They are (i) Scalar product or dot product There are two types of products defined between two vectors. Vectors are said to be coplanar if they are parallel to the same plane or they lie in the same plane. Vectors are said to be collinear or parallel if they have the same line of action or have the lines of action parallel to one another. The unit vector in the direction of the x-axis is, the unit vector in the direction of the y-axis is and the unit vector in the direction of the z-axis is. There are three important unit vectors, which are commonly used, and these are the vectors in the direction of the x, y and z-axes. The unit vector in the direction of is denoted by. Unit VectorĪ vector whose modulus is unity, is called a unit vector. Vectors other than the null vector are called proper vectors. If and are two vectors, then the subtraction of from is defined as the vector sum of and - and is denoted by -Ī vector whose initial and terminal points are coincident is called zero or null or a void vector. This is known as the triangle law of addition of vectors which states that, if two vectors are represented in magnitude and direction by the two sides of a triangle taken in the same order, then their sum is represented by the third side taken in the reverse order. If and are two vectors, then the addition of from is denoted by +

Vectors are generally denoted by (read as vector a, vector b, vector c,…)Ī quantity having only magnitude is called a scalar. The point A is called initial point of the vector and B is called the terminal point. Vectors are represented by directed line segments such that the length of the line segment is the magnitude of the vector and the direction of arrow marked at one end denotes the direction of the vector.Ī vector denoted by = is determined by two points A, B such that the magnitude of the vector is the length of the line segment AB and its direction is that from A to B. A quantity having both magnitude and direction is called a vector.Įxample: velocity, acceleration, momentum, force, weight etc.

Null vector example