6.3 vectors

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Taught by laurie.hillman
  • Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
8608 views | 3 ratings
Meets NCTM Standards:
Lesson Summary:

In this lesson on vectors, you will learn about initial and terminal points, direction and magnitude, component form, unit vectors, standard unit vectors, and direction angles. You will also see examples of how to break down vectors into their horizontal and vertical components and how to find the direction angle of a vector using trigonometry. With clear explanations and helpful diagrams, this lesson will give you a solid understanding of how vectors work.

Lesson Description:

Learn what vectors are and how to work with them.

Questions answered by this video:
  • What is a vector?
  • What is the initial and terminal point of a vector?
  • What are equivalent vectors, and how do you determine if two vectors are equivalent?
  • What is length or magnitude of a vector?
  • How do you draw a vector in the plane given an initial and terminal point?
  • How do you find the length or magnitude of a vector using the Pythagorean Theorem?
  • What is the component form of a vector?
  • What does ||v|| mean?
  • What is a unit vector and how do you create a unit vector in the direction of <2, 1>?
  • What is the formula for making a unit vector?
  • What is the unit vector in the direction of <-3, 4>?
  • How do you make a vector in the direction of <3, 3> with a magnitude ||v|| of 5?
  • What are the standard unit vectors i = <1, 0> and j = <0, 1>?
  • How do you write vectors such as <2, 1> using the unit vectors i and j?
  • What are direction angles for vectors and how do you find the direction angle using inverse tangent?
  • What is the direction angle for the vector <4, 3>?
  • Staff Review

    • Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
    This is a great introduction to vectors, what they are, and some terminology. Some equivalent vectors are shown, and you will learn how to draw some vectors. Writing vectors, finding unit vectors, direction angles, magnitude, and standard unit vectors are all explained in this lesson. A great overview of introductory vectors.