Honors Physics
Introduction to Vectors
Name
We will be studying two types of physical quantities in physics:
One includes direction and the other does not.
______________________ quantities are expressed by ____________________only. Some
examples of ______________________ quantities are __________ (example: 43.6 g),
__________ (example: 56s), and _______________________ (example: _________). Note that
these quantities only state “how much” and are expressed by a ____________________ and a
___________________.
______________________ quantities are expressed by _________________ and
_________________. One example of a _____________________ quantity is
_________________ (example: 20 N down). What kind of force have we studied which always
acts in a downward direction? __________________.
When we describe the motion of an object, sometimes direction is important and sometimes it
is not. For example:
We use ______________________ to describe the change in position of an object
without any particular direction. This means that distance is a _____________quantity.
If Jackson East walks 5 blocks to school, then 5 blocks home to get his homework which
he forgot, then 5 blocks back to school, he has walked a total distance of ____________
blocks.
When the direction is important, we use ___________________ . This is the change in
position in a certain ____________________. Displacement is a ___________________
quantity. In the example above, if the school is east of his house, what is Jackson’s
displacement? ___________ blocks, _________.
Speed and velocity are also different. Velocity is __________________ in a certain
__________________ . This means that velocity must be a ___________________
quantity, and speed must be a ______________________quantity.
55 mi/h is an example of _____________. 25 m/s, South is an example of ___________.
VECTORS are drawn using an arrow-tipped _________________.
The length of the line represents the ____________________ of the vector while the
direction of the arrow represents the ___________________ of the quantity. The arrows
are very useful for solving problems in which vectors need to be combined.
Look at the example below:
The diagram represents an airplane flying east at 125 km/h. There is a 25 km/h tail wind
(which means it blows in the __________________ direction as the plane.)
Always start with a bold dot. The long vector represents the velocity of the _____________.
The short vector represents the velocity of the _________________. Start at the ________
and draw the first vector. Then place the _____________________ of the next vector on
the ________________ of the last one. The ___________________ (one vector having the
same effect as combined vectors) is always drawn from the starting dot to the last arrow
head. This is called the ____________ to ___________ method for solving vector problems.
What is the resultant vector for the diagram above? ________________________
(Remember to give both magnitude and ____________________).
Consider this example:
What is the resultant velocity if you are driving 40 km/h due north
in a severe thunderstorm if the wind is blowing due north at 3 km/h?
What if the vectors are in opposite directions? Es muy facil!!! We’ll still draw our vectors “head
to tail” and find the resultant. Here’s an example:
A hiker walks 56 km due west, then turns around and walks 25 km due east. What is the
hiker’s displacement? (Remember, draw the resultant from the starting ____________
to the _____________________ of the last vector.)