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Q.Explain rectangular components of a vector with illustration.

Jammu Kashmir JkboseJammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (Class 11) 2026Subjective· 2mImportance★★★★★
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Any vector in a plane can be resolved into two perpendicular (rectangular) components along the x- and y-axes using cos(theta) and sin(theta).

Consider a vector A lying in the x-y plane, making an angle theta with the positive x-axis. It can be resolved (split) into two mutually perpendicular components:

  • Component along x-axis: Ax = A cos(theta)
  • Component along y-axis: Ay = A sin(theta)

The vector can then be written as A = Ax i(hat) + Ay j(hat), where i(hat) and j(hat) are unit vectors along the x- and y-axes respectively.

Illustration: Draw the vector A as the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle. Drop a perpendicular from the tip of A onto the x-axis. The base of this triangle (along the x-axis) is Ax = A cos(theta), and the vertical side (parallel to the y-axis) is Ay = A sin(theta). By Pythagoras' theorem, the magnitude of A is recovered as A = sqrt(Ax^2 + Ay^2), and the direction is given by tan(theta) = Ay/Ax.

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