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Re: i,j,k things.



What Michael wrote (see below) makes sense to me. It shows that
unit vectors are not defined before the axes and units. Unit vectors
are place holders, j for force is not the same as j for velocity. And,
by the way, I do not remember i,j,k being called versors in Poland,
more than a decade before Hanna. Thanks those who provided
additional good answers.

The thread "Axes not required", started by John Denker, is a
different worth reading topic. At what stage of teaching should
this aspect be emphasized? Why is it important?
Ludwik Kowalski

Michael Edmiston wrote:

Nothing plotted in any coordinate system makes any sense
until we define the axes. However, once the axes are defined,
i,j,k become defined, and they are vectors.

Example, we first define that we are going to plot all the forces
on a body, and we are going to do this using units of newtons,
and we are going to use a cartesian coordinate system with the
origin on the center of mass of the body. .....