Vector Addition (Cambridge (CIE) A Level Maths): Revision Note

Vector addition

What is vector addition?

• Adding vectors together lets us describes the movement between two points

• The single vector this creates is called the resultant vector

• Subtracting a vector is the same as adding the negative vector

• Adding the vectors PQ and QP gives the zero vector, denoted by a bold zero 0

• You can add and subtract vectors in any of the forms previously described:

Scalars and parallel vectors

• Multiplying by a positive scalar only changes the size of a vector, not its direction

• Two vectors are parallel if and only if one is a scalar multiple of the other