

 Example 3:
An airplane is making a 500-km trip directly north
that is supposed to take exactly 1 h (at 𝑣𝑣 ). For 100
km/h (at 𝑉𝑉 ) winds blowing in each of the directions
(1), (2), and (3) shown, does the plane’s speed
relative to the air (at 𝑣𝑣 ′) need to be (a) less than, (b)
equal to, or (c) greater than 500 km/h?
 Constant Acceleration

 With constant acceleration, the equations for one-dimensional

motion apply independently in each direction.

 Example:
In two dimensions, the x- and y-components of the position vector
can be written as
 Projectile Motion
 Motion that is predominately influenced by gravity is known as projectile
motion.
 Neglecting air resistance, the acceleration of a projectile near Earth's surface is
directed downward and has a magnitude of a = g = 9.8 m/s2.
 Equations for projectile motion, in a coordinate
system with y axis vertically upward:
Equations for x (constant speed)
𝑎𝑎𝑥𝑥 = 0
𝑣𝑣𝑥𝑥 = 𝑣𝑣𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥
𝑥𝑥 = 𝑥𝑥0 + 𝑣𝑣𝑥𝑥𝑥 𝑡𝑡
Equations for y (constant acceleration)
𝑎𝑎𝑦𝑦 = −𝑔𝑔
𝑣𝑣𝑦𝑦 = 𝑣𝑣𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦 − 𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔
1
𝑦𝑦 = 𝑦𝑦0 + 𝑣𝑣𝑦𝑦𝑦 𝑡𝑡 − 𝑔𝑔𝑡𝑡 2 𝑥𝑥 𝑣𝑣𝑦𝑦𝑦 𝑔𝑔
2 𝑡𝑡 = , 𝑦𝑦 = 𝑦𝑦0 + 𝑥𝑥 − 2 𝑥𝑥 2
𝑣𝑣𝑥𝑥𝑥 𝑣𝑣𝑥𝑥𝑥 2𝑣𝑣𝑥𝑥𝑥
 Projectile Trajectories
 The trajectory of an object in projectile motion is a parabola, unless the
object has no horizontal component of motion.
 Horizontal motion is unchanged, while vertical motion undergoes downward
acceleration:
• Equation for the trajectory:
𝑣𝑣𝑦𝑦𝑦 𝑔𝑔 2
𝑦𝑦 = 𝑥𝑥 − 2 𝑥𝑥
𝑣𝑣𝑥𝑥0 2𝑣𝑣𝑥𝑥𝑥
𝑔𝑔 2
𝑦𝑦 = 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝜃𝜃0 𝑥𝑥 − 2 𝑥𝑥
2𝑣𝑣0 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 2 𝜃𝜃0
 Uniform Circular Motion

 When an object moves in a circular path of radius r at constant speed v,

its acceleration points toward the center of the circle.
 Since the direction of the acceleration keeps changing, this is not
constant acceleration.
Uniform circular motion

These angles are the same,

so the triangles are similar.

∆v ∆r v∆t ∆v v 2
= ≅ a= ≅
v r r ∆t r
 Nonuniform Circular Motion
 When Generally, speed and path radius can both change.
Then, the acceleration has two components:
perpendicular and parallel to the velocity
 Chapter 3 Summary
• In two and three dimensions, position, velocity, and acceleration become
vector quantities.

• In general, acceleration changes both the magnitude and direction

of the velocity.
• Projectile motion results from the constant acceleration of gravity.
• In uniform circular motion, the acceleration has magnitude v2/r and points
toward the center of the circular path.