AP Physics 1 Set 1

vector

a quantity that involved both magnitude and direction

scalar

a quantity that does not involve direction

vector addition

commutative law of addition: A + B = B + A

vector subtraction

not commutative, but can be rewritten as addition: A - B = A + (-B)

two-dimensional vector

vectors that lie flat in a plane and can be written as the sum of a horizontal vector and a vertical vector

horizontal basis vector

i^ represents a vector going in the x-direction of length 1

vertical basis vector

j^ represents a vector going in the y-direction of length 1

unit vector

both of these special vectors (horizontal basis and vertical basis) have a magnitude of 1. Often represented by placing a hat (caret) over the vector. i^ and j^

vector components

horizontal and vertical components of the vector written using the basis vectors, i^ and j^. The vector itself is the sum of these two

scalar components

vector components written without using the basis vectors