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In geometry, a position or position vector, also known as location vector or radius vector, is a Euclidean vector that represents a point P in space. Its length represents the distance in relation to an arbitrary reference origin O , and its direction represents the angular orientation with respect to given reference axes.
Aside from the notion of units and support, physical vector quantities may also differ from Euclidean vectors in terms of metric. For example, an event in spacetime may be represented as a position four-vector, with coherent derived unit of meters: it includes a position Euclidean vector and a timelike component, t ⋅ c 0 (involving the speed ...
In physics and geometry, there are two closely related vector spaces, usually three-dimensional but in general of any finite dimension. Position space (also real space or coordinate space) is the set of all position vectors r in Euclidean space, and has dimensions of length; a position vector defines a point in space.
This glossary of physics is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to physics, its sub-disciplines, and related fields, including mechanics, materials science, nuclear physics, particle physics, and thermodynamics.
A free vector is a vector quantity having an undefined support or region of application; it can be freely translated with no consequences; a displacement vector is a prototypical example of free vector. Aside from the notion of units and support, physical vector quantities may also differ from Euclidean vectors in terms of metric.
In mathematics and physics, vector notation is a commonly used notation for representing vectors, [1] [2] which may be Euclidean vectors, or more generally, members of a vector space. For denoting a vector, the common typographic convention is lower case, upright boldface type, as in v .
Geometric terms of location describe directions or positions relative to the shape of an object. These terms are used in descriptions of engineering, physics, and other sciences, as well as ordinary day-to-day discourse. Though these terms themselves may be somewhat ambiguous, they are usually used in a context in which their meaning is clear.
The position-space wave function of a single particle without spin in three spatial dimensions is similar to the case of one spatial dimension above: (,) where r is the position vector in three-dimensional space, and t is time. As always Ψ(r, t) is a complex-valued function of real variables.