- #1
alkaspeltzar
- 354
- 37
Taking high school physics, i have learned that force and acceleration are vectors. But i have noticed prior to this, we have never worried about them as such. Most of the problems simply treat them like any other measurment or value, ignoring direction. Almost like scalars.
So my question is, can we do this since for most problems it is just simpler and until we have more complexity with varying directions, we just work with force as purely 20lbs, 200 Newtons, ignoring the direction? Same with acceleration, we talk about it simply a some number of meter/second squared. Even the book will write its answers as"the force is 22.5lbs"...no direction.
Do people many times use the words force and acceleration as synomymous with the force or acceleration magnitude? Proabaly just the way it is
Thanks
So my question is, can we do this since for most problems it is just simpler and until we have more complexity with varying directions, we just work with force as purely 20lbs, 200 Newtons, ignoring the direction? Same with acceleration, we talk about it simply a some number of meter/second squared. Even the book will write its answers as"the force is 22.5lbs"...no direction.
Do people many times use the words force and acceleration as synomymous with the force or acceleration magnitude? Proabaly just the way it is
Thanks
Last edited: