Consider the quantities, pressure, power, energy, impulse, gravitational potential, electrical charge, temperature, area. Out of these, the only vector quantities are
Correct Answer :
Impulse and area
Solution :
The correct option is Impulse and area.
To determine which of the given quantities are vectors, we must distinguish between scalar and vector quantities:
- Scalar quantities have only magnitude and no specific direction.
- Vector quantities have both magnitude and a specific direction, and they obey the laws of vector addition.
Let's analyze each quantity in the list:
1. Pressure: Although pressure involves force (a vector) acting on an area, it is defined as the normal force per unit area. At any point in a fluid, pressure acts equally in all directions. Thus, it does not have a unique direction and is a scalar quantity.
2. Power: Power is the rate of doing work. Since work and time are both scalars, power is also a scalar quantity.
3. Energy: Energy represents the capacity to do work and is a scalar quantity.
4. Impulse: Impulse is defined as the change in momentum of an object when a force acts on it over a time interval. Since momentum is a vector quantity, impulse is also a vector quantity. It is mathematically expressed as:
5. Gravitational potential: Gravitational potential at a point is the work done per unit mass in bringing a mass from infinity to that point. Since work and mass are scalars, gravitational potential is a scalar quantity.
6. Electrical charge: Electrical charge is a fundamental physical property that can be positive or negative, but it has no direction associated with it, making it a scalar quantity.
7. Temperature: Temperature measures the average kinetic energy of the particles in a system and is a scalar quantity.
8. Area: In many areas of physics, particularly in calculating flux (such as electric flux or magnetic flux), area is treated as a vector quantity. The magnitude of the area vector is equal to the surface area, and its direction is perpendicular (normal) to the surface. It is represented as:
where is the unit normal vector to the surface.
Therefore, out of the given list, the only vector quantities are impulse and area.
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