Vectors Problems
This section provides 100 problems to test your understanding of vectors, including representation, properties, addition, subtraction, components, unit vectors, dot and cross products, and their applications in physics. Inspired by JEE Main, JEE Advanced, and NEET exam patterns, these problems are tailored for exam preparation, offering a mix of numerical, conceptual, and derivation-based challenges. NEET-style problems (66–100) are formatted as multiple-choice questions (MCQs) to match the exam’s objective format. Problems are organized by type to support progressive learning and build confidence in mastering vectors, a fundamental concept for JEE/NEET success.
Numerical Problems
A vector
has components and . Calculate its magnitude. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A vector
has components and . Find the angle it makes with the x-axis. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
Two vectors
and are added. Calculate the magnitude of the resultant. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A vector
has magnitude and makes an angle of with the x-axis. Find its x-component. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A vector
is scaled by a factor of . Calculate the magnitude of the new vector. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
Find the dot product of
and . - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
Calculate the magnitude of the cross product of
and . - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A vector
in 3D is given as . Find its magnitude. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A vector
has magnitude at to the x-axis. Find its y-component. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
The resultant of
and is subtracted from . Find the magnitude of the final vector. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A unit vector is derived from
. Find the x-component of the unit vector. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
Two vectors
and are added. Find the angle of the resultant with the x-axis. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A force
acts over a displacement . Calculate the work done. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A torque is produced by
at . Find the magnitude of the torque. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A vector
has magnitude and makes with the x-axis. Find the magnitude of its projection on the y-axis. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
Add vectors
and . Find the magnitude of the resultant. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A 3D vector
is scaled by . Find the magnitude of the new vector. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
Find the dot product of
and . - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
Calculate the magnitude of the cross product of
and . - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A vector
has components , , . Find its magnitude. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A vector
of magnitude makes with the x-axis. Find its x-component. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
Subtract
from . Find the magnitude of the result. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A unit vector is derived from
. Find the z-component of the unit vector. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
Two vectors
and are added. Find the magnitude of the resultant. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A force
acts over . Calculate the work done. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A torque is produced by
at . Find the magnitude of the torque. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A vector
has magnitude at to the x-axis. Find the magnitude of its projection on the x-axis. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
Add vectors
and . Find the magnitude of the resultant. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A vector
is scaled by . Find the magnitude of the new vector. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
Find the dot product of
and . - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
Calculate the magnitude of the cross product of
and . - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A vector
has components , , . Find its magnitude. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A vector
of magnitude makes with the x-axis. Find its y-component. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
Subtract
from . Find the magnitude of the result. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
A unit vector is derived from
. Find the y-component of the unit vector. - (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (a)
Conceptual Problems
- What is the main difference between a vector and a scalar?
- (a) Vector has magnitude only, scalar has direction
- (b) Vector has magnitude and direction, scalar has magnitude only
- (c) Both have magnitude and direction
- (d) Both have magnitude only
- What does a negative vector indicate?
- (a) Zero magnitude
- (b) Opposite direction
- (c) Same direction
- (d) Perpendicular direction
- Which property holds for vector addition?
- (a) Commutative:
- (b) Non-commutative:
- (c) Only associative
- (d) Only distributive
- What is the result of the dot product of two perpendicular vectors?
- (a) Zero
- (b) One
- (c) Negative one
- (d) Depends on their magnitudes
- What is the direction of the cross product
?
- (a) Parallel to
- (b) Parallel to
- (c) Perpendicular to the plane of
and - (d) Opposite to
- What is the magnitude of a unit vector?
- (a)
- (b)
- (c) Depends on the vector
- (d) Infinite
- What does the dot product
represent physically?
- (a) Torque
- (b) Work done by
along - (c) Angular momentum
- (d) Area of parallelogram
- What is the result of the cross product of two parallel vectors?
- (a) Zero vector
- (b) Unit vector
- (c) Scalar
- (d) Non-zero vector
- How are vectors equal?
- (a) Same magnitude only
- (b) Same direction only
- (c) Same magnitude and direction
- (d) Same starting point
- What is the dimension of a position vector?
- (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- What does a zero vector imply?
- (a) No magnitude
- (b) No direction
- (c) No magnitude and direction
- (d) Perpendicular direction
- Which property does not hold for cross products?
- (a) Commutative:
- (b) Associative:
- (c) Distributive:
- (d) All hold
- What is the physical significance of the cross product
?
- (a) Work
- (b) Torque
- (c) Displacement
- (d) Velocity
- What is the magnitude of
?
- (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- How does scalar multiplication affect a vector’s direction?
- (a) Always changes direction
- (b) Reverses if scalar is negative, same if positive
- (c) Never changes direction
- (d) Depends on the vector’s magnitude
Derivation Problems
Derive the magnitude of a vector
with components , , in 3D. Derive the expression for the resultant of two vectors
and using the component method. Derive the dot product
in terms of components for 2D vectors. Derive the cross product
in terms of components for 2D vectors. Derive the unit vector of a given vector
in 3D. Derive the magnitude of the resultant of two vectors using the parallelogram law.
Derive the expression for work done
using components. Derive the torque
in component form for 2D vectors. Derive the angle between two vectors
and using the dot product. Derive the magnitude of a vector after scalar multiplication by a factor
. Derive the projection of
onto using the dot product. Derive the position vector of a point in 3D space relative to the origin.
Derive the displacement vector between two points in 2D space.
Derive the commutative property of vector addition using components.
Derive the distributive property
for scalar multiplication.
NEET-style Conceptual Problems
- What is the unit of a displacement vector in SI units?
- (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- What does a zero dot product between two vectors indicate?
- (a) Parallel vectors
- (b) Perpendicular vectors
- (c) Opposite vectors
- (d) Equal vectors
- Which of the following is a vector quantity?
- (a) Speed
- (b) Distance
- (c) Velocity
- (d) Time
- What is the magnitude of the cross product of two parallel vectors?
- (a) Zero
- (b) One
- (c) Depends on their magnitudes
- (d) Negative one
- What is the dimension of a force vector?
- (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- What does the unit vector
represent?
- (a) Magnitude of
- (b) Direction of
- (c) Opposite direction of
- (d) Perpendicular to
- What is the role of the dot product in calculating work?
- (a) Gives the magnitude of the force
- (b) Gives the component of force along displacement
- (c) Gives the torque
- (d) Gives the angular momentum
- What happens to the cross product
if and are perpendicular?
- (a) Zero vector
- (b) Maximum magnitude
- (c) Unit vector
- (d) Scalar quantity
- Why are position vectors useful in physics?
- (a) To calculate speed
- (b) To describe location relative to an origin
- (c) To calculate work
- (d) To calculate torque
- What is the unit of torque in SI units?
- (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- What does a negative scalar multiplication do to a vector?
- (a) Increases its magnitude
- (b) Reverses its direction
- (c) Makes it perpendicular
- (d) Reduces its magnitude to zero
- Which kinematic equation does not involve a vector directly?
- (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- What is the direction of the cross product
if and lie in the xy-plane?
- (a) Along x-axis
- (b) Along y-axis
- (c) Along z-axis
- (d) In the xy-plane
- What is the physical significance of
?
- (a) Torque
- (b) Work
- (c) Angular momentum
- (d) Displacement
- What does a zero vector indicate?
- (a) No magnitude and direction
- (b) Perpendicular direction
- (c) Parallel direction
- (d) Opposite direction
- What is the dimension of angular momentum, which involves a cross product?
- (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- What is the role of the cross product in calculating torque?
- (a) Gives the component of force along displacement
- (b) Gives the perpendicular component of force
- (c) Gives the work done
- (d) Gives the velocity
- What happens to the dot product
if and are parallel?
- (a) Zero
- (b) Maximum magnitude
- (c) Negative magnitude
- (d) Unit vector
- Which quantity is a scalar in vector operations?
- (a) Displacement
- (b) Velocity
- (c) Dot product
- (d) Cross product
- What does a negative dot product indicate?
- (a) Vectors are perpendicular
- (b) Vectors are parallel
- (c) Angle between vectors is greater than
- (d) Angle between vectors is less than
- What is the unit of work in SI units?
- (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- What does the cross product
represent in electromagnetism?
- (a) Electric force
- (b) Magnetic force direction
- (c) Work done
- (d) Torque
- Why are unit vectors useful?
- (a) To increase magnitude
- (b) To specify direction
- (c) To calculate work
- (d) To calculate torque
- What is the magnitude of
?
- (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- How does vector subtraction
relate to vector addition?
- (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- What is the role of the dot product in finding the angle between vectors?
- (a) Gives the magnitude
- (b) Gives the cosine of the angle
- (c) Gives the sine of the angle
- (d) Gives the direction
- What does a zero cross product between two vectors indicate?
- (a) Perpendicular vectors
- (b) Parallel or anti-parallel vectors
- (c) Equal vectors
- (d) Opposite vectors
- What is the physical significance of
?
- (a) Work
- (b) Torque
- (c) Angular momentum
- (d) Velocity
- What is the dimension of work, which involves a dot product?
- (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- Why is the cross product a vector quantity?
- (a) It has magnitude only
- (b) It has direction only
- (c) It has both magnitude and direction
- (d) It has neither magnitude nor direction
NEET-style Numerical Problems
- A force
acts over . What is the work done?
- (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- A ball is projected with velocity
. What is the magnitude of the velocity?
- (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- A particle experiences forces
and . What is the magnitude of the resultant force?
- (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- A torque is produced by
at . What is the magnitude of the torque?
- (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- A vector
has magnitude at to the x-axis. What is the magnitude of its x-component?
- (a)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)