How do vectors work in physics?

Question

William Audy · Accepted Answer

Vectors are lines that represent both magnitude (size) and direction. The length of the vector is drawn to scale, to communicate the size of the measurement; the head of the arrow points in the direction in which the measurement is traveling.

Vectors can be used in a number of ways. Most commonly, they are used to represent displacement or velocity of a moving object, but they can also be used to represent force.

If an object moves in more than one direction subsequently, or if more than one force acts upon an object concurrently, vectors can be added to find a resultant displacement or resultant force. This can be calculated using either a scale diagram and measuring the resultant, or by use of mathematics.

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Adrian Ayala · Answer

undefined Vectors in physics are quantities that have both magnitude and direction. They are represented graphically as arrows, where the length of the arrow corresponds to the magnitude of the vector and the direction of the arrow indicates the direction of the vector. Vectors can be added or subtracted using vector addition and subtraction rules. They are used to represent various physical quantities such as displacement, velocity, acceleration, force, and momentum.