Physics 1.3 - Vectors And Scalars | Attempts: 1325

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| By Marcbrunssen

Marcbrunssen

Community Contributor

Quizzes Created: 3 | Total Attempts: 2,472

Questions: 5 | Attempts: 1,325 | Updated: Mar 22, 2023

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Questions and Answers

1.

Which of the following is not a vector?
- A.
  
  Area
- B.
  
  Weight
- C.
  
  Electric field
- D.
  
  Volume
Correct Answer
D. Volume

Explanation
Area is a vector; the direction of an area is perpendicular to the surface. So A is incorrect. Weight is a vector. It is a type of force; the direction of the force is downward on Earth’s surface. So B is incorrect. Electric field is a vector, the direction of which is the same as the force felt by a positive charge. So C is incorrect.

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2.

Which of the follwing is not a scalar?
- A.
  
  Speed
- B.
  
  Work
- C.
  
  Displacement
- D.
  
  Temperature
Correct Answer
C. Displacement

Explanation
Speed only describes how fast an object moves but not the direction. So it is a scalar. A is incorrect.

Work describes how much energy a force changes. It is a scalar as the energy. B is incorrect.

Distance is the path length, and it is a scalar. But displacement indicates the direction is from the starting point to the ending point, so it is a vector.

Temperature describes how warm an object is and it has only magnitude and no direction. So temperature is scalar. D is incorrect.

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3.

A person walks 4 km north, and then walks 8 km west, and then he walks 2km north. How far away is he from his starting point?
- A.
  
  14km
- B.
  
  2km
- C.
  
  8km
- D.
  
  10km
Correct Answer
D. 10km

Explanation
The above graph shows the person walking. The red vector is the sum of the three blue vectors and we are looking for its magnitude. We can calculate the magnitude by drawing the dash lines, then the red line is the hypotenuse of the right triangle with one side 6 km and the other side 8 km.

We can use the Pythagorean theorem to calculate the length.
lenght =

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4.

If the initial velocity vector is 3 m/s to the east, and the final velocity vector is 3 m/s to the south, what is the change in velocity?
- A.
  
  0 m/s
- B.
  
  6 m/s to the southeast
- C.
  
  4.2 m/s to the southeast
- D.
  
  4.2 m/s to the southwest
Correct Answer
D. 4.2 m/s to the southwest

Explanation
The change of velocity is equal to the final velocity subtracted by the initial velocity, which is equal to the final velocity add the negative initial velocity. We can calculate the change using the Pythagorean theorem = =
The direction is southwest as shown in the graph.

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5.

A person is dragging a box to the left upward with a force of 10 N. The force forms angle of 60 degrees with the horizontal. What is the horizontal and vertical component of this force if we choose the upward and the right to be the positive direction?
- A.
  
  Horizontal 5N Vertical 8.7N
- B.
  
  Horizontal 8.7N Vertical 5N
- C.
  
  Horizontal 5N Vertical 5N
Explanation
We can see in the graph that the horizontal component is the adjacent side of the 60 degree angle, so we can use cosine and the vertical component is the opposite side of the 60 degree angle, so we can use sine.
horizontal component =
vertical component =
Then we notice that the horizontal component is to the left, which is opposite of the direction we define as positive. So the correct answer is -5N for horizontal component. The vertical component is positive, and it is 8.7N.

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Current Version
Mar 22, 2023

Quiz Edited by
ProProfs Editorial Team
Dec 10, 2012

Quiz Created by
Marcbrunssen

Physics 1.3 - Vectors And Scalars

Which of the following is not a vector?

Which of the follwing is not a scalar?

A person walks 4 km north, and then walks 8 km west, and then he walks 2km north. How far away is he from his starting point?

If the initial velocity vector is 3 m/s to the east, and the final velocity vector is 3 m/s to the south, what is the change in velocity?

A person is dragging a box to the left upward with a force of 10 N. The force forms angle of 60 degrees with the horizontal. What is the horizontal and vertical component of this force if we choose the upward and the right to be the positive direction?