Vectors

Vector and Scalar quantities Scalar quantities have size or magnitude, but a direction is not specified. (temperature, mass, speed, etc.) Vector quantities have magnitude and a specific direction (velocity, acceleration, etc.)

pg80 Physics Serway /Faugh (Holt)

The Resultant Vector The resultant is a vector that represents the sum of two or more vectors.

One way to find a resultant could be to draw the situation to scale on paper (such as 50 m = 1 cm). Measuring the length of the vector pointing from the tail of the first vector to the head the second vector, and then, multiplying by the scale . For example if line (c) is 3.0 cm the distance would be 150 meters. This is the displacement. pg81 Physics Serway /Faugh (Holt)

An example of the head-to-tail method of vector addition The Physics Classroom.com

Using Pythagorean theorem to find a resultants magnitude. A toy car is moving directly across a moving walkway. As the car moves in the y direction, the walkway moves in the x direction. Physics Serway /Faugh (Holt)

We can look at the diagram as a triangle We can look at the diagram as a triangle. Therefore we can solve this by using the Pythagorean theorem. Physics Serway /Faugh (Holt) b a c