Re: vector components and notation
Title: Re: vector components and
notation
At 6:14 PM -0400 9/16/02, Bob LaMontagne wrote:
One of the reasons that I have used
Serway (Physics for Scientists and Engineers) is because I feel he is
one of the few authors who really presents the concept of components
correctly and also very clearly explains the concept to the student.
...
I have problems with Serway's approach because the notation is
inherently inconsistent. He defines A as the magnitude
of A. He then defines the *vectors* A_x and
A_y. Logically, therefore, A_x and A_y would
be the *magnitudes* of the vectors A_x and A_y.
But in the next breath they are defined instead as the ordinary signed
scalar components of the vector A.
While I like the idea of being able to talk about *vector*
components as well as *scalar* components, I think it almost
inevitably leads either to notational awkwardness or inconsistency,
both of which are potentially confusing to students.
John
--
A. John
Mallinckrodt
http://www.csupomona.edu/~ajm
Professor of Physics
mailto:ajm@csupomona.edu
Physics
Department
voice:909-869-4054
Cal Poly
Pomona fax:909-869-5090
Pomona, CA 91768-4031
office:Building 8, Room 223