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When only the magnitude and direction of the vector matter, and the particular initial or terminal points are of no importance, the vector is called a free vector. The distinction between bound and free vectors is especially relevant in mechanics, where a force applied to a body has a point of contact (see resultant force and couple).
In the natural sciences, a vector quantity (also known as a vector physical quantity, physical vector, or simply vector) is a vector-valued physical quantity. [9] [10] It is typically formulated as the product of a unit of measurement and a vector numerical value (), often a Euclidean vector with magnitude and direction.
In mathematics, the magnitude or size of a mathematical object is a property which determines whether the object is larger or smaller than other objects of the same kind. More formally, an object's magnitude is the displayed result of an ordering (or ranking) of the class of objects to which it belongs.
The projection of a onto b can be decomposed into a direction and a scalar magnitude by writing it as = ^ where is a scalar, called the scalar projection of a onto b, and b̂ is the unit vector in the direction of b.
A spherical vector is specified by a magnitude, an azimuth angle, and a zenith angle. The magnitude is usually represented as ρ. The azimuth angle, usually represented as θ, is the (counterclockwise) offset from the positive x-axis. The zenith angle, usually represented as φ, is the offset from the positive z-axis.
Maxwell's equations allow us to use a given set of initial and boundary conditions to deduce, for every point in Euclidean space, a magnitude and direction for the force experienced by a charged test particle at that point; the resulting vector field is the electric field. A gravitational field generated by any massive object is also a vector ...
The angle θ and axis unit vector e define a rotation, concisely represented by the rotation vector θe.. In mathematics, the axis–angle representation parameterizes a rotation in a three-dimensional Euclidean space by two quantities: a unit vector e indicating the direction of an axis of rotation, and an angle of rotation θ describing the magnitude and sense (e.g., clockwise) of the ...
Any nonzero linear form ω on Λ n V determines an orientation of V by declaring that x is in the positive direction when ω(x) > 0. To connect with the basis point of view we say that the positively-oriented bases are those on which ω evaluates to a positive number (since ω is an n -form we can evaluate it on an ordered set of n vectors ...