1. Unit 1: Intro to Physics
Scalars & Vectors

2. Distances and displacements
Distance is ____________________________________
or _________________________________________________
how far an object moves
the change in position of an object
initial
position xi
final
position xf
change in position =
xf - xi
= Dx
Instead of _________ , we will use _____ for distance. Dx d

3. scalars
magnitude
______________– quantities with ______________(size) only
vectors
____________– quantities with magnitude and _________
direction
Distance d is a _______________.
Displacement d is a_____________________ .
scalar
vector.
Vectors are represented by ________________:
arrows

4. Ex: Draw d = 2.0 m, west. Use a scale of 1 cm:1 m.
head
tail
magnitude
must have arrow __________ for_________________
use a ___________ to draw a scale and straight line
right or up is______________; down or left is ___________
right =___________; up =_______________, etc
any vector with same mag. and dir. is_______________
head
direction
ruler
negative
positive
east
north
equal
Ex: All these vectors are _________________ because
they have the same _______________ and _______________:
equal
magnitude
direction

5. Adding vectors
 add using the ________________method.
 draw the _____________ displacement _____ as
an ________ from the ________ of A to the ________ of B
“head to tail”
resultant R
head
arrow
tail A B
Ex: R
Resultant R = _________
5 m, E
R = _____________
Total distance traveled = _________
Resultant displacement =____________
A + B
mag.
dir.
5m.
5m, E

6. Ex: If A = 3m, east
3 m, west
Then –A = ___________
or = __________ (the __________ sign shows direction)
-3 m
negative
Then -X =
If X =
Compared to X, -X has the same ________________ ,
but the opposite _____________________ .
magnitude
direction

7. III. Subtracting vectors using the head to tail method.
A = 2m
B = 3m
Given: -B
A + (-B)
Find A – B = ____________ R A
A + (-B): -B
1 m
mag. = ______
dir. = ______
R =_________ = _________
1m, W
-1 m W
Total distance traveled =___________
but resultant displacement = ______________
5 m
1 m, W

8. √(32 + 42) IV. Adding non-parallel vectors. C Find C + D 4 m 3 m D Rq
4 m
√( )
start
here
mag. of R = ____________
5 m
=___________
5 m, 370 N of E
R = _________________
Total distance = _______
dir. of R: q =
tan-1 (3/4)
7 m
= 370