vector
A measure in which direction is important and must be specified, in addition to its magnitude.

Assume that an object was initially at a specific position A. Can you locate its new position if you are told that the object has moved four units to some location B? Most likely not. The new location B cannot be determined because you have not been provided with sufficient information about the movement. As shown in the picture below, an infinite number of locations are four units away from position A. In addition to the magnitude of the movement, the direction of the movement is also required to precisely locate the object. Any physical quantity that requires both magnitude and direction for a complete specification is called a vector.

However, it is sufficient to mention just a number if you want to tell somebody your height. Therefore, height is not a vector.


Related Term: scalar quantity


 
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