SCALAR AND

VECTOR QUANTITIES
• Physical quantities can be classified as
scalars or vectors.
• Scalar are quantities that are specified by
magnitude only.
tells us the numerical value and
unit of a quantity.

EXAMPLE:
• The mass, for example has a magnitude of 15
kg.
• Time, is specified to be 30 seconds.
• Speed is given to be 100 meters/second (m/s)
• Energy is given to be 4,184 joules (J).
• Vectors are quantities that are specified
by both magnitude and direction.

EXAMPLE:
• Velocity, for example, has a magnitude of 80 m/s
and the direction is westward.
• Displacement has a 20-m magnitude going west
(direction).
• Acceleration is given to be 9.8m/s2 (magnitude)
downward (direction)
• Force is 500 Newton (magnitude) at 200 north of
east (direction).
• A vector is represented by a symbol- an
arrow.
• The head of the arrow indicates the
direction of the vector, while the tail
represents the origin.

Length of the arrow

tail head

An arrow representing a vector

Identify each of the following quantities
as either a scalar or a vector quantity:
1. Work SCALAR
2. Momentum VECTOR
3. Acceleration VECTOR
4. Luminous intensity SCALAR
5. Number of moles
SCALAR
6. Magnetic field
VECTOR
7. Force
VECTOR
8. Wavelength
SCALAR
9. Frequency
SCALAR
10.heat
SCALAR
 VECTOR ADDITION
ADDITION OF VECTORS USING THE
GRAPHICAL METHOD

TWO WAYS OF ADDING VECTORS:

• Parallelogram Method
• Polygon Method
 PARALLELOGRAM METHOD
• Also known as “the tail-to-tail method”

• Example1: Force is a vector quantity that

use newton (N) as the unit. Suppose a
force of F1 = 10 N is applied horizontally to a
block. Also, a second force F2= 5 N is applied at
an angle of 30 degrees above the horizontal.
Determine the resultant force that acts on the
block.
 SOLUTION
• STEP 1: Choose the scale. In this case,
1cm = 1 N.
• STEP 2: Draw a Cartesian plane, and plot
the two vectors (the given forces) from “tail
to tail”.
Using your chosen scale, F1 should be
drawn 10 cm long, and F2 should be 5 cm
long. Use a protractor to plot F2, 300 on the
x-axis.
 SOLUTION
• STEP 3: Draw two dashed lines to make a
parallelogram.

• STEP 4: Draw the resultant vector. Use a

ruler to measure the arrow representing
the resultant vector. If your measurement
is correct, it should be about 14.6 cm.

Using your protractor, the angle that the

resultant vector makes with the positive x-
axis should be around 100
 SOLUTION
STEP 5: Using your chosen scale, 14.6 cm is
14.6 N.

Therefore, the resultant force is FR = 14.6 N

1cm= 1N

⃗
𝑭 =𝟓𝒄𝒎 R=14.6 cm

⃗
𝑭 =𝟏𝟎𝒄𝒎
 POLYGON METHOD
• Also known as the “head-to-tail method”

• Displacement, which is a vector quantity,

describes the change in the body’s
position. For example, suppose you walk
from your house with the following
displacements- first, you walk 10 m to the
east; 5 m to the north; and then another 5
m to the west. Find your resultant
displacement
 SOLUTION
• STEP 1: Define the scale as 1cm = 1m

• STEP 2: Using this scale, draw the vectors

in the Cartesian plane. The tail of the first
vector should be at the origin of the
Cartesian plane. The next two vectors
should be drawn in “head-to-tail” manner,
or from the head of the first vector
connecting to the tail of the next vector.
• STEP 3: Construct the resultant
displacement dR by drawing an arrow from
the origin of the Cartesian plane to the
head of the last vector d3. Measure the
length of the arrow using a ruler and its
direction using a protractor. If your
measurement is correct, you should get
about 7.1 m and 450, respectively.
 • STEP 4: Use the scale to convert your
measurement to the resultant
displacement from as shown here.

dR= 7.1 m, 450 or dR= 7.1 m, NE (north east)

 5m, E

5m, N 5m, N

10 m, E
ADDING OF VECTORS USING
THE ANALYTICAL METHOD

• The graphical method in adding vectors is

a powerful tool when a qualitative
description of the resultant vectors is
needed.
• The basic concepts of trigonometry are
important in the analytical method.
• The length of these sides are related through
the Pythagorean theorem: c2=a2 + b2

With reference to
one of the angles of
the right triangle:
• Consider vector A as y
shown in the figure.
This vector can be
projected in both the
x-and y-axes.
Ay A
• Using trigonometry,
the magnitudes of Ax
and Ay can be written
as:
x
Ax
Ax= Acos
Ay= Asin
 y
Ax= Acos
Ay= Asin

Ay A

• This process is
called resolving
the vector.
x
Ax
• You can find its magnitude using the
Pythagorean theorem.

• The direction of the vector ( ) can be

computed through
EXAMPLE 1: Find the x and y components of
a displacement vector with a magnitude of 10
m and direction of 400 with respect to the x-
axis shown here:
SOLUTION y

The x component is

dy d
dx= d cos
= (10 m) cos 400
400
dx= 7.66 m
dx x
EXAMPLE 1: Find the x and y components of
a displacement vector with a magnitude of 10
m and direction of 400 with respect to the x-
axis shown here:
SOLUTION y

The y component is

dy d
dy= d sin
= (10 m) sin 400
400
dy= 6.43 m
dx x
 EXAMPLE 2: vectors can be expressed in
terms of its components in the form (x, y). For
example a displacement vector with
components dx= 5.0m and dy= 8.0 m can be
written as
y

d= [5.0, 8.0] m

dy= 8.0 m d
Find the magnitude
and direction of the
given vector, and
express it in the form
of d= d, dx= 5.0 m x
 SOLUTION:
• STEP 1: Use the Pythagorean theorem,
the magnitude of this vector is:

• STEP 2: The angle or direction this vector

with respect to the x-axis is computed as
follows:
 SAMPLE PROBLEM:
• The following are three displacement
vectors:

A= 10.0, 300
B= 5.0 m, north
C= 12.0 m, 40 east of north

• Add these displacement vectors to find the

resultant displacement.
UNIT VECTORS
 UNIT VECTORS
The components of vectors can also be
expressed in terms of unit vectors.

• A unit vector is a vector with a

magnitude of 1 used to describe in
space.

• The symbol caret or “hat” (^) is placed

above unit vectors to distinguish it from
ordinary vectors.
• The unit vectors used to point in the
direction of positive x-, y-, z- axes are the
following

positive x-axis: i
positive y-axis: j
positive z-axis: k
FIGURE 1. Shows that
these unit vectors are
mutually perpendicular to
each other. y

k i
z x
The component of vector A can
be expressed as:
positive x-axis: i
positive y-axis: j
positive z-axis: k

A= Ax + Ay + Az
VECTORS IN TERMS OF
COMPONENTS AS:
A= Axi + Ayj + Azk
 EXAMPLE: Using the previous information,
express vectors A, B, and C and their resultant
R in terms of its components with unit vectors.

VECTOR x y
COMPONENT COMPONENT
A 8.7 m 5.0 m
B 0m 5.0 m
C 7.7 m 9.2 m
R 16. 4 m 19. 2
 SAMPLE PROBLEM: Consider
the following forces in the unit of
1 Newton (N):

F1= 3i- j + 2k

F2= i + 4j

Find the magnitude of the force F= 2F1- F2.