Vector geometry
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The teaching part (1 min) is free to watch. A free account opens the whole lecture: 7 practice questions, 1 real past-paper question with the answer explained, the mistakes that lose marks, the full-marks tip, a one-card summary and a quick quiz.
What this lecture covers
- Journeys in letters
- The first rules
Read the transcript of the teaching part
Last time
Before we start: last time, in Column vectors and magnitude, you learned these points. Here they are again on one card. Keep them in mind, because today builds on them.
Journeys in letters
So far vectors had numbers. Now they have letters: a is the journey from O to A, and b is the journey from O to B. Every other journey in the diagram can be built out of a and b. This is called vector geometry, and the method is always the same: go from the start to the finish along known routes.
The first rules
Going backwards reverses the vector. If OA is a, then AO is minus a. To go from A to B, go back along a to O, then forward along b. So AB is minus a plus b, which is b minus a. Always write the route you take, step by step, before you simplify.
How often it comes up
How often Cambridge has asked each part, counted by ExamYard from every past paper in its question bank: Vector geometry.
The whole chapter: Vectors.
Chapter 28: Vectors
- Column vectors and magnitude 5 min
- Vector geometry 5 min
Also for IGCSE Maths 0580
Which topics come up most in IGCSE Maths 0580 past papers, counted from every paper since 2004.