Resultant Velocity Using Vector Representation. Letters used to represent vectors should always be underlined or in bold type. Consider the following vector diagrams for the displacement of a hiker.
Consider the following vector diagrams for the displacement of a hiker. Velocity is a vector because it has both speed and direction. The resultant velocity vector is v the sum of the two vectors.
The wind is represented by and the velocity vector of the airplane by.
There are many ways to calculate vector sums such as using a vector addition diagram but using trigonometry to calculate vector components is usually more efficient. Drawn to a scale of 1 cm 5 N the vector representing F 1 will be 4 cm long and the vector representing F 2 will be 5 cm long. The angle th between v and is called a drift angle. The wind triangle describes the relationships among the quantities used in air navigation.