maths.free › Precalculus › Vectors

Vectors

Magnitude, direction, components, and adding vectors head to tail.

A vector is a quantity with magnitude and direction, displacement, velocity, force. In components it is just a column of numbers, adding entry by entry; its length comes from Pythagoras. Linear algebra picks up here.

Worked example · [[3],[4]]

Linear-Algebra · Matrices

[[3],[4]]

\left[\begin{matrix}3\\4\end{matrix}\right]

Step by step

  1. \left[\begin{matrix}3\\4\end{matrix}\right]

    A 2×1 matrix.

  2. \operatorname{rank} A = 1

    Rank (number of independent rows).

  3. A^T = \left[\begin{matrix}3 & 4\end{matrix}\right]

    Transpose.

Reveal the answer
\left[\begin{matrix}3\\4\end{matrix}\right]

Now you Pick a problem, or type or draw your own. Every step, a picture, the answer hidden until you ask.

Keep your own working

A free account adds notes on every lesson, a record of what you have finished, your solved problems in one place, and a tutor you can ask about this page. The maths itself is open to everyone, signed in or not.

Sign Up Login

Symbols used here

Tap any symbol for the full definition, a picture, and what every letter in it means.

How to: Vectors

  1. A 2×1 matrix.
  2. Rank (number of independent rows).
  3. Transpose.

Questions people ask

What is a function, really?

A rule that assigns exactly one output to each input. The vertical-line test on a graph is the same idea: no input may have two outputs.

Why do we need complex numbers?

Because x² + 1 = 0 has no real solution, and allowing one new number i with i² = −1 makes every polynomial equation solvable. They then turn out to describe rotation, waves and alternating current more naturally than real numbers do.

More in Precalculus

Complex numbersPolynomial functionsRational functionsSequences and seriesThe binomial theoremConic sectionsExponential and logarithmic functionsPolynomial division and the remainder theoremParametric equations and polar coordinates