Geometry

YOU ARE LEARNING:

Vector Notation

Vectors use special notation to indicate their size and direction, which we can call column vectors.

Vectors are quantities that have both size and direction. There are multiple ways to write vectors, and they can represent movement on a set of coordinate axes.

There are multiple ways to write down a vector.

Sometimes the vector is labelled in bold

We can use a single bold letter, such as b, to indicate a vector.

Sometimes the vector is underlined

Again, we can use a single underlined letter, such as $\underline{b}$ .

We can also write it as AB with an arrow above it

A vector from A to B could be written as $\overrightarrow{AB}$

It can also be written as a column

For example, $\dbinom{3}{4}$ . This is the most common, as it is the most descriptive. Each of the numbers here represents a specific movement on the axes.

Which of these is not a way to write a vector?

The top number in a vector represents the horizontal $x$ , while the bottom number represents the vertical $y$ .