Vectors

Parallel Vectors: Missing a Solution

(A new question of the week) We were recently asked to check work on an interesting little question about parallel vectors, and I was almost convinced that there was no solution … until I realized there was one! How was it missed? How can we avoid doing that? That’s our goal today.

Vector Basics: Adding Arrows

Because we have had a number of questions about vectors recently, I thought it might be time to look at various facets of that topic. Here, we will start with some ideas about what vectors, and their most basic operations, are. Next week, we’ll get into the far more interesting topic of multiplying vectors.

Angle Between Vectors: A Tricky Problem

A new question of the week We haven’t done much with vectors here, though there have been many problems of that sort lately. Let’s look at a recent question that touches on the basics, yet is by no means a simple problem.

Averaging Angles

(Archive Question of the Week) An interesting question that has been referred to many times since it was written in 1999 deals with averaging angles. At first the question seems trivial; then almost impossible; and then we end up with a rather simple formula that is totally unlike what we started with. And further applications …

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