marbille9 said:
To calculate the missing displacement vector, you will need to have at least two other displacement vectors and their corresponding magnitudes and directions. Once you have this information, you can use the Pythagorean theorem and trigonometric functions to find the missing displacement vector.
The Pythagorean theorem states that in a right triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. In the case of displacement vectors, this theorem can be used to find the magnitude of the resultant displacement vector when adding two or more displacement vectors together.
To add displacement vectors, you can use the head-to-tail method or the parallelogram method. In both methods, you will need to draw the vectors to scale and then use the Pythagorean theorem and trigonometric functions to find the magnitude and direction of the resultant vector. To subtract displacement vectors, you can simply change the direction of the vector you are subtracting and then follow the same steps as addition.
Displacement and distance are often used interchangeably, but they are actually two different concepts. Distance is a scalar quantity that refers to the total length of the path traveled, while displacement is a vector quantity that refers to the change in position from the starting point to the end point. Displacement takes into account both the magnitude and direction of the movement, while distance only considers the magnitude.
Displacement vectors can be represented graphically using arrows. The length of the arrow represents the magnitude of the vector, while the direction of the arrow represents the direction of the vector. The starting point of the arrow is the initial position and the end point is the final position. In addition, displacement vectors can also be represented using coordinate systems and mathematical equations.