A good answer might be:


Length and Direction converted to (x, y)

Say that you have been given a length and a direction and want to express them as a 2D column vector.

  1. Draw a sketch.
  2. Calculate x by projecting the length onto the x-axis
    (usually length*cos( θ ) )
  3. Calculate y by projecting the length onto the y-axis
    (usually length*sin( θ ) )
  4. Check answers against the sketch.

Of course, you can't wait to practice this (it brings back those fond memories of trigonometry.)


QUESTION 7:

A vector has length 4 and orientation 150o. Express the vector as a column vector.