CHAPTER 11. VECTORS 11.7
- = - =
- = - =
In mathematical form, subtracting �a from�b gives a new vector �c:
�c = �b− �a
= �b + (−�a)This clearly shows thatsubtracting vector �a from�b is the same as adding (−�a) to�b. Look at the
following examples of vector subtraction.
- = + =� 0
- = + =
Scalar Multiplication ESBEI
What happens when you multiply a vector by ascalar (an ordinary number)?
Going back to normal multiplication we know that 2 × 2 is just 2 groups of 2 added together to give 4.
We can adopt a similarapproach to understandhow vector multiplication works.
2 x = + =11.7 Techniques of Vector Addition
Now that you have learned about the mathematical properties of vectors, we return to vector addition
in more detail. There are a number of techniques of vector addition. These techniques fall intotwo
main categories - graphical and algebraic techniques.
Graphical Techniques ESBEK
Graphical techniques involve drawing accuratescale diagrams to denote individual vectors andtheir
resultants. We next discuss the two primary graphical techniques, the head-to-tail technique and the
parallelogram method.