🚀 go-pugleaf

schumaker (schumaker@tigger.jvnc.net) wrote:

: >> points do not necessarily make a vector.  A vector is a point that *points*
: >> somewhere
: >But a point has a magnitude and direction. Point x,y,z has a magnitude 
: >of sqrt(x^2+y^2+z^2) and a direction of ( x i y j z k)/magnitude where 
: >i,j,k are the unit vectors. Remember when you define a point in space you 
: >are referencing it to some reference point.  
: wrong a point is just that a point.  the values given a point are completely 
: arbitraray based on your origin I can aurgue that a point at 0,0,0 is the same 
: as a point you call 1,2,3 your reference point does not give a point any 
: magnitude.

	In math, a vector is any ordered pair, triple, n-tuple.  Find any 
linear algebra book if you don't believe me.  I believe that physics 
often assumes these to be a direction & magnitude of the distance from 
the origin (0,0,...,0) (Note that vectors in the mathematical sense are 
NOT by any means limited to two or three dimensional space.) to the point 
that the vector defines.  It then refers to these ordered pairs (0,v) of 
points as vectors.  (This is very like what physics and other applied 
mathematics does to many other aspects of more generalized math.)