2007-11-09 18:52:24 · 4 answers · asked by aryan e 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
gp4rts is wrong.
Unit vectors by definition have dimension 1 unit. If the vector space is distance, then this means 1 metre (in SI).
If this were not the case then taking a product with the unit vector would yield different results for different systems of units, and would give the wrong dimensional result.
2007-11-09 20:39:11 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The "unit vectors" can be considered unitless since their product with another vector has the same units as the "other" vector. For example if a vector v is a velocity, it will have units of m/sec (for example). The dot product of the i vector i * v is the x-component of the vector v and also has the units of m/sec. So the i vector contributes no units to the result.
2007-11-09 19:04:05 · answer #2 · answered by gp4rts 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
each of the unit vectors are essentially vectors themselves, with a magnitude of 1 unit in their respective directions, so their units depend on their context.
2007-11-09 18:58:37 · answer #3 · answered by Dan A 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They do have units--1, hence the name unit vector.
Been a while since I did these, but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_vector for more information.
2007-11-09 18:56:50 · answer #4 · answered by Matt M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋