Monday, August 16, 2010

Vector Algebra

Vector Algebra

In our day to day life, we come across many queries such as - What is your height ? How should a football player hit the ball to give a pass to another player of his team? The possible answer to the first query may be 1.6m or 1.4m...- a quantity that involves only one value (magnitude) which is a real number. Such numbers are called scalars. However, an answer to the second query is a quantity (force) which involves muscular strength (magnitude) and direction (in which another player is positioned). Such quantities are called vectors. ie, A quantity that has magnitude as well direction is called a vector.

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