Vector Magnitude


In these lessons, we will learn how to find the magnitude of 2-dimensional vectors and 3-dimensional vectors.




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Vectors
Equal Vectors
Vector Multiplication
Vector Geometry

The length of a vector is called the magnitude or modulus of the vector.
The following diagram shows the magnitude of a vector. Scroll down the page for more examples and solutions to calculate the magnitude of 2-D and 3-D vectors .

Magnitude Vector

Example:
Express each of the following vectors as a column vector and find its magnitude.

Vectors in 2D

Adding vectors geometrically, scalar multiplication, how to find the magnitude and direction angle of a vector.
A vector with initial point at the origin and terminal point at (a, b) is written <a, b>.
Geometrically, a vector is a directed line segment, while algebraically it is an ordered pair.

Example:
Find the magnitude and the direction angle for u = <-3, 4>

Vectors: magnitude of a vector in 2D.

Example:
Find the magnitude of the following vectors:
a = 4i - 3j
b = -2i + 5j




Vectors in 3D

The following diagram shows how to find the magnitude of a 3D Vector.
Magnitude of 3D Vector

A vector can also be 3-dimensional.
The following video gives the formula, and some examples of finding the magnitude, or length, of a 3-dimensional vector.

Example:
Find the magnitude:
a = <3, 1, -2>
b = 5i -j + 2k

Vectors : Magnitude of a vector 3D.

Examples:

  1. Find the magnitude of a = 4i + 3j + 2k
  2. If A(3, -5, 6) and B(4, 1, 3) find the length AB.


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