2.3 Nature of Quantities

Question 1

what is a scalar quantity?

Answer 1

a quantity which has only magnitude, not direction

Question 2

what is a vector quantity?

Answer 2

a quantity which has both magnitude and direction

Question 3

what are some examples of scalar quantities?

Answer 3

mass, time, temp, length, speed, energy, volume, power

Question 4

what are some examples of vector quantities?

Answer 4

force, displacement, velocity, acceleration, momentum, pressure, impulse

Question 5

what does it mean to resolve a vector?

Answer 5

the splitting of a vector into its horizontal and vertical components (Vx = Vcos θ and Vy = Vcosθ)

Question 6

how do you calculate the resultant vector of two vectors in the same plane (coplanar)?

Answer 6

use a vector triangle and always draw ‘tip to tail’

Question 7

what should you do to calculate the resultant vector when they vectors are not at right angles?

Answer 7

you should draw a scaled diagram and manually measure it

Question 8

what should you do to calculate the resultant vector when they vectors are at right angles?

Answer 8

use pythagoras and trigonometry