Vector quantities

• What are the two categories of physical quantities that scientists measure?

  Scalars and vectors
• How are scalar and vector quantities treated differently in calculations?

  Vector quantities include direction, while scalar quantities do not
• What are some examples of vector quantities?

  • Force (e.g., 20 newtons to the left)
  • Weight (e.g., 600 newtons downwards)
  • Displacement (e.g., 50 kilometres east)
  • Velocity (e.g., 11 m/s upwards)
  • Acceleration (e.g., 9.8 m/s² downwards)
  • Momentum (e.g., 250 kg m/s south west)
• What does the direction of a vector represent?

  The direction indicates where the vector quantity is pointing
• How can the magnitude of a vector be represented visually?

  By the length of an arrow in a diagram
• What does it mean if one arrow is twice as long as another in a vector diagram?

  It represents a force with twice the magnitude
• What is the significance of the diagrams showing vectors drawn to different scales?

  • They illustrate the concept of magnitude in vectors
  • They help visualize the direction and size of vector quantities