Vectors and Scalars: The Building Blocks of Physics
You encounter vectors and scalars every day without realising it. When you tell someone you walked 5 metres, that's a scalar (just magnitude). But when you say you walked 5 metres north, that's a vector (magnitude plus direction).
Vectors include displacement, velocity, force, acceleration, and momentum - they all have both size and direction. Scalars only have size: distance, speed, energy, time, and mass.
When forces combine, you get a resultant force. If a 3N force pushes right and a 1N force pushes left, the resultant is 2N to the right. For forces at angles, you can use scale diagrams - draw them to scale, measure the result, then convert back to Newtons.
💡 Quick tip: Forces are balanced when the resultant equals zero - the object either stays still or moves at constant speed.