General Physics

Vectors and Scalars

What’s the Difference?

Speed : Velocity as Scalar : Vector Why is this true? The difference is again, Direction.

Scalar Quantities

Any physical quantity that can be completely described by a magnitude with appropriate units.

Examples?

Vector Quantities

Any physical quantity that requires both a magnitude with appropriate units and a direction for a complete description.

Examples?

Drawing Vectors

The easiest way to begin understanding vectors is to draw them.

A vector is represented as an arrow.The length represents the magnitudeThe head indicates direction

Adding Vectors

Raiders of the Lost Ark Vectors can be added using the Head-To-

Tail Method. Consider an ant walking across a piece of

paper. The first walks from the bottom of the paper

toward the top a distance of 50 cm. The ant then turns and walks to the right for

a distance of 30 cm. The Resultant vector is form start to finish.

Other Methods

There are other methods of adding vectors.

They include:Parallelogram MethodMathematical Method

We will discuss these later.

Vector Activity

Practice adding vectors together using the head-to-tail method.

You will need a ruler, protractor and colored pencils/markers.

Complete the activity on the handout.