4.1: Addition and Scalar Multiplication in Rⁿ
- Page ID
- 1843
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\[a=\begin{pmatrix}a^{1} \\ \vdots \\ a^{n}\end{pmatrix} ~and ~b=\begin{pmatrix}b^{1} \\ \vdots \\ b^{n}\end{pmatrix}\[ their \(\textit{sum}\) is
$$a+b := \begin{pmatrix} a^1+b^1 \\ \vdots \\ a^n+b^n\end{pmatrix}\, .$$
Given a scalar \(\lambda\), the \(\textit{scalar multiple}\)
$$\lambda a := \begin{pmatrix}\lambda a^{1} \\ \vdots \\ \lambda a^{n}\end{pmatrix}\, .\]
\[0=\begin{pmatrix}0\\ \vdots \\ 0\end{pmatrix}\, .\]
In Euclidean geometry---the study of \(\mathbb{R}^{n}\) with lengths and angles defined as in section 4.3---\(n\)-vectors are used to label points \(P\) and the zero vector labels the origin \(O\). In this sense, the zero vector is the only one with zero magnitude, and the only one which points in no particular direction.


