Magnitude of a Vector

This online calculator calculates the magnitude of a vector

This page exists due to the efforts of the following people:

Timur

Timur

Created: 2019-06-06 06:31:35, Last updated: 2021-02-25 06:46:58
Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0 (Unported)

This content is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0 (Unported). That means you may freely redistribute or modify this content under the same license conditions and must attribute the original author by placing a hyperlink from your site to this work https://planetcalc.com/8247/. Also, please do not modify any references to the original work (if any) contained in this content.

This online calculator calculates the magnitude of a vector, either a free vector using its coordinates or a bound vector using coordinates of its initial and terminal points. You can find theory and formulas below the calculator.

PLANETCALC, Magnitude of a Vector

Magnitude of a Vector

Vector coordinates

Initial point coordinates

Terminal point coordinates

Digits after the decimal point: 2
Magnitude
 

The magnitude of a vector

Here we talk about the Euclidean vector, a geometric object with magnitude (or length) and direction. Graphically it can be represented as an arrow, connecting an initial point with a terminal point. Such vector is called bound vector. It is defined by an initial point and terminal point coordinates. When you care only about the magnitude and the direction of the vector and not about the particular initial point, such vector is called a free vector. The free vector is equivalent to the bound vector, whose initial point is the origin.

The length or magnitude or norm of the vector a is denoted by ‖a‖ or, less commonly, |a|, which is not to be confused with the absolute value (a scalar "norm").

You can compute the length of the vector with the Euclidean norm.

\left\|\mathbf {a} \right\|={\sqrt {a_{1}^{2}+a_{2}^{2}+a_{3}^{2}}}
which is a consequence of the Pythagorean theorem since the basis vectors e1, e2, e3 are orthogonal unit vectors.1

In case of three-dimensional space with x, y and z coordinates the formula becomes
\left\|\mathbf {a} \right\|=\sqrt{x^2+y^2+z^2}, for free vector
and
\left\|\mathbf {a} \right\|=\sqrt{(x_1-x_0)^2+(y_1-y_0)^2+(z_1-z_0)^2}, for bound vector

URL copied to clipboard
PLANETCALC, Magnitude of a Vector

Comments