Question Video: The Components of a Vector on a Grid Mathematics • First Year of Secondary School

Video Transcript

The components of the vector 𝐮 are two, negative one as the terminal point of the vector is two units right of the initial point and negative one units up or one unit down from the initial point. What are the components of the vector 𝐯?

Any vector in two dimensions has an 𝑥- and 𝑦-component. These tell us how we move from the initial or start point to the end or terminal point. The 𝑥-component has a positive value if we are moving to the right, and the 𝑦-component has a positive value if we are moving upwards. Vector 𝐮 is equal to two, negative one as we move two units to the right and one unit down.

In vector 𝐯, we move four units to the right and two units down to get from the initial point to the terminal point of the vector. This means that vector 𝐯 has an 𝑥-component equal to four and a 𝑦-component equal to negative two. Vector 𝐯 is equal to four, negative two.