Vectors

Q 1. The sum and difference of two perpendicular vectors of equal length are
(a) Perpendicular to each other and of equal length
(b) Perpendicular to each other and of different lengths
(c) Of equal length and have an obtuse angle between them
(d) Of equal length and have an acute angle between them
Q 2. The minimum number of vectors having different planes which can be added to give zero
resultant is
(a) 2 (b) 3 (c) 4 (d) 5
Q 3. A vector perpendicular to ˆi + ˆj + kˆ is
(a) ˆi  ˆj  kˆ (b) ˆi  ˆj  kˆ (c) ˆi  ˆj  kˆ (d) 3iˆ  2ˆj  5kˆ
Q 4. From Fig., the correct relation is

(a) A  B  C  0 (b) C  D  A (c) B  E  C  D (d) All of the above

Q 5. Out of the following set of forces, the resultant of which cannot be zero?
(a) 10, 10, 10 (b) 10, 10, 20 (c) 10,20,20 (d) 10,20,40
Q 6. The resultant of two vectors A and B is perpendicular to the vector A and its magnitude is
equal to half of the magnitude of vector B Fig. The angle between A and B is

(a) 120° (b) 150° (c) 135° (d) None of these

Q 7. The ratio of maximum and minimum magnitudes of the resultant of two vectors a and b is 3 :
1. Now, | a | is equal to
(a) | b | (b) 2| b | (c) 3| b | (d) 4| b |
Q 8. Two forces, each equal to F, act as shown in Fig. Their resultant is

(a) F/2 (b) F (c) 3F (d) 5F

Q 9. Vector A is 2 cm long and is 60° above the x-axis in the first quadrant. Vector B is 2 cm long
and is 60° below the x-axis in the fourth quadrant. The sum A  B is a vector of magnitude
(a) 2 cm along positive y-axis (b) 2 cm along positive x-axis
(c) 2 cm along negative y-axis (d) 2 cm along negative x-axis
Q 10. What is the angle between two vector forces of equal magnitude such that their resultant is
one-third of either of the original forces?
  17   1
(a) cos 1    (b) cos 1    (c) 45° (d) 120°
 18   3
Q 11. The angle between A  B and A  B is
(a) 0 (b) /2 (c) /2 (d) 
ˆ ˆ ˆ
Q 12. The projection of a vector r  3i  j  2k on the x-y plane has magnitude
(a) 3 (b) 4 (c) 14 (d) 10
Q 13. If | A  B || A || B | , then the angle between A and B is
(a) 120° (b) 60° (c) 90° (d) 0°
Q 14. If vectors A  i  2 j  4k and B  5iˆ represent the two sides of a triangle, then the third side of
ˆ ˆ ˆ
the triangle can have length equal to
(a) 6 (b) 56 (c) Both of the above (d) None of the above
Q 15. Given | A | = 2, | A | = 3 and | A1  A2 | = 3. Find the value of (A1  2A2 )(3A1  4A2 ) .
(a) -64 (b) 60 (c) -60 (d) 64
Q 16. Three vectors A, B, C satisfy the relation A . B = 0 and A . C = 0. The vector A is parallel to
(a) B (b) C (c) B . C (d) B  C
Q 17. If A  B  C , and the magnitudes of A, B, C are 5,4, and 3 units, then the angle between A
and C is
3 4 3 
(a) cos 1   (b) cos 1   (c) sin 1   (d)
5 5 4 2
Q 18. Given : A  A cos ˆi  A sin ˆj . A vector B , which is perpendicular to A , is given by
(a) Bcos ˆi  Bsin ˆj (b) Bsin ˆi  Bcos ˆj (c) Bcos ˆi  Bsin ˆj (d) Bsin ˆi  Bcos ˆj
Q 19. The angle which the vector A  2iˆ  3jˆ makes with the y-axis, where î and ˆj are unit vectors
along x- and y-axes, respectively, is
(a) cos-1 (3/5) (b) cos-1 (2/3) (c) tan-1 (2/3) (d) sin-1 (2/3)
Q 20. Given P  3iˆ  4ˆj .Which of the following is perpendicular to P ?
(a) 3iˆ (b) 4 ˆj (c) 4iˆ  3jˆ (d) 4iˆ  3jˆ
Q 21. In going from one city to another, a car travels 75 km norm, 60 km north-west and 20 km east.
The magnitude of displacement between the two cities is (take 1 2 = 0.7)
(a) 170 km (b) 137 km (c) 119 km (d) 140 km
Q 22. What is the angle between A and B , if A and B are the adjacent sides of a parallelogram
drawn from a common point and the area of the parallelogram is AB/2 ?
(a) 15° (b) 30° (c) 45° (d) 60°
Q 23. Two vectors a and b are such that | a  b |  | a  b | . What is the angle between a and b ?
(a) 0° (b) 90° (c) 60° (d) 180°
Q 24. Given A  4iˆ  6ˆj and B  2iˆ  3jˆ . Which of the following is correct?
|A| 1
(a) A  B  0 (b) A . B = 24 (c)  (d) A and B are antiparallel
| B| 2
Q 25. Given A  2iˆ  pjˆ  qkˆ and B  5iˆ  7ˆj  3kˆ . If A | | B , then the values of p and q are,
respectively,
 14 6 14 6 6 1 3 1
(a) and (b) and (c) and (d) and
5 5 3 5 5 3 4 4
Q 26. If A is perpendicular to B , then
(a) A  B  0 (b) A . [A  B]  A 2 (c) A .B  AB (d) A . [A  B]  A 2  AB
Q 27. If the angle between the vectors a and b is an acute angle, then the difference a  b is
(a) The major diagonal of the parallelogram (b) The minor diagonal of the parallelogram
(c) Any of the above (d) None of the above
Q 28. Given that A  B  C . If | A | 4, | B |  5 and | C |  61 , the angle between A and B is
(a) 30° (b) 60° (c) 90° (d) 120°
ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ
Q 29. If b  3i  4 j and a  i  j , the vector having the same magnitude as that of b and parallel to
a is
5 ˆ ˆ 5 ˆ ˆ
(a) (i  j) (b) (i  j) (c) 5(iˆ  ˆj) (d) 5(iˆ  ˆj)
2 2
Q 30. Choose the wrong statement.
(a) Three vectors of different magnitudes may be combined to give zero resultant.
(b) Two vectors of different magnitudes can be combined to give a zero resultant.
(c) The product of a scalar and a vector is a vector quantity.
(d) All of the above are wrong statements.
Q 31. What displacement at an angle 60° to the x-axis has an x-component of 5 m ? î and ˆj are unit
vectors in x and y directions, respectively.
(a) 5iˆ (b) 5iˆ  5jˆ (c) 5iˆ  5 3jˆ (d) All of the above
Q 32. Mark the correct statement.
(a) | a  b |  | a |  | b | (b) | a  b |  | a |  | b | (c) | a  b |  | a |  | b | (d) All of the above
Q 33. Out of the following forces, the resultant of which cannot be 10 N?
(a) 15 N and 20 N (b) 10 N and 10 N (c) 5N and 12N (d) 12N and 1N
Q 34. Which of the following pairs of forces cannot be added to give a resultant force of 4 N?
(a) 2 N and 8 N (b) 2N and 2N (c) 2N and 6N (d) 2N and 4N
Q 35. In an equilateral triangle ABC, AL, BM, and CN are medians. Forces along BC and BA
represented by them will have a resultant represented by
(a) 2AL (b) 2BM (c) 2CN (d) AC
Q 36. The vector sum of two forces is perpendicular to their vector difference. The forces are
(a) Equal to each other (b) Equal to each other in magnitude
(c) Not equal to each other in magnitude (d) Cannot be predicted
Q 37. If a parallelogram is formed with two sides represented by vectors a and b , then a  b
represents the
(a) Major diagonal when the angle between vectors is acute
(b) Minor diagonal when the angle between vectors is obtuse
(c) Both of the above
(d) None of the above
Q 38. The resultant C of A and B is perpendicular to A . Also, | A |  | C | . The angle between A
and B is
 3 5 7
(a) rad (b) rad (c) rad (d) rad
4 4 4 4
Q 39. Two forces F1 = 500 N due east and F2 = 250 N due north have their common initial point.
F2  F1 is
(a) 250 5 N , tan-1(2) W of N (b) 250N, tan-1(2) W of N
(c) Zero (d) 750N, tan-1 (3/4) N of W
Q 40. The resultant of the three vectors OA, OB, and OC shown in Fig. is

(a) r (b) 2r (c) r(1  2) (d) r( 2  1)

Q 41. Two vectors a and b are at an angle of 60° with each other. Their resultant makes an angle of
45° with a . If | b | = 2 units, then | a | is
(a) 3 (b) 3 -1 (c) 3 +1 (d) 3/2
Q 42. The resultant of two vectors P and Q is R . If the magnitude of Q is doubled, the new
resultant vector becomes perpendicular to P . Then, the magnitude of R is equal to
(a) P + Q (b) P (c) P - Q (d) Q
Q 43. A vector A when added to the vector B  3iˆ  4ˆj yields a resultant vector that is in the
positive v-direction and has a magnitude equal to that of B . Find the magnitude of A .
(a) 10 (b) 10 (c) 5 (d) 15
Q 44. ABCDEF is a regular hexagon with point O as center. The value of AB  AC  AD  AE  AF
is
(a) 2AO (b) 4AO (c) 6AO (d) 0
Q 45. In a two-dimensional motion of a particle, the particle moves from point A, with position
vector r1 , to point B, with position vector r2 . If the magnitudes of these vectors are,
respectively, r1 = 3 and r2 = 4 and the angles they make with the x-axis are 1 = 75° and 2
=15°, respectively, then find the magnitude of the displacement vector.

(a) 15 (b) 13 (c) 17 (d) 15

Q 46. The sum of the magnitudes of two forces acting at a point is 16 N. The resultant of these forces
is perpendicular to the smaller force and has a magnitude of 8 N. If the smaller force is of
magnitude x, then the value of x is
(a) 2N (b) 4N (c) 6N (d) 7N
Q 47. The angle between two vectors A and B is . The resultant of these vectors R makes an angle
of /2 with (A) Which of the following is true?
 (a) A = 2B (b) A = B/2 (c) A = B (d) AB = 1
Q 48. The resultant of three vectors 1, 2, and 3 units whose directions are those of the sides of an
equilateral triangle is at an angle of
(a) 30° with the first vector (b) 15° with the first vector
(c) 100° with the first vector (d) 150° with the first vector
Q 49. A unit vector along the incident ray of light is î . The unit vector for the corresponding
refracted ray of light is rˆ . nˆ , a unit vector normal to the boundary of the medium and directed
towards the incident medium. If  is the refractive index of the medium, then Snell's law
(second law) of refraction is
(a) ˆi  nˆ  (nˆ  r)
ˆ (b) ˆi . nˆ  (rˆ . n)
ˆ (c) ˆi  nˆ  (rˆ  n)
ˆ (d) ˆi  nˆ  (rˆ . n)
ˆ
Q 50. The components of a vector along the x- and y-directions are (n +1) and 1, respectively. If the
coordinate system is rotated by an angle  = 60°, then the components change to n and 3. The
value of n is
(a) 2 (b) cos 60° (c) sin 60° (d) 3.5
Q 51. Two point masses 1 and 2 move with uniform velocities v1 and v 2 , respectively. Their initial
position vectors are r1 and r2 , respectively. Which of the following should be satisfied for the
collision of the point masses?
r r v v r2  r1 v v
(a) 1 2  2 1 (b)  2 1
| r2  r1 | | v 2  v1 | | r2  r1 | | v 2  v1 |
r2  r1 v v r2  r1 v v
(c)  2 1 (d)  2 1
| r2  r1 | | v 2  v1 | | r2  r1 | | v 2  v1 |
Answers
1. (a) 2. (c) 3. (d) 4. (d) 5. (d) 6. (b) 7. (b) 8. (b) 9. (b) 10. (a) 11. (c) 12. (d) 13. (a) 14. (c)
15. (a) 16. (d) 17. (a) 18. (b) 19. (c) 20. (c) 21. (c) 22. (b) 23. (b) 24. (a) 25. (a) 26. (b) 27. (b)
28. (b) 29. (a) 30. (b) 31. (c) 32. (b) 33. (d) 34. (a) 35. (b) 36. (b) 37. (c) 38. (b) 39. (a) 40. (c)
41. (b) 42. (d) 43. (a) 44. (c) 45. (b) 46. (c) 47. (c) 48. (d) 49. (c) 50. (d) 51. (a)

Solutions
1. Given | A |  | B | or A = B.
Sum R  A  B
 | R | A 2  B2  2A
Difference S  A  B
 | S | A 2  B2  2A
1 = 45, 2 = 45
Hence, R and S will be perpendicular and also of equal lengths.

2. (c) The minimum number of vectors having different planes which can be added to give zero
resultant is 4.
3. (d) We see that the dot product of ˆi  ˆj  kˆ with 3iˆ  2ˆj  5kˆ is zero.
4. (d) In MNO, A  C  D  0  C  D  A
 Hence, (b) is correct. In MNP, A  B  E  0
Hence, (a) is correct. In MPNO, E  B  C  D  0
 B  E  C  D
Hence, (c) is correct.
5. (d) For the resultant of some vectors to be zero, they should form a closed figure taken in the
same order.
R 1
6. (b) cos      = 60
B 2
Angle between A and B = 90° +  = 150°
ab 3
7. (b)  or 3a – 3b = a + b
ab 1
or 2a = 4b or a = 2b
8. (b) Note that the angle between two forces is 120° and not 60°.
R2 = F2 + F2 + 2F2 cos 120°
 1
= 2F2 + 2F2    F2
 2
or R=F
9. (b) Here the angle between two vectors of equal magnitude is 120.
So resultant has the same magnitude as either of the given vectors. Moreover, it is mid-way
between the two vectors, i.e., it is along x-axis.
2
1
10. (a)   = 12 + 12 + 2 × 1 × 1 cos 
3
1 1
or = 2(1 + cos ) or 1 + cos  =
9 18
1 17  17 
or cos    1   or   cos 1   
18 18  18 
11. (c) A  B will be in the plane containing A and B , whereas A  B will be perpendicular to
that plane.
12. (d) Consider only x and y components: 32  12  10
13. (a) Given R = A = B, it will give  = 120°.
14. (c) Let the third side be C , then | C |  | A  B | or | C |  | A  B |
15. (a) A1 = 2, A2 = 3, | A1  A2 |  3
 | A1  A2 | 2  9
 A12  A22  2A1 .A2  9
 22 + 32 + 2A1 .A2  9  A1 .A2  2
Now, (A1  2A2 ).(3A1  4A2 )  3A12  8A22  2A1 .A2
= 3(2)2 – 8(3)2 + 2(-2)
= - 64
16. (d) A.B  0 (given)  AB
A . C  0 (given)  AC
A is perpendicular to both B and C .
 We know from the definition of cross product that B  C is perpendicular to both B and C .
So A is parallel to B  C .

C 3
17. (a) cos   
A 5

3
or   cos 1  
5
18. (b) Clearly, B should be either in the second quadrant or the fourth quadrant. In none of the
given options, we have  î term. So the second quadrant is ruled out. Also B should make an
angle of 90° -  with the x-axis (Fig.). So, B should be B cos (90° - ) î - B sin(90° - ) ˆj = B
sin  î - B cos ˆj .

19. (c) See Fig.

2 2
tan   or   tan 1  
3 3
20. (c) P is in the fourth quadrant. 4iˆ  3jˆ is in the first quadrant. Clearly, 4iˆ  3jˆ can be
perpendicular to P . For confirmation, let us check whether their dot product is zero.
(3iˆ  4ˆj)  (4iˆ  3j)
ˆ = 12 - 12 = 0

This shows that 4iˆ  3jˆ is perpendicular to 3iˆ  4ˆj .

21. (c) S  75jˆ  [60 cos 45o ˆj  60sin 45o ˆi]  20iˆ
= (20 - 60 × 0.7) î + (60 × 0.7 + 75) ˆj = -22 î + 117 ˆj
S  222  1172  484  13689  14173  119km

22. (b) Area of parallelogram: | A  B | = AB/2 (given)

 AB sin  = AB/2  sin  = 1/2   = 30°
23. (b) a2 + b2 + 2ab cos  = a2 + b2 - 2ab cos 
or 4ab cos  = 0
But 4ab  0  cos  = 0 or  = 90°
Aliter
(a  b) and (a  b) are the diagonals of a parallelogram whose adjacent sides are a and b .
Since | a  b |  | a  b | , the two diagonals of a parallelogram are equal.
So, think of rectangle. This leads to  = 90°.
24. (a) A  B  (4iˆ  6ˆj)  (2iˆ  3j)
ˆ

12(iˆ  ˆj)  12(ˆj  ˆi)

= 12(iˆ  ˆj)  12(iˆ  ˆj) = 0
Again, A.B  (4iˆ  6ˆj)  (2iˆ  3j) ˆ = 8 + 18 = 26

A 16  36 1
Again,  
B 49 2
1
Also, B A
2
 A and B are parallel and not antiparallel.
ˆi ˆj kˆ
25. (a) A  B  2 p q  0
5 7 3

or î (3p - 7q) + ˆj (5q - 6) + k̂ (14 - 5p) = 0

6
3p = 7q, 5q - 6 = 0 or q=
5
26. (b) If A is perpendicular to B , then A.B = 0 and A  B  0.
27. (b) PR = a + b  major diagonal
SQ = a  b  minor diagonal

28. (b) A  B  C
( A  B )( A  B ) = C.C
 A2 + B2 + 2AB cos  = C2
 42 + 52 + 2 × 4 × 5 cos  = 61
1
 cos     = 60
2
29. (a) Let that vector be C . Then
C  CCˆ  baˆ  C  ba  5 (iˆ  ˆj)
a 2
30. (b) For the resultant of two vectors to be zero, they should be equal and opposite.
31. (c) In first option (a), vector is along the x-axis (Fig.).

In (b), angle of vector with the x-axis

5
tan    1   = 45
5
In (c), angle of vector with the x-axis
5 3
tan    3   = 60
5
32. (b) See Fig.

AC ≤ AB + BC  | a  b |  | a |  | b |
33. (d) The resultant of two forces can lie between A - B and A + B,
i.e., 12 - 1 = 11 N and 12 + 1 = 13 N.
34. (a) Find min (A - B) and max (A + B) value of each case, then check if 4 N lies between them.
35. (b) BA  BC  2BD
BA  BC  2BM

Hence, the answer is 2BM.

36. (b) (A  B)(A  B) = 0
A2 - B2 = 0  A2 = B2
 A=B
37. (c)

a  b  major diagonal, a  b  minor diagonal

C
38. (b) tan  '   1
A


  '  45o 
4
  3
   
4 4
39. (a) F2  F1  F2  (F1 )
= 250 N due north + 500 N due west
500
tan   2
200
| F2  F1 |  (500) 2  (250) 2  250 5 N

40. (c) OC and OA are equal in magnitude and inclined to each other at an angle of 90°. So their
resultant is 2r . It acts mid-way between OC and OA , i.e., along OB.
Now, both r and 2r are along the same line and in the same direction.
Resultant = r  2r  r(1  2)
2sin 60o 3
41. (b) tan 45o  
a  2 cos 60 o
a 1
3
or 1 or a  1  3 or a  3  1
a 1
2Qsin  2Qsin 
42. (d) tan 90o   
P  2Q cos  P  2Q cos 
 P + 2Q cos  = 0
Now R2 = P2 + Q2 + 2PQ cos 
= Q2+ P[P + 2Q cos ]

Alternative method:
R  PQ  P  R Q
and S  P  2Q  R  Q  2Q  R  Q
Now, S and P are perpendicular (Fig.), so
S.P = 0  ( R  Q ) . ( R  Q ) = 0
 R = Q2 R=Q
43. (a) Given C | B | j  C  5jˆ
ˆ

Let C  A  B  A  3iˆ  4ˆj

 5jˆ  A  3iˆ  4ˆj
 A  3iˆ  ˆj
 | A |  32  12  10
44. (c) AB  AF  AO  AB  AO  AF
 AC  AB  AO, AD  2AO, AE  AO  AF

Now, AB  AC  AD  AE  AF
5AO  AB  AF  5 AO  AO  6AO
45. (b) Displacement= AB , angle between r1 and r2 is  = 75° - 15° = 60°
From Figure, AB2 = r12  r22  2r1r2 cos 
= 32 + 42 – 2 × 3 × 4 cos 60° = 13
 AB  13
46. (c) x + y = 16.
Also, y2 = 82 + x2
or y2 = 64 + (16 - y)2 [ x = 16 - y]

or y2 = 64 + 256 + y2 - 32y
or 32y = 320 or y = 10 N
 x + 10 = 16 or x = 6N
47. (c) Graphically:
ROQ = /2, RQO = /2
Hence, OQR is isosceles.
 OR = RQ  B=A

Analytically:
Bsin 
tan( / 2) 
A  Bcos 
sin( / 2) 2Bsin( / 2) cos( / 2)
 
cos( / 2) A  B[2 cos 2 ( / 2)  1]
 A + 2B cos2(/2) - B = 2Bcos2(/2)  A = B
48. (d) Analytically:
Rx = 1 + 2 cos 120° + 3 cos 240°
= -3/2

Ry = 2 sin 120° + 3 sin 240°

 3  3 3
 2  3      
2  2  2
3
Ry 
3 1
tan    2     = 30
Rx 3 3 3

2
Hence, angle with first vector is 180 -  = 150°.
Graphically:

AB = 1, BC = 2, CD = 3
R  AD is resultant, clearly angle between R and AB is 150°.
49. (c) You have to try all the options. Let us discuss the correct option only.

ˆi  nˆ  (rˆ  n)
ˆ
(1)(1) sin (180 - i) = (1)(1) (180 - r)
sin i =  sin r
50. (d) The length of the vector is not changed by the rotation of the coordinate axes.
(n  1) 2  12  n 2  32
or n2 + 2n + 2 = n2 + 9
or 2n = 1 or n = 3.5
51. (a) For collision,
r1  v1t  r2  v2 t
or r1  r2  (v2  v1 )t
Equating unit vectors, we get

r1  r2 v v
 2 1
| r2  r1 | | v 2  v1 |