Answer to Question #83881 in Mechanics | Relativity for Murari

Question

Graphical representation of vector tells to reprsent it by arrow
But this term graphical confuses as in many books and in notebooks vectors are drawn without coordinate plane
So my question is is it necessary to use vectors only on a graph paper

Answer 1

No, it is not necessary to use vectors on a graph paper. However without it you cannot do all calculations with vectors. Vector is an object that has magnitude and direction.

The most common ways to give a vector are:

- to give its coordinates like (3,4), which means that the arrow starts at 0 on a plot ('Graph paper') and ends on x-axis point 3 and y-axis point 4.

- to give its magnitude and angle: for instance, the force of 40 newtons is applied at 30^o above the horizon and looks left.

Without this information, however, you still can add and subtract vectors graphically if you have a drawing. In this case the result you get will let you estimate the direction and magnitude of the resulting vector relatively to other vectors.