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1 995 Mathematics Olympiad Lecture Notes - Vectors - Greg Gamble - Vectors

The document is from 1995 Mathematics Olympiad lecture notes that defines vectors. It states that a vector has length and direction but not position, and two vectors are equal if they have the same length and direction. It provides an example of subtracting the coordinates of one point from another to determine the vector between them, and shows that two vectors can be equal even if they connect different point pairs.

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307 views1 page

1 995 Mathematics Olympiad Lecture Notes - Vectors - Greg Gamble - Vectors

The document is from 1995 Mathematics Olympiad lecture notes that defines vectors. It states that a vector has length and direction but not position, and two vectors are equal if they have the same length and direction. It provides an example of subtracting the coordinates of one point from another to determine the vector between them, and shows that two vectors can be equal even if they connect different point pairs.

Uploaded by

vitorres
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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University of Western Australia

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
1995 MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD LECTURE NOTES
Vectors
Greg Gamble

For our purposes, a vector is essentially a directed arrow. A vector has the properties
of length and direction, but not position. Thus, we say two vectors are equal if they have
the same length and same direction.
−→
If A, B are two points then AB is the vector that joins A and B; it has length equal
to the length of the line segment that joins A and B, and direction parallel to an arrow
−→
pointing from A to B. We assign coordinates to AB by subtracting the respective coordi-
−→
nates of A from those of B. The position vector of a point A is the vector OA where O is
−→
the origin, relative to which, A has coordinates. (So A and OA expressed as coordinates
look the same.)
Example.
Suppose A = (1, 3) and B = (2, 7) then
−→
AB = B − A = (2, 7) − (1, 3) = (2 − 1, 7 − 3) = (1, 4).

Suppose and C = (5, 4) and D = (6, 8) then


−→
CD = D − C = (6, 8) − (5, 4) = (6 − 5, 8 − 4) = (1, 4).
−→ −→
Observe that AB and CD are equal despite the fact they connect different pairs of points
in space.

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