Vector Hunting

Goals: Utilize vectors to describe a route. Find an object using vectors and a starting
point.

For this laboratory, each individual will produce a report. Every individual should copy
all records provided by the Recorder.

Roles: 1 Recorder, 1 Technician, 1 Reader, 1 Facilitator

The Reader should read the instruction aloud to the group as they progress.

Procedure:

Step One: Establishing the Route

1. Establish an outdoor area which is large enough to walk at least 15 steps across.
Identify the cardinal directions using a compass.
2. Find a landmark which will serve as a starting point. Some distance away,
identify another landmark which will be an ending point. Choose the points so
that you could walk straight from one to the other.
3. The Recorder and Facilitator should plot a path from start to end which uses only
cardinal directions and landmarks and has five directions. The recorder should
describe in a paragraph the route from starting to end point. Example: “Travel 10
steps east from the stump until you reach the grass. Turn south and walk 5 steps
to the grate. Turn east again and walk 7 steps to the edge of the sidewalk. Turn
west and walk 3 steps to the bench. Walk 2 steps north to the flagpole.”
4. On the group log the Technician will record the number of steps as a numbered
list of components in unit-vector notation. Example:
i. Starting point: stump
ii. 10 steps East
iii. 5 Steps South
iv. 7 Steps East
v. 3 Steps West
vi. 2 Steps North
vii. Ending Point: flagpole
5. The recorder should copy these directions, omitting the ending point, on to a
separate sheet of paper and put the group name, number and members at the top.
The Facilitator should then take the paper to the next group (i.e. if your group
number is 2, take it to 3, last wraps to first.)
Step Two: Finding the Object

1. A Facilitator from another group should give your group a list of vectors. They
should also point out where the route begins.
2. The Technician should convert the list of components to a magnitude/direction
vector. The Recorder and Facilitator will use a compass and protractor to plot a
direction from the starting point, and the Facilitator will walk the magnitude to
find the ending point.
3. When the entire route is finished, the ending point should be identified and
confirmed (by the Facilitator) with the group who gave the directions. If it is not,
attempt to communicate with the other group on what source of error there might
be.
4. The Recorder should compose a description of the route in prose.

Step Three: The Lab Report

1. Title page, with names of group members and their roles, computer illustration
representing the activity, title of activity, name of author, class and date.

2. A paragraph describing the group’s route and the route given to the group as
prose, labeling each with a header. Answer the following review questions on a
separate page:

What were some of the challenges when following the procedure? What sources
of error might exist? How might the procedure be improved? If you were to use
a mapping program such as Google Maps to plot a route from your home to the
school, how might your distance traveled along a route for cars differ from a
route planned for walking? Why?

3. Create a list of each route in unit vector format as described above. They should
display algebraically an addition of these vectors to produce a start-to-finish unit
vector, converted into magnitude/direction form (showing the work, typed in an
Equation Editor).

4. Draw (on two sheets of graph paper) the vectors composing the two routes using a
scale described in a legend. It should also draw a vector from start to finish, with
an angle from one of the cardinal directions. Please use colors to distinguish
between the routes.