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A scalar is an element of a field which is used to define a vector space.In linear algebra, real numbers or generally elements of a field are called scalars and relate to vectors in an associated vector space through the operation of scalar multiplication (defined in the vector space), in which a vector can be multiplied by a scalar in the defined way to produce another vector.
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.
Vector addition and scalar multiplication: a vector v (blue) is added to another vector w (red, upper illustration). Below, w is stretched by a factor of 2, yielding the sum v + 2 w . In mathematics and physics , a vector space (also called a linear space ) is a set whose elements, often called vectors , can be added together and multiplied ...
The simplest example of a vector space is the trivial one: {0}, which contains only the zero vector (see the third axiom in the Vector space article). Both vector addition and scalar multiplication are trivial. A basis for this vector space is the empty set, so that {0} is the 0-dimensional vector space over F.
A numeric example with three equations and two unknowns: In case there are more equations than variables and the equations have a solution, then each of the k-vector quotients will be scalars. To illustrate here is the solution of a simple example with three equations and two unknowns.
Scalar multiplication of a vector by a factor of 3 stretches the vector out. A vector may also be multiplied, or re-scaled, by any real number r. In the context of conventional vector algebra, these real numbers are often called scalars (from scale) to distinguish them from vectors.
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