Introduction to Vectors

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

  • View vectors geometrically.
  • Find magnitude and direction.
  • Perform vector addition and scalar multiplication.
  • Find the component form of a vector.
  • Find the unit vector in the direction of  [latex]v[/latex] .

An airplane is flying at an airspeed of 200 miles per hour headed on a SE bearing of 140°. A north wind (from north to south) is blowing at 16.2 miles per hour, as shown in Figure 1. What are the ground speed and actual bearing of the plane?

Image of a plan flying SE at 140 degrees and the north wind blowing

Figure 1

Ground speed refers to the speed of a plane relative to the ground. Airspeed refers to the speed a plane can travel relative to its surrounding air mass. These two quantities are not the same because of the effect of wind. In an earlier section, we used triangles to solve a similar problem involving the movement of boats. Later in this section, we will find the airplane’s groundspeed and bearing, while investigating another approach to problems of this type. First, however, let’s examine the basics of vectors.