Mathematics — Vectors
The language beneath all of physics.
Understand how a vector carries both magnitude and direction, and how that makes it different from an ordinary number.
See how two vectors add head to tail to give a resultant, and how the resultant changes as you rotate them.
See how any vector can be split into horizontal and vertical components, and how those components change with its direction.
Vectors that sum to zero. Closed polygons. Why 3 forces in equilibrium follow a clean ratio rule.
See how the dot product measures the alignment between two vectors, reaching a maximum when they point the same way and zero when they are perpendicular.
See how the cross product of two vectors gives a third vector perpendicular to both, with a direction found using the right-hand rule.