Chapter 9 Vectors

As we have seen numerous times in this book, mathematics can be used to model and solve real-world problems. For many applications, real numbers suffice; that is, real numbers with the appropriate units attached can be used to answer questions like “How close is the nearest Sasquatch nest?” There are other times though, when these kinds of quantities do not suffice. Perhaps it is important to know, for instance, how close the nearest Sasquatch nest is as well as the direction in which it lies.

In Chapter 9 Section 1, we will introduce a mathematical object, a vector, which can be used to model and ask these questions.  We will discuss the properties of vectors and operations between vectors, including addition, subtraction, and scalar multiplication.  Then in Section 2 we will investigate multiplication between two vectors and its applications.