Lecture 1 Vectors We define a vector in three-dimensional Euclidean space as having a length (or magnitude) and a direction. A vector is depicted as an arrow starting at one point in space and ending at another point. All vectors that have the same length and point in the same direction are considered equal, no matter where they are located in space. (Variables that are vectors will be denoted in print by boldface, and in hand by an arrow drawn over the symbol.) In contrast, scalars have magnitude but no direction. Zero can either be a scalar or a vector and has zero magnitude, The negative of a vector reverses its direction, Examples of vectors are velocity and acceleration; examples of scalars are mass and charge. Vectors can be added to each other and multiplied by scalars. A simple example is a mass m acted fon by two forces F; and Fs. Newton’s equation then takes the form ma = Fi + Fa, where a is the acceleration vector of the mass. Vector addition is commutative and associative: A+B=B+A, (A+B)+C=A+(B+C); and scalar multiplication is distributive: K(A+B) =KA+KB. Multiplication of a vector by a positive scalar changes the length of the vector but not its direction. ‘Vector addition can be represented graphically by placing the tail of one of the vectors on the head of the other. Vector subtraction adds the first vector to the negative of the second. Notice that when the tail of A and B are placed at the same point, the vector B — A points from the head of A to the head of B, or equivalently, the tail of —A to the head of B. Vector addition Vector subtractionLECTURE 1. VECTORS Problems for Lecture 1 1. Show graphically that vector addition is associative, that is, (A + B) + = A+(B+O). 2. Using vectors, prove that the line segment joining the midpoints of two sides ofa triangle is parallel to the third side and half its length.