Vectors in three-dimensional, ordinary space are mathematical objects that can be manipulated according to well-defined rules.

A scalar is a real number. A three-dimensional vector w is an ordered triple of real numbers w = (a, b, c); a, b, and c are called the components of w. The length or magnitude of the vector w = (a, b, c) is defined as

. Note: The magnitude of a vector is a scalar. Scalars are denoted by normal letters; w denotes a scalar. Vectors are denoted by boldface letters; w denotes a vector. When a bold typeface is not available, an arrow is drawn over a normal letter to let it denote a vector. denotes a vector. Vertical bars surrounding a boldface letter denote the magnitude of a vector. Since the magnitude is a scalar, it can also be denoted by a normal letter; |w| = w denotes the magnitude of a vector Similarly: A two-dimensional vector is an ordered pair of real numbers v = (a, b); a and b are called the components of v. The length or magnitude of the vector v = (a, b) is defined as

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Vectors can be multiplied by scalars. The result is another vector. Suppose that c is a scalar and v = (a, b) is a vector. Then scalar multiplication is defined by cv = c(a, b) = (ca, cb). Each component of the vector is multiplied by the scalar. The magnitude of the vector cv is c times the magnitude of v.

Two vectors with the same dimension can be added to each other or subtracted from each other. The result is another vector. Suppose that v = (a, b, c) and w = (d, e, f) are two three-dimensional vectors. The sum of these two vectors is defined to be the vector v + w = (a + d, b + e, c+ f). Subtracting w from v yields v - w = (a - d, b - e, c - f).

The difference of these two vectors is defined to be the vector v - w = v + (-1)w. Often, we write - w instead of (-1)w. The sum of the two-dimensional vectors v = (a, b) and w = (c, d) is v + w = (a + c, b + d) and the difference is v - w = v + (-1)w = (a - c, b - d). (Internet Explorer 4 or higher only, allow pop-ups from this site!)

Vector addition an multiplication by a scalar obey a set of that mostly follow from the properties of real numbers. Unit vectors are vectors whose magnitude is 1. The standard unit 3-dimensional vectors are i = (1,0,0), j = (0,1,0), k = (0,0,1), and the standard unit 2-dimensional vectors are i = (1,0), j = (0,1).

Any three-dimensional vector v = (a, b, c) can be written as v = ai + bj + ck = (a,0,0) + (0,b,0) + (0,0,c) = (a, b, c).

Vectors
This is a vector:

A vector has magnitude (how long it is) and direction:

The length of the line shows its magnitude and the arrowhead points in the direction. You can add two vectors by simply joining them head-to-tail:

And it doesn't matter which order you add them, you get the same result:

Example: A plane is flying along, pointing North, but there is a wind coming from the North-West.

The two vectors (the velocity caused by the propeller, and the velocity of the wind) result in a slightly slower ground speed heading a little East of North. If you watched the plane from the ground it would seem to be slipping sideways a little.

Have you ever seen that happen? Maybe you have seen birds struggling against a strong wind that seem to fly sideways. Vectors help explain that.

Subtracting
You can also subtract one vector from another: first you reverse the direction of the vector you want to subtract, then add them as usual:

Other Notation

A vector can also be written as the letters of its head and tail with an arrow above, like this:

Calculations
Now ... how do we do the calculations? The most common way is to break up a vector into x and y pieces, like this:

The vector a is broken up into the two vectors ax and ay

Adding Vectors
And here is how to add two vectors after breaking them into x and y parts:

The vector (8,13) and the vector (26,7) add up to the vector (34,20) Example: add the vectors a = (8,13) and b = (26,7) c=a+b c = (8,13) + (26,7) = (8+26,13+7) = (34,20)

Subtracting Vectors
Remember: to subtract, first reverse the vector you want to subtract, then add. Example: subtract k = (4,5) from v = (12,2) a = v + -k a = (12,2) + -(4,5) = (12,2) + (-4,-5) = (12-4,2-5) = (8,-3)

Magnitude of a Vector
The magnitude of a vector is shown by two vertical bars on either side of the vector:

|a|
OR it can be written with double vertical bars (so as not to confuse it with absolute value):

||a||
You can use Pythagoras' theorem to calculate it:

|a| = ( x2 + y2 )
A vector with magnitude 1 is called a Unit Vector.

Vector vs Scalar
When using vectors we call an ordinary number a "scalar". Scalar: just a number (like 7 or -0.32) ... definitely not a vector. A vector is often written in bold, so c is a vector, and it has magnitude and direction but c is just a value, like 3 or 12.4 Example: kb is actually the scalar k times the vector b.

Multiplying a Vector by a Scalar

When you multiply a vector by a scalar it is called "scaling" a vector, because you change how big or small the vector is. Example: multiply the vector m = (7,3) by the scalar 3

a = 3m = (37,33) = (21,9)

It still points in the same direction, but is 3 times longer

(And now you know why numbers are called "scalars", because they "scale" the vector up or down.)

Multiplying a Vector by a Vector (Dot Product and Cross Product)

How do you multiply two vectors together? There is more than one way! The scalar or Dot Product (the result is a scalar). The vector or Cross Product (the result is a vector).

(Read those pages for more details.)

More Than 2 Dimensions

The vectors we have been looking at have been 2 dimensional, but vectors work perfectly well in 3 or more dimensions:

Example: add the vectors a = (3,7,4) and b = (2,9,11) c=a+b c = (3,7,4) + (2,9,11) = (3+2,7+9,4+11) = (5,16,15)

Example: subtract (1,2,3,4) from (3,3,3,3) (3,3,3,3) + -(1,2,3,4) = (3,3,3,3) + (-1,-2,-3,-4) = (3-1,3-2,3-3,3-4) = (2,1,0,-1)

Example: what is the magnitude of the vector w = (1,-2,3) ? |w| = ( 12 + (-2)2 + 32 ) = ( 1+4+9 ) = 14

Magnitude and Direction

You may know a vector's magnitude and direction, but want its x and y lengths (or vice versa):

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Vector a in Polar Coordinates

Vector a in Cartesian Coordinates

You can read how to convert them at Polar and Cartesian Coordinates, but here is a quick summary: From Polar Coordinates (r,) to Cartesian Coordinates (x,y) x = r cos( ) y = r sin( ) From Cartesian Coordinates (x,y) to Polar Coordinates (r,) r = ( x 2 + y2 ) = tan-1 ( y / x )

An Example
Sam and Alex are pulling a box. Sam pulls with 200 Newtons of force at 60 Alex pulls with 120 Newtons of force at 45 as shown

What is the combined force, and its direction?

Let us add the two vectors head to tail:

Now, convert from polar to Cartesian (to 2 decimals): Sam's Vector: x = r cos( ) = 200 cos(60) = 200 0.5 = 100 y = r sin( ) = 200 sin(60) = 200 0.8660 = 173.21

Alex's Vector: x = r cos( ) = 120 cos(-45) = 120 0.7071 = 84.85 y = r sin( ) = 120 sin(-45) = 120 -0.7071 = -84.85

Now we have:

Now it is easy to add them:

(100, 173.21) + (84.85, -84.85) = (184.85, 88.36)

We can convert that to polar for a final answer: r = ( x2 + y2 ) = ( 184.852 + 88.362 ) = 204.88 = tan-1 ( y / x ) = tan-1 ( 88.36 / 184.85 ) = 25.5 And it looks like this for Sam and Alex:

And we have this (rounded) result:

They might get a better result if they were shoulder-to-shoulder!

Vectors and vector addition:

A scalar is a quantity like mass or temperature that only has a magnitude. On the other had, a vector is a mathematical object that has magnitude and direction. A line of given length and pointing along a given direction, such as an arrow, is the typical representation of a vector. Typical notation to designate a vector is a boldfaced character, a character with and arrow on it, or a character with a line under it (i.e., denoted by or A. ). The magnitude of a vector is its length and is normally

Addition of two vectors is accomplished by laying the vectors head to tail in sequence to create a triangle such as is shown in the figure.

The following rules apply in vector algebra.

where P and Q are vectors and a is a scalar.

Unit vectors:

A unit vector is a vector of unit length. A unit vector is sometimes denoted by replacing the arrow on a vector with a "^" or just adding a "^" on a boldfaced character (i.e., ). Therefore,

Any vector can be made into a unit vector by dividing it by its length.

Any vector can be fully represented by providing its magnitude and a unit vector along its direction.

Base vectors and vector components:

Base vectors are a set of vectors selected as a base to represent all other vectors. The idea is to construct each vector from the addition of vectors along the base directions. For example, the vector in the figure can be written as the sum of the three vectors u1, u2, and u3, each along the direction of one of the base vectors e1, e2, and e3, so that

Each one of the vectors u1, u2, and u3 is parallel to one of the base vectors and can be written as scalar multiple of that base. Let u1, u2, and u3 denote these scalar multipliers such that one has

The original vector u can now be written as

The scalar multipliers u1, u2, and u3 are known as the components of u in the base described by the base vectors e1, e2, and e3. If the base vectors are unit vectors, then the components represent the lengths, respectively, of the three vectors u1, u2, and u3. If the base vectors are unit vectors and are mutually orthogonal, then the base is known as an orthonormal, Euclidean, or Cartesian base.

A vector can be resolved along any two directions in a plane containing it. The figure shows how the parallelogram rule is used to construct vectors a and b that add up to c.

In three dimensions, a vector can be resolved along any three non-coplanar lines. The figure shows how a vector can be resolved along the three directions by first finding a vector in the plane of two of the directions and then resolving this new vector along the two directions in the plane.

When vectors are represented in terms of base vectors and components, addition of two vectors results in the addition of the components of the vectors. Therefore, if the two vectors A and B are represented by

then,

Rectangular components in 2-D:

The base vectors of a rectangular x-y coordinate system are given by the unit vectors and along the x and y directions, respectively.

Using the base vectors, one can represent any vector F as

Due to the orthogonality of the bases, one has the following relations.

Rectangular coordinates in 3-D:

The base vectors of a rectangular coordinate system are given by a set of three mutually orthogonal unit vectors denoted by , , and that are along the x, y, and z coordinate directions, respectively, as shown in the figure.

The system shown is a right-handed system since the thumb of the right hand points in the direction of z if the fingers are such that they represent a rotation around the z-axis from x to y. This system can be changed into a left-handed

system by reversing the direction of any one of the coordinate lines and its associated base vector.

In a rectangular coordinate system the components of the vector are the projections of the vector along the x, y, and z directions. For example, in the figure the projections of vector A along the x, y, and z directions are given by Ax, Ay, and Az, respectively.

As a result of the Pythagorean theorem, and the orthogonality of the base vectors, the magnitude of a vector in a rectangular coordinate system can be calculated by

Direction cosines:

Direction cosines are defined as

where the angles , , and are the angles shown in the figure. As shown in the figure, the direction cosines represent the cosines of the angles made between the vector and the three coordinate directions.

The direction cosines can be calculated from the components of the vector and its magnitude through the relations

The three direction cosines are not independent and must satisfy the relation

This results form the fact that

A unit vector can be constructed along a vector using the direction cosines as its components along the x, y, and z directions. For example, the unit-vector along the vector A is obtained from

Therefore,

A vector connecting two points:

The vector connecting point A to point B is given by

A unit vector along the line A-B can be obtained from

A vector F along the line A-B and of magnitude F can thus be obtained from the relation

Dot product:

The dot product is denoted by " " between two vectors. The dot product of vectors A and B results in a scalar given by the relation

where is the angle between the two vectors. Order is not important in the dot product as can be seen by the dot products definition. As a result one gets

The dot product has the following properties.

Since the cosine of 90o is zero, the dot product of two orthogonal vectors will result in zero.

Since the angle between a vector and itself is zero, and the cosine of zero is one, the magnitude of a vector can be written in terms of the dot product using the rule

Rectangular coordinates:

When working with vectors represented in a rectangular coordinate system by the components

then the dot product can be evaluated from the relation

This can be verified by direct multiplication of the vectors and noting that due to the orthogonality of the base vectors of a rectangular system one has

Projection of a vector onto a line:

The orthogonal projection of a vector along a line is obtained by moving one end of the vector onto the line and dropping a perpendicular onto the line from the other end of the vector. The resulting segment on the line is the vector's orthogonal projection or simply its projection.

The scalar projection of vector A along the unit vector

is the length

of the orthogonal projection A along a line parallel to , and can be evaluated using the dot product. The relation for the projection is

The vector projection of A along the unit vector the scalar projection by the unit vector This gives the relation

simply multiplies .

to get a vector along

The cross product:

The cross product of vectors a and b is a vector perpendicular to both a and b and has a magnitude equal to the area of the parallelogram generated from a and b. The direction of the cross product is given by the right-hand rule . The cross product is denoted by a " " between the vectors

Order is important in the cross product. If the order of operations changes in a cross product the direction of the resulting vector is reversed. That is,

The cross product has the following properties.

Rectangular coordinates:

When working in rectangular coordinate systems, the cross product of vectors a and b given by

can be evaluated using the rule

One can also use direct multiplication of the base vectors using the relations

The triple product:

The triple product of vectors a, b, and c is given by

The value of the triple product is equal to the volume of the parallelepiped constructed from the vectors. This can be seen from the figure since

The triple product has the following properties

Rectangular coordinates:

Consider vectors described in a rectangular coordinate system as

The triple product can be evaluated using the relation

Triple vector product:

The triple vector product has the properties