

What Is the Difference Between a Position Vector and a Unit Vector?Ī vector is considered to be a unit vector when it is used to specify only the direction and has a magnitude equal to 1. These are used to determine the position of a point with reference to the origin. The position vector starts at the origin and terminates at any other arbitrary point. Where Does a Position Vector Always Start? Whereas, the displacement vector helps us to find the change in the position vector of a given object. What Is the Difference Between a Position Vector and Displacement Vector?Ī position vector is defined as a vector that indicates either the position or the location of any given point with respect to any arbitrary reference point like the origin.

A position vector is defined as a vector that indicates either the position or the location of any given point with respect to any arbitrary reference point like the origin.Here is a list of a few points that should be remembered while studying position vector Handling Vectors Specified in the i-j form.Similarly, if we want to find the position vector from the point B to point A, then we can use: BA = (x k - x k+1, y k - y k+1)Ĭheck out the following pages related to the position vector.The position vector AB refers to a vector that starts at point A and ends at point B.The formula to determine the position vector from A to B is AB = (x k+1 - x k, y k+1 - y k).For instance, consider a point A, which has the coordinates (x k, y k) in the xy-plane, and another point B, which has the coordinates (x k+1, y k+1). If we know the position of any point in the xy-plane, then we can use a formula to determine a position vector between those two points. In the above diagram, the position vector of the particle when it is at point P is the vector OP and when it is at point Q, it is OQ.

The position vector of a particle can be defined as the vector that starts from the origin to the point where the particle is located. We will consider a particle that moves from point P to point Q. The coordinates of the vectors P and Q can be written as: P = (2,4), Q = (3, 5). Let's consider an origin O as shown in the below image. Let’s consider two vectors, P and Q, with position vectors p = (2,4) and q = (3, 5) respectively. In a three-dimensional space, if the origin O = (0,0,0) and P = (x 1, y 1, z 1), then the position vector v of point P can be represented as: v = x 1i + y 1j + z 1k.In the cartesian coordinate system, if O is the origin and P(x 1, y 1) is another point, then the position vector that is being directed from the point O to the point P can be represented as OP.Position Vector DefinitionĪ position vector is defined as a vector that indicates either the position or the location of any given point with respect to any arbitrary reference point like the origin. As the point moves, the position vector will change in length or in direction or in both length and direction.
