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Key Equations

Multiplication by a scalar (vector equation) B =αA
Multiplication by a scalar (scalar equation for magnitudes) B=|α|A
Resultant of two vectors D AD=D AC+D CD
Commutative law A +B =B +A
Associative law (A +B )+C =A +(B +C )
Distributive law α1A +α2A =(α1+α2)A
The component form of a vector in two dimensions A =Axi^ +Ayj^
Scalar components of a vector in two dimensions {Ax=xexb Ay=yeyb
Magnitude of a vector in a plane A=Ax2+Ay2
The direction angle of a vector in a plane θA=tan−1(Ay Ax )
Scalar components of a vector in a plane {Ax=AcosθA Ay=AsinθA
Polar coordinates in a plane {x=rcosφ y=rsinφ
The component form of a vector in three dimensions A =Axi^ +Ayj^ +Azk^
The scalar z-component of a vector in three dimensions Az=zezb
Magnitude of a vector in three dimensions A=Ax2+Ay2+Az2
Distributive property α(A +B )=αA +αB
Antiparallel vector to A A =Axi^ Ayj^ Azk^
Equal vectors A =B {Ax=Bx Ay=By Az=Bz
Components of the resultant of N vectors {FRx=k=1 N Fkx =F1x+F2x++FNx FRy=k=1 N Fky =F1y+F2y++FNy FRz=k=1 N Fkz =F1z+F2z++FNz
General unit vector V^ =V V
Definition of the scalar product A ·B =ABcosφ
Commutative property of the scalar product A ·B =B ·A
Distributive property of the scalar product A ·(B +C )=A ·B +A ·C
Scalar product in terms of scalar components of vectors A ·B =AxBx+AyBy+AzBz
Cosine of the angle between two vectors cosφ=A ·B AB
Dot products of unit vectors i^ ·j^ =j^ ·k^ =k^ ·i^ =0
Magnitude of the vector product (definition) |A ×B |=ABsinφ
Anticommutative property of the vector product A ×B =B ×A
Distributive property of the vector product A ×(B +C )=A ×B +A ×C
Cross products of unit vectors {i^ ×j^ =+k^ , j^ ×k^ =+i^ , k^ ×i^ =+j^ .
The cross product in terms of scalar
components of vectors
A ×B =(AyBzAzBy)i^ +(AzBxAxBz)j^ +(AxByAyBx)k^
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