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Basic Vector Operations

James Limon - Case Western Reserve University


March 2018

1 Basic Arithmetic
In this section, we will quickly go over basic operations and how they apply to vectors. We
will discuss vector addition and scalar multiplication, which includes ”scalar division”. In
addition we will review the general properties of these operations, and there will be a series
of practice problems at the end of this section.

1.1 Vector Addition


1.1.1 Mathematically
The adding of vectors is a reasonably intuitive process. Given two vectors, ~a and ~b, we add
them by adding the x-components together and by adding the y-components together.

~r = ~a + ~b
~a = hax , ay i
(1)
~b = hbx , by i
~r = hax + bx , ay + by i
Vector addition, like normal addition, obeys the commutative property, associative prop-
erty, and identity property:

~a + ~b = ~b + ~a (2)
   
~a + ~b + ~c = ~a + ~b + ~c (3)
~a + ~0 = ~a (4)

1.1.2 Graphically
What does it mean to add two vectors. Say we wanted to add the vectors ~a and ~b as seen
in Figure 1.
In order to graphically find the vector ~r, which is equal to ~a + ~b, we move the tail of ~b
to the head of ~a. Then ~r is simply the vector that goes from the tail of ~a to the new head
of ~b (this can be seen in Figure 2).
As you can see, the new vector ~r is the third side of the triangle that is formed when
you put the tail of one vector to the head of the other.

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Figure 1: Two vectors, ~a and ~b

Figure 2: Two vectors, ~a and ~b, added together to get ~r

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1.2 Scalar Multiplication
1.2.1 Mathematically
A scalar is simply a number, aka it is not a vector. For example, 5 ∗ 6 = 30 is scalar
multiplication, in which 5, 6, and 30 are all scalars. Scalar multiplication by a vector is, you
guessed it, when you multiply a vector by a scalar.

chx, yi = hcx, cyi (5)


In which c is a scalar. This is a useful tool for changing the length, or magnitude, of a
vector without changing the direction. In addition, ”scalar division” by a number c, can be
achieved by multiplying the vector by 1c .
Multiplying a vector by a scalar follows the associative property, distributive property,
and identity property:

(a · b) · ~v = a · (b · ~v ) (6)
a · (~v + ~r) = a~v + a~r (7)
(a + b) · ~v = a~v + b~v (8)
1 · ~v = ~v (9)

1.2.2 Graphically
As was said earlier, multiplying a vector by a scalar simply changes the length of the vector,
aka it has no effect on the direction of the vector. Say we had an image of a vector ~r = h3, 4i.
Say that in a second image we had the vector 2~r. You would notice that the only difference
is that in the second graph, the vector has a magnitude that is twice that of the first graph.
It is encouraged that you practice graphing a few vectors and the result of multiplying that
same vector by a scalar.

2 Practice Problems
For problems 1 - 4, evaluate the expression and leave the answer in vector form:

1. h7, 8i + h4, 2i 3. 2 · h3, 5, 1i


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2. h1, 5, 3i − h2, 7, 3i 4. 2 · (h6, 5, 2i + h4, 7, 9i)

For problems 5 - 8, graph the resultant vector ~r:

5. ~r = h2, 3i + h2, 2i 7. ~r = 2 · h2, 5i


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6. ~r = h1, 5i + 2 · h4, 6i 8. ~r = (2 + 3) · h1, 3i

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