10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 2: Motion in 2-D

VectorAddition:GeometryandComponents

LearningGoal:
Tounderstandhowvectorsmaybeaddedusinggeometryorbyrepresentingthemwithcomponents.

Fundamentally,vectorsarequantitiesthatpossessbothmagnitudeanddirection.Inphysicsproblems,itisbesttothinkof
vectorsasarrows,andusuallyitisbesttomanipulatethemusingcomponents.Inthisproblemweconsidertheadditionoftwo
vectorsusingbothofthesemethods.Wewillemphasizethatonemethodiseasiertoconceptualizeandtheotherismoresuited
tomanipulations.

ConsideraddingthevectorsAandB,whichhavelengthsAandB,respectively,andwhereBmakesananglefromthe
directionofA.

Invectornotationthesumisrepresentedby

C = A +B .

Additionusinggeometry

PartA

WhichofthefollowingprocedureswilladdthevectorsAandB?
ANSWER:

PutthetailofBonthearrowofAC goesfromthetailofAtothearrowofB

PutthetailofAonthetailofBC goesfromthearrowofBtothearrowofA

PutthetailofAonthetailofBC goesfromthearrowofAtothearrowofB

CalculatethemagnitudeasthesumofthelengthsandthedirectionasmidwaybetweenAandB.

Correct

ItisequallyvalidtoputthetailofAonthearrowofBthenC goesfromthetailofBtothearrowofA.

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PartB

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10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 2: Motion in 2-D

FindC ,thelengthofC ,thesumofAandB.

ExpressC intermsofA,B,andangle,usingradian
measureforknownangles.

Hint1.Lawofcosines
ThelawofcosinesrelatesthelengthsofthesidesofanytriangleofsidesA,B,andC .Usingthegeometricnotation
wherecistheangleoppositesideC :
2 2 2
C = A +B 2AB cos(c) .

Hint2.Interiorandexteriorangles
Notethatisanexterioranglethatisthesupplementofanglec.
Expressintermsofcandrelevantconstantssuchas\texttip{\pi}{pi},usingradianmeasureforknown
angles.
ANSWER:

\texttip{\theta}{theta}= {\pi}c

ANSWER:

\texttip{C}{C}= \sqrt{A^{2}+B^{2}+2AB{\cos}\left({\theta}\right)}

AnswerRequested

PartC
Findtheangle\texttip{\phi}{phi}thatthevector\texttip{\vec{C}}{C_vec}makeswithvector\texttip{\vec{A}}{A_vec}.
Express\texttip{\phi}{phi}intermsof\texttip{C}{C}andanyofthequantitiesgivenintheproblemintroduction(
\texttip{A}{A},\texttip{B}{B},and/or\texttip{\theta}{theta})aswellasanynecessaryconstants.Useradianmeasure
forknownangles.Useasinforarcsine

Hint1.Lawofsines
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10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 2: Motion in 2-D
Althoughthisanglecanbedeterminedbyusingthelawofcosineswith\texttip{\phi}{phi}astheangle,thisresultsin
morecomplicatedalgebra.Abetterwayistousethelawofsines,whichinthiscaseis

\large{\frac{\sin(\phi)}{B}=\frac{\sin(c)}{C}=\frac{\sin(a)}{A}}.

ANSWER:

\texttip{\phi}{phi}= \large{{\asin}\left(\frac{B{\sin}\left({\pi}{\theta}\right)}{C}\right)}

AnswerRequested

Additionusingvectorcomponents

PartD
Tomanipulatethesevectorsusingvectorcomponents,wemustfirstchooseacoordinatesystem.Inthiscasechoosing
meansspecifyingtheangleofthexaxis.Theyaxismustbeperpendiculartothisandbyconventionisoriented\pi/2radians
counterclockwisefromthexaxis.

Indicatewhetherthefollowingstatementistrueorfalse:
Thereisonlyoneuniquecoordinatesysteminwhichvectorcomponentscanbeadded.
ANSWER:

true

false

Correct

PartE
Thekeypointisthatyouarecompletelyfreetochooseanycoordinatesystemyouwantinwhichtomanipulatethevectors.
Itisamatterofconvenienceonly,andsoyoumustconsiderwhichorientationwillsimplifyfindingthecomponentsofthe
givenvectorsandinterpretingtheresultsinthatcoordinatesystemtogettherequiredanswer.Consideringthesefactors,
andknowingthatyouaregoingtoberequiredtofindthelengthof\texttip{\vec{C}}{C_vec}anditsanglewithrespectto
\texttip{\vec{A}}{A_vec},whichofthefollowingorientationssimplifiesthecalculationthemost?

ANSWER:

Thexaxisshouldbeorientedalong\vec{A}

Thexaxisshouldbeorientedalong\vec{B}

Thexaxisshouldbeorientedalong\vec{C}

Correct
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10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 2: Motion in 2-D

PartF
Findthecomponentsof\texttip{\vec{B}}{B_vec}inthecoordinatesystemshown.
Expressyouranswerasanorderedpair:x component, y
component intermsof\texttip{B}{B}and\texttip{\theta}
{theta}.Useradianmeasureforknownangles.

ANSWER:

B_x,B_y= B{\cos}{\theta},B{\sin}{\theta}

Correct

PartG
Inthesamecoordinatesystem,whatarethecomponentsof\texttip{\vec{C}}{C_vec}?

Expressyouranswerasanorderedpairseparatedbyacomma.Giveyouranswerintermsofvariablesdefinedin
theintroduction(\texttip{A}{A},\texttip{B}{B},and\texttip{\theta}{theta}).Useradianmeasureforknownangles.
ANSWER:

C_x,C_y= A+B{\cos}\left({\theta}\right),B{\sin}\left({\theta}\right)

AnswerRequested
Thisshouldshowyouhoweasyitistoaddvectorsusingcomponents.Subtractionissimilarexceptthatthe
componentsmustbesubtractedratherthanadded,andthismakesitimportanttoknowwhetheryouarefinding
\vec{D}=\vec{A}\vec{B}or\vec{E}=\vec{B}\vec{A}.(Notethat\vec{E}=\vec{D}.)

Althoughaddingvectorsusingcomponentsisclearlytheeasierpath,youprobablyhavenoimmediatepictureinyour
mindtogoalongwiththisprocedure.Conversely,youprobablythinkofaddingvectorsinthewaywe'vedrawnthe
figureforPartB.

Thisjustifiesthefollowingmaxim:Thinkaboutvectorsgeometricallyaddvectorsusingcomponents.

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