Name:
Date:
Section:
Vector Addition– Lab 4
Aim: How do add vectors?
Background
What is the difference between vectors and scalars? Name 5 vector quantities you know with
their units.
Hypothesis
Materials
Procedures
1. Read the background information.
2. Sign out a computer
3. Go to http://illuminations.nctm.org/Activity.aspx?id=3536
4.
Data and
Analysis
Conclusion
What are the rules to adding vectors? How can adding vectors help you in your daily life?
Vector Addition– Lab 4
Use the website to produce four successful resultants. Write down the components and the
resultant from the window on the right side of the page.
Vector Addition
Vector addition is the operation of adding two or more vectors together into a vector sum.
The so-called parallelogram law gives the rule for vector addition of two or more
vectors. For two vectors
and , the vector sum
is obtained by placing
them head to tail and drawing the vector from the free tail to the free head.
In Cartesian coordinates, vector addition can be performed simply by adding the
corresponding components of the vectors, so if
and
,
Vectors are added head to tail. The resultant starts at the tail of the first and ends at the head of the last.

If vectors are going in the same direction (0 degrees) - the resultant is the sum of the magnitude (size) of
the vectors and is in the same direction.

If the vectors are going in opposite directions (180 degrees) - the resultant is the subtraction of the two
vectors and is going in the direction of the larger vector.

If the vectors are perpendicular to each other. (90 degree) - the resultant can be found using the
Pythagorean theory.
Boat
Size
15
Water
ϴ
Size
202.62 7.8
Resultant
ϴ
153.4
Size
21
ϴ
186.19