Vectors

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describe them. We call the first quantity a scalar and the second vectors.

There are many quantities that are vectors, they are usually easy to see. Any quantity that needs to be described by a direction as well as a magnitude is usually a vector. Displacement, velocity, acceleration, force, fields and momentum are some examples. Scalars have no requirement for direction, speed, distance, time and mass are some examples. They also illustrate important distinctions with vectors. Take displacement and distance for example. Displacement is the change in position of an object. Whereas distance travelled is just that, a measurement of the path length an object took on a journey. I may travel to Melbourne and back and cover a distance of 400km but my displacement is zero if I return to the original starting point of my trip, my position has not changed, my initial and final positions are the same points. Speed and velocity are another example to consider. A satellite might be ...

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vectors depends on how many dimensions you are working with. In one dimensional situations like a car travelling in a straight line you can just add the components of magnitude in the case of displacement taking into consideration direction. If say the car had a displacement of 10km to the left then 5km to the right the cars final position would be 5km to the left from its original position. This can also be achieved if we consider the arrows representing vectors as components to be added together. If we follow the rule that vectors can be added together "head to tail" then 10 to the left and 5 to the right becomes 5 to the left. Here are a few examples of this method

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