Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
Can you add three unit vectors to get a unit vector? Does your answer change if two unit vectors are along the coordinate axes?
Advertisements
Solution
Yes we can add three unit vectors to get a unit vector.
No, the answer does not change if two unit vectors are along the coordinate axes. Assume three unit vectors \[\hat{i,} - \hat { i} \text { and }\hat { j}\] along the positive x-axis, negative x-axis and positive y-axis, respectively. Consider the figure given below:
The magnitudes of the three unit vectors ( \[\hat {i,} - \hat { i }\text { and } \hat {j})\] are the same, but their directions are different.
So, the resultant of \[\hat { i} \text { and } - \hat {i}\] is a zero vector.
Now, \[\hat {j} + \vec{0} = \hat {j}\] (Using the property of zero vector)
∴ The resultant of three unit vectors ( \[\hat{i,} - \hat {i} \text { and }\hat { j }\]) is a unit vector (\[\hat {j}\]).
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
“It is more important to have beauty in the equations of physics than to have them agree with experiments”. The great British physicist P. A. M. Dirac held this view. Criticize this statement. Look out for some equations and results in this book which strike you as beautiful.
What are the dimensions of the ratio of the volume of a cube of edge a to the volume of a sphere of radius a?
Suppose a quantity x can be dimensionally represented in terms of M, L and T, that is, `[ x ] = M^a L^b T^c`. The quantity mass
A unitless quantity
Find the dimensions of the coefficient of linear expansion α and
The height of mercury column in a barometer in a Calcutta laboratory was recorded to be 75 cm. Calculate this pressure in SI and CGS units using the following data : Specific gravity of mercury = \[13 \cdot 6\] , Density of \[\text{ water} = {10}^3 kg/ m^3 , g = 9 \cdot 8 m/ s^2\] at Calcutta. Pressure
= hpg in usual symbols.
Can a vector have zero component along a line and still have nonzero magnitude?
Let ε1 and ε2 be the angles made by \[\vec{A}\] and -\[\vec{A}\] with the positive X-axis. Show that tan ε1 = tan ε2. Thus, giving tan ε does not uniquely determine the direction of \[\vec{A}\].
Is the vector sum of the unit vectors \[\vec{i}\] and \[\vec{i}\] a unit vector? If no, can you multiply this sum by a scalar number to get a unit vector?
Can you have \[\vec{A} \times \vec{B} = \vec{A} \cdot \vec{B}\] with A ≠ 0 and B ≠ 0 ? What if one of the two vectors is zero?
Which of the sets given below may represent the magnitudes of three vectors adding to zero?
A vector \[\vec{A}\] points vertically upward and \[\vec{B}\] points towards the north. The vector product \[\vec{A} \times \vec{B}\] is
Refer to figure (2 − E1). Find (a) the magnitude, (b) x and y component and (c) the angle with the X-axis of the resultant of \[\overrightarrow{OA}, \overrightarrow{BC} \text { and } \overrightarrow{DE}\].
A spy report about a suspected car reads as follows. "The car moved 2.00 km towards east, made a perpendicular left turn, ran for 500 m, made a perpendicular right turn, ran for 4.00 km and stopped". Find the displacement of the car.
Two vectors have magnitudes 2 m and 3m. The angle between them is 60°. Find (a) the scalar product of the two vectors, (b) the magnitude of their vector product.
Let A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A1 be a regular hexagon. Write the x-components of the vectors represented by the six sides taken in order. Use the fact the resultant of these six vectors is zero, to prove that
cos 0 + cos π/3 + cos 2π/3 + cos 3π/3 + cos 4π/3 + cos 5π/3 = 0.
Use the known cosine values to verify the result.
Give an example for which \[\vec{A} \cdot \vec{B} = \vec{C} \cdot \vec{B} \text{ but } \vec{A} \neq \vec{C}\].
The electric current in a charging R−C circuit is given by i = i0 e−t/RC where i0, R and C are constant parameters of the circuit and t is time. Find the rate of change of current at (a) t = 0, (b) t = RC, (c) t = 10 RC.
In a submarine equipped with sonar, the time delay between the generation of a pulse and its echo after reflection from an enemy submarine is observed to be 80 s. If the speed of sound in water is 1460 ms-1. What is the distance of an enemy submarine?
