Stop that Celebrating

I'll be in tomorrow. Just fighting off a cold and since I hate losing a fight, this cold will be tapping the mat in no time. Everyone is working on vectors today, so I hope that folks are helping each other out. C, E and F Blocks are working vector resolution problems, sort of the flip flop of the vector combination work you did on Friday. Using the same trig relationships, take a look at your vector diagram, decide which side of your triangle is the opposite to the angle and which is the adjacent. Write out your relationship and plug in the information you know. For vector resolution, that part is easy. It's probably going to boil down to either sin Θ • hypotenuse = opposite side or cos Θ • hypotenuse = adjacent side. Now, don't always think that the adjacent side will be the x-axis and the opposite will be the y-axis. Look closely at your diagram to determine the proper relationship to use for each component of your triangle.

B Block got a heavy dose of vector work - don't be upset if you have some problems with the non-perpendicular vector piece. They take very careful attention to diagram-drawing and organization of information. Take each individual vector and resolve it into it's components, paying close attention to the signs of each component. Add up all the x-components of the vectors and all the y-components and use them to make a single right triangle, the hypotenuses of which is the resultant for the overall problem. Think of it as a puzzle or game and don't let yourself get frustrated if you''re having trouble. Put the problems aside, take a few minutes break and come back with a fresh head. We'll start going over this tomorrow and more practice is needed, that's ok.

Well, off to open a fresh box of tissues...