PHYS 2108 Chapter : Lab 3 Vectors
Document Summary
Scalars are quantities that are just simply a number. They add and subtract like numbers and they are probably quantities in which you are familiar. Energy, mass, time and temperature are all examples of scalar quantities. Velocity and acceleration are vectors, as are forces, momentum and torque. As you progress further in physics we will find out that fields (electric, magnetic and gravitational) are also vectors. Vectors do not simply add like numbers and require very special geometric treatment. Vectors contain two elements: a magnitude and a direction. The magnitude is a scalar and tells us how much stuff the vector is made from, and where the vector is pointed. The directional nature of a vector is represented in the way we write its symbol: by giving it an arrow as in vector . We tend to wrongly interchange some words that are comparable in english, but are distinctly different in science (like the difference between precision and accuracy ).
