PHYS 2211K Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Pythagorean Theorem, Ruili
Document Summary
Magnitude of a vector is often shown as the letter without the arrow, but it can also be shown as the letter with the arrow in absolute value signs. The magnitude of a vector is a scalar quantity. Two vectors are equal if they have the same direction and magnitude, regardless of their origin. Resultant vector: the sum of two vectors. A coordinate system needs to have axes labeled and 4 quadrants. Component vectors: the parallel axes of your vector. The process of breaking down your vector into two component vectors is called decomposition. The absolute value of the x-axis component vector of the x-axis is the magnitude of the component vector of x. The sign of the x-axis component vector is positive if the vector points in the positive x-direction. The same things apply to the y-axis component vector. Vector units: magnitude of 1 with no units and is parallel to the coordinate axes.
