Position & Displacement Vectors
What are position vectors?
- A position vector describes where a specific point, A , is, relative to a fixed origin, O
- Lower-case bold (or underlined) letters are used
- The point A has position vector a =
- Lower-case bold (or underlined) letters are used
- Their components are equal to their coordinates
- The point with coordinates (3, -2) has position vector 3i – 2j
What are displacement vectors?
- A displacement vector describes the direction and distance between two points
- The displacement vector from A to B is
- How to get from A to B
- The displacement vector from A to B is
- If the points A and B have position vectors a and b relative to O
- then A to B is the same as A to O (-a) followed by O to B (b)
- This is a useful rule to remember
- then A to B is the same as A to O (-a) followed by O to B (b)
Exam Tip
- You may need to draw an origin, O , on to a diagram to be able to sketch position vectors.
Worked example
The points and have position vectors 3i + 2j and 6i - 10j respectively.
Find and simplify the vector .
Let p and q be position vectors of P and Q
is the displacement vector from P to Q
Use the rule that
Substitute in p and q
Expand and simplify