Lectures on Physics has been derived from Benjamin Crowell's Light and Matter series of free introductory textbooks on physics. See the editorial for more information....

Summary - Vectors

A vector is a quantity that has both a magnitude (amount) and a direction in space, as opposed to a scalar, which has no direction. The vector notation amounts simply to an abbreviation for writing the vector's three components.

In two dimensions, a vector can be represented either by its two components or by its magnitude and direction. The two ways of describing a vector can be related by trigonometry.

The two main operations on vectors are addition of a vector to a vector, and multiplication of a vector by a scalar.

Vector addition means adding the components of two vectors to form the components of a new vector. In graphical terms, this corresponds to drawing the vectors as two arrows laid tip-to-tail and drawing the sum vector from the tail of the first vector to the tip of the second one. Vector subtraction is performed by negating the vector to be subtracted and then adding.

Multiplying a vector by a scalar means multiplying each of its components by the scalar to create a new vector. Division by a scalar is defined similarly.



Last Update: 2009-06-21