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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1997
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1992-09-02
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Any physical quantity that has both magnitude
and direction, such as the velocity or
acceleration of an object, as distinct from a
scalar quantity, which has magnitude but no
direction, such as speed, density, or mass. A
vector is represented geometrically by an
arrow whose length corresponds to its
magnitude, and in an appropriate direction.
Vectors can be added graphically by
constructing a triangle of vectors (such as
the triangle of forces commonly employed in
physics and engineering). If two forces p and
q are acting on a body at A, then the
parallelogram of forces is drawn to determine
the resultant force and direction r. p, q,
and r are vectors. In technical writing, it
is denoted by bold (clarendon) type, or
underlined AB or overlined AB.