VECTOR SPACES

SCALAR VS. VECTOR

 SCALAR
A scalar is a number.

Examples of scalars are temperature, distance, speed, or mass –

... all quantities that have a magnitude but no “direction”.

 VECTOR
A vector is…

• a list of numbers.
• A point in a space.
• Has magnitude and direction
 VECTOR
We denote vectors by including a small arrow overtop of the symbol.

𝑎Ԧ

The symbol above is the denotation for vector a.

 VECTOR
A quantity like velocity is an example of a vector.
 VECTOR
Graphically, you can think of this vector as an arrow in the 𝑥𝑦 plane,
pointing from the origin to the point at 𝑥 = 4, 𝑦 = 3

𝑎Ԧ = 4 3
4
𝑎Ԧ =
3
 VECTOR
The magnitude of a vector is the distance from the endpoint of the
vector to the origin.

It is denoted by 𝑎Ԧ .
 VECTOR
Suppose we want to calculate the magnitude of this vector.
 VECTOR
This vector extends 4 units along the x-axis, and 3 units along the y-axis

To calculate, we will use the Pythagorean theorem, 𝑎2 + 𝑏 2 = 𝑐 2 .

 VECTOR
The magnitude of a vector is a scalar value – a number representing the
length of the vector independent of the direction.
 VECTOR
There are a lot of examples were the magnitudes of vectors are
important to us:
Velocities are vectors, speeds are their magnitudes.
Displacements are vectors, distances are their magnitudes.
 VECTOR
A unit vector is a vector of magnitude 1. We denote unit vectors with 𝑎ො

𝑎Ԧ
𝑎ො =
𝑎
 VECTOR
Returning to the previous example of 𝑎Ԧ = 4 3 , recall 𝑎Ԧ = 5.

When dividing a vector, 𝑎,Ԧ by a scalar, 𝑎Ԧ , we divide each component

of the vector individually by the scalar.

In the same way, when multiplying a vector by a scalar, we will proceed

component by component.
VECTOR
4 3
𝑎ො =
5
4 3
𝑎ො =
5 5
 VECTOR
2 2
2
4 3
𝑎ො = +
5 5
 VECTOR
2
16 9
𝑎ො = +
25 25
VECTOR
2
25
𝑎ො =
25
 VECTOR
𝑎ො 2 = 1
So we have demonstrated how to create a unit vector 𝑎ො that has a
magnitude of 1 but a direction identical to the vector 𝑎.
Ԧ
 VECTOR ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION
Vectors can be added and subtracted.
An example of this is shown in the illustration, showing the addition of
two vectors 𝑎Ԧ and 𝑏 to create a third vector 𝑐.
Ԧ
𝑎Ԧ + 𝑏 = 𝑐Ԧ
 VECTOR ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION
Numerically, we add vectors component-by-component.
We add the 𝑥 components together, and separately we add the 𝑦
components together.
For example, if 𝑎Ԧ = 4 3 and 𝑏 = 1 2,
VECTOR ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION
𝑐Ԧ = 𝑎Ԧ + 𝑏
VECTOR ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION
𝑐Ԧ = 4 3 + 1 2
VECTOR ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION
𝑐Ԧ = 4 + 1, 3+2
VECTOR ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION
𝑐Ԧ = 5, 5
 LINEAR INDEPENDENCE
If two vectors point in different directions, even if they are not very
different directions, then the two vectors are said to be linearly
independent.
If the two vectors point in different directions, then it is not possible to
make one out of the other because multiplying a vector by a scalar will
never change the direction of the vector, it will only change the
magnitude.
Definition:
A family of vectors is linearly independent if no one of the vectors can
be created by any linear combination of the other vectors in the family.
 VECTOR MULTIPLICATION
Next we move into the world of vector multiplication. There are two
principal ways of multiplying vectors

a) Dot product (scalar product)

b) Cross product
Dot product
𝑑 = 𝑎Ԧ ⋅ 𝑏
The dot product generates a scalar value from the product of two
vectors.
Cross product
𝑐Ԧ = 𝑎Ԧ × 𝑏
The cross product generates a vector from the product of two vectors.
DOT PRODUCT
But we will only discuss dot product.
𝑎Ԧ ⋅ 𝑏 = 4 3 ⋅ 1 2
DOT PRODUCT

𝑎Ԧ ⋅ 𝑏 = 4 ∗ 1 3 ∗ 2
DOT PRODUCT

𝑎Ԧ ⋅ 𝑏 = 4 6
DOT PRODUCT
Another way of calculating the dot product of two vectors is to use a
geometric mean.
𝑎Ԧ ⋅ 𝑏 = 𝑎Ԧ 𝑏 cos 𝜃
where 𝜃 represents the angle between the two vectors.