Physics
In physics, vector magnitude is a scalar in the physical sense, i.e. a physical quantity independent of the coordinate system, expressed as the product of a numerical value and a physical unit, not just a number. The dot product is also a scalar in this sense, given by the formula, independent of the coordinate system. Examples include:
- Mechanical work is the dot product of force and displacement vectors.
- Magnetic flux is the dot product of the magnetic field and the area vectors.
Read more about this topic: Dot Product
Famous quotes containing the word physics:
“We must be physicists in order ... to be creative since so far codes of values and ideals have been constructed in ignorance of physics or even in contradiction to physics.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Mathematics should be mixed not only with physics but with ethics.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The fundamental laws of physics do not describe true facts about reality. Rendered as descriptions of facts, they are false; amended to be true, they lose their explanatory force.”
—Nancy Cartwright (b. 1945)