Pre-Calculus: Finding Vector Magnitude & Direction

http://www.mindbites.com/series/300-trigonometry-vector-basics for a bundle of videos on . For an even broader bundle of videos that cover and , check out http://www.mindbites.com/series/297-trigonometry-applications-of-trigonometry .

To search for topic-specific help in our library of 400+ video products for Trigonometry & Pre-Calculus, please refer to our Trigonometry category at: http://www.mindbites.com/category/31-trigonometry and our Calculus Category at http://www.mindbites.com/category/23-calculus .

To check out our full Trig & Pre-Cal video course, with 150 videos included, refer to: http://www.mindbites.com/series/845-trigonometry-full-course .

Or, for access to this single video, go to: http://www.mindbites.com/lesson/1231

In this lesson, Professor Burger will show you how to find the magnitude and direction angle of a vector provided in standard form (and how vector notation associated with standard form looks and should be interpreted). He will also review how to depict a vector graphically that we have described by standard form. The magnitude is the length of a vector (reminder: it must be positive), and we use the Pythagorean theorem to calculate the vector's magnitude. The direction angle is always measured counter-clockwise from the positive side of the x-axis. Once we know the vector's length, we can use trigonometric functions to calculate the direction angle of the vector. Last, Professor Burger solves for the magnitude and direction of some of the vectors using a calculator.

This lesson is perfect for review for a CLEP test, mid-term, final, summer school, or personal growth!

Taught by Professor Edward Burger, this lesson was selected from a broader, comprehensive course, Precalculus.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• college
• calc
• math
• thinkwell
• lessons
• tutorial
• mindbites
• help
• class
• how to
• HW
• homework
• overview
• basic
• algebraic
• examples. induction

[MrRajNSK]

Hi, Short and sweet explanation. A learning friendly approach.

[prmchuk]

@ThePhysicsManiac you can use any of the six trig functions to fnd an angle....its just preference or it depends on which sides of the triangle are known or available

[ThePhysicsManiac]

why we use Tan to find the angle?