I really need to know how to calculate the magnitude of a vector. Here is the question I really need help on: Given the vector components (–75.00, +200.00), calculate the magnitude and polar positive direction of the vector. Show your work.
I’ve never heard the term “polar positive direction” before, but to calculate the magnitude, just use the Pythagorean Theorem on the coordinates given. So in other words, add the squares, and then take the square root. So the magnitude of the vector you gave is:
sqrt( (-75)^2 + 200^2) = 213.60009
where ^2 means “squared” and sqrt means square root.
I don’t know about the polar positive direction thing, sorry. It sounds like they just want to know which direction the vector is pointing in. In this case, it’s in the second quadrant (pointing up and to the left)