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What is concept behind vectors in physics Plz explain in detail

2006-12-22 06:11:51 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics Physics

8 answers

vector is a tool developed by the people of our world (u can call them either mathematicians or scientists) to describe some quantities completely.
suppose U say that Delhi is 2500 km from mumbai.but u cant reach Delhi from mumbai by this information.u need to find both the 'distance ' and the 'direction ' in which the distance is to be traveled.this need of attaching a direction was the first reason of developing the concept of vectors.

now i try to explain different parts of vectors one by one.

ADDITION is defined in vectors as the net movement of point mass by 2 different movements.IF u walk 1 m north and then walk 1 m east then u walked square root of 2 meters in north east direction.this is why addition of 2 vectors is obtained by joining tail of first to head of second.

now if u divide displacement of particle with unit time(which is a scalar) u will get velocity.now velocity is MAGNITUDE OF DISPLACEMENT divided by TIME. AS CHANGING MAGNITUDE dont changes the direction of a vector so velocity will also has a direction attached and this direction is same as direction of displacement.so we say that the velocity is also a vector.

similarly any displacement vector divided by scalars yield different new vectors.dividing by time square is acceleration and so on.That is why FORCE,ELECTRIC FIELD MAGNETIC FIELD,MOMENTUM ARE all vectors.They all have dimension of length as 1 if u observe.

DOT PRODUCT is the magnitude of one vector X influence of other vector in first's direction( component of other vector in first's direction).IT is a product WITHOUT a magnitude.

CROSS PRODUCT is THE magnitude of one vector X influence of other vector perpendicular to direction of one.we say that it generates a vector which is having the same magnitude as above and has the direction perpendicular to both vectors.
it gives a real vector in some cases like magnetic field etc but in many cases it it a assumed 'pseudo' vector whose direction is assumed to make calculations simple like in torque.

this is the concept of vectors in brief.I cannot go in more detail bcos I cannot draw pictures here to help U understand more.but I hope reading above text will suffice along with ur books..

2006-12-22 10:51:02 · answer #1 · answered by Anurag ® 3 · 0 0

A vector has two attributes a magnitude and a direction. The direction can be expressed in two or three dimensional space. Each vector can be broken down into components (using basic trigonometry) along the X, Y, and Z axis of space to make the analysis of forces acting upon an object easier to visualize and calculate the sum of the the forces.

in ballistic motion, projectile travel in a predictable arc. the initial forces are the angle and force with which the object leave the barrel of the firing mechanism and gravity. Using trigonometry we can regardless of the initial angle break the launching force into X, and Y components. The Y component will act immediately opposite gravity and will over time decay the vertical component until the object returns to "earth". The X component assuming no friction will not decay and will tell how far away the projectile will land.

2006-12-22 14:33:15 · answer #2 · answered by Brian K² 6 · 1 0

This article is about vectors that have a particular relation to the spatial coordinates. For a generalization, see Vector space. For other uses, see Vector.
In physics and in vector calculus, a spatial vector, or simply vector, is a concept characterized by a magnitude and a direction. A vector has properties that do not depend on the coordinate system used to describe it. However, a vector is often described by a fixed number of components, each of which is dependent upon the particular coordinate system being used, such as Cartesian coordinates, spherical coordinates or polar coordinates.

A common example of a vector is force — it has a magnitude and an orientation and multiple forces sum according to the parallelogram law.

A spatial vector can be formally defined by its relationship to the spatial coordinate system under rotations. Alternatively, it can be defined in a coordinate-free fashion via a tangent space of a three-dimensional manifold in the language of differential geometry. These definitions are discussed in more detail below.

A spatial vector is a special case of a tensor and is also analogous to a four-vector in relativity (and is sometimes therefore called a three-vector in reference to the three spatial dimensions, although this term also has another meaning for p-vectors of differential geometry). Vectors are the building blocks of vector fields and vector calculus.

2006-12-22 14:14:46 · answer #3 · answered by Tim L 2 · 1 1

It's just that you often need to account for several quantifiable attributes of a single object.

For example, moving objects can have a speed as well as a direction of movement, along with several other forces acting upon it such as friction & gravity.

2006-12-22 14:15:52 · answer #4 · answered by Bugmän 4 · 0 2

a vector quantity has a particular direction while its opposite scalar quantity has no direction... hope i am right

2006-12-22 16:13:42 · answer #5 · answered by The Annoying Thing 2 · 0 1

Read Books then you will understand

2006-12-22 14:16:13 · answer #6 · answered by Mihir Durve 3 · 0 4

Try this http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Vector.html
and this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_(spatial)

And God blessed you if my answer will be BEST :))))
Just kidding.Enjoy :)

2006-12-22 14:18:58 · answer #7 · answered by Chaos 1 · 1 2

drtndrtn

2006-12-22 14:13:36 · answer #8 · answered by <>< 2 · 0 6

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