Rina's walk from the last lesson: 30 m east, then 40 m north. The straight line from her start to her finish measured 50 m, aimed between east and north.
One vector doing the same job as two vectors together is an idea this topic uses constantly. So physicists gave the idea a name.
The two walks together left Rina 50 m from her start, aimed between east and north. A single 50 m displacement in that direction would have the same effect: it ends at the same point.
The single vector with the same effect as two or more vectors acting together is called their resultant. So the 50 m displacement is the resultant of the 30 m displacement and the 40 m displacement.
A single velocity has the same effect as two velocities acting together. What is the single velocity called?
Walks are not the only vectors with a resultant. A paper airplane's velocity through the air and the moving air's velocity act together on the plane. The single velocity with the same effect as those two velocities is their resultant.
A dog runs 8 m south, then 6 m west. One single displacement would leave the dog at the same finishing point. What is that single displacement called?
Write down the fact:
the single vector with the same effect as two or more vectors acting together is called their resultant
The two runs act together, and one displacement stands in for them.
That single displacement is the resultant of the two runs.
A 50 m displacement is the resultant of two walks. Which statement must be true?
A resultant can be smaller than the vectors it replaces. Walk 40 m east, then 30 m west: you finish just 10 m east of your start. So the resultant of those two displacements is 10 m east, smaller than either walk.
A swimmer's velocity through the water and the water's own velocity act together. What do we call the single velocity with the same effect as the two?
Write down the fact:
the single vector with the same effect as two or more vectors acting together is called their resultant
Here the two vectors are velocities, and one velocity stands in for them.
It is the resultant of the two velocities.
Type the name for the single vector with the same effect as two or more vectors acting together.
A drone's velocity through the air and the wind's velocity act together. A third velocity describes the drone: its velocity over the ground, the motion a person standing below actually sees. Which vector is the resultant of the two acting velocities?
Which statement about a resultant is correct?
Jonas cycles 60 m east, then 45 m west. Which displacement is the resultant of his two rides?