Welcome to PF.Aleksa said:
When subtracting two vectors, the resulting magnitude is not always equal to the difference between the individual magnitudes. This is because vector subtraction takes into account the direction of the vectors, not just their magnitudes. If the two vectors are pointing in opposite directions, the resulting magnitude will be larger than the individual magnitudes.
The direction of the resulting vector is determined by the direction of the first vector and the direction of the second vector. To find the direction, draw a vector diagram and use the head-to-tail method. The resulting vector will point from the tail of the first vector to the head of the second vector.
No, vector subtraction can only be performed on vectors with the same dimensions. This means that the two vectors must have the same number of components, such as both being 2D or both being 3D. If the vectors have different dimensions, they cannot be subtracted.
A negative result when subtracting two vectors means that the resulting vector is pointing in the opposite direction of the first vector. This can happen when the two vectors are pointing in the same direction, but one has a larger magnitude than the other. In this case, the resulting vector will have a negative magnitude and point in the opposite direction of the larger vector.
To check if you have correctly subtracted two vectors, you can use the parallelogram method or the head-to-tail method. If the resulting vector formed by the two methods is the same, then you have correctly subtracted the vectors. Additionally, you can use the Pythagorean theorem to calculate the magnitude of the resulting vector and compare it to the difference between the individual magnitudes. If they are equal, then you have correctly subtracted the vectors.