How position is a vector quantity?

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In a coordinate system position is just a label for the points, so we can distinguish between different points. Then why we use a position vector to specify the position as it is just a label and nothing else. We can use colours if we want to label the points and it would be fine. For example, Paris is a label for a specific location on earth and it does not have magnitude or direction. Please explain it in as simple terms as you can do not use jargon.

In: Physics

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Anonymous 0 Comments

The coordinate system is specifically designed in such a way that you can calculate distances between any two positions, and this is its most useful property, not just labeling places. The coordinate system is also defined by its origin point – the point whose position is supposed to be zero, i.e. having zero values on all coordinates. So any other position is defined by a vector drawn between the origin point and that position.

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