e=mc2andallthat

I think that teaching vectors to 14-16 year olds is a bit like teaching them to play the flute; that is to say, it’s a bit like teaching them to play the flute as presented by Monty Python (!)

Monty Python (1972), ‘How to play the flute’

Part of the trouble is that the definition of a vector is so deceptively and seductively easy: a vector is a quantity that has both magnitude and direction.

There — how difficult can the rest of it be? Sadly, there’s a good deal more to vectors than that, just as there’s much more to playing the flute than ‘moving your fingers up and down the outside'(!)

What follows is a suggested outline teaching schema, with some selected resources.

Resultant vector = total vector: the ‘I’ phase

‘2 + 2 = 4’ is often touted as a statement that is always obviously and self-evidently true. And so it is — arithmetically and for mere scalar quantities. In fact, it would be more precisely rendered as ‘scalar 2 + scalar 2 = scalar 4’.

However, for vector quantities, things are a wee bit different. For vectors, it is better to say that ‘vector 2 + vector 2 = a vector quantity with a magnitude somewhere between 0 and 4’.

For example, if you take two steps north and then a further two steps north then you end up four steps away from where you started. Also, if you take two steps north and then two steps south, then you end up . . . zero steps from where you started.

So much for the ‘zero’ and ‘four’ magnitudes. But where do the ‘inbetween’ values come from?

Simples! Imagine taking two steps north and then two steps east — where would you end up? In other words, what distance and (since we’re talking about vectors) in what direction would you be from your starting point?

This is most easily answered using a scale diagram.

To calculate the vector distance (aka displacement) we draw a line from the Start to the End and measure its length.

The length of the line is 2.8 cm which means that if we walk 2 steps north and 2 steps east then we up a total vector distance of 2.8 steps away from the Start.

But what about direction? Because we are dealing with vector quantities, direction just as important as magnitude. We draw an arrowhead on the purple line to emphasise this.

Students may guess that the direction of the purple ‘resultant’ vector (that is to say, it is the result of adding two vectors) is precisely north-east, but this can be a vague description so let’s use a protractor so that we can find the compass bearing.

And thus we find that the total resultant vector — the result of adding 2 steps north and 2 steps east — is a displacement of 2.8 steps on a compass bearing of 045 degrees.

Resultant vector = total vector: the ‘We’ phase

How would we go about finding the resultant vector if we moved 3 metres north and 4 metres east? If you have access to an interactive whiteboard, you could choose to use this Jamboard for this phase. (One minor inconvenience: you would have to draw the straight lines freehand but you can use the moveable and rotatable ruler and protractor to make measurements ‘live’ with your class.)

We go through a process similar to the one outlined above.

• What would be a suitable scale?
• How long should the vertical arrow be?
• How long should the horizontal arrow be?
• Where should we place the ‘End’ point?
• How do we draw the ‘resultant’ vector?
• What do we mean by ‘resultant vector’?
• How should we show the direction of the resultant vector?
• How do we find its length?
• How do we convert the length of the arrow on the scale diagram into the magnitude of the displacement in real life?

The resultant vector is, of course, 5.0 m at a compass bearing of 053 degrees.

Resultant vector = total vector: the ‘You’ phase

Students can complete the questions on the worksheets which can be printed from the PowerPoint below.

Answers are shown on this second PowerPoint, plus an optional digital ruler and protractor are included on the third slide if you wish to use them.

Enjoy!