- #1
eckiller
- 44
- 0
Hi,
In abstract linear algebra you learn that vectorspaces (and in particular I
want to only consider ordered 2-tuples) have no natural coordinate system,
but you can introduce coordinate systems and describe vectors relative to
other vectors.
However, in physics, they often make the (1, 0) and (0, 1) vectors [2-tuple
vector objects themselves, *not* coordinates] parallel to the page edges,
regardless of the coordinate system used.
My question is: Is this merely convention?
I mean, it seems arbitrary that (1, 0) and (0, 1) get to be made parallel to
the page edges, although it is intuitive. So is this just the standard
intuitive way of interpreting the linear vector space of 2-tuples?
To clarify with an example, consider the ramp problems in physics.
There are two bases, the ground basis where we know gravity and the ramp
basis, where one of the axes is coincident with the ramp slope, and the
other orthogonal with the ramp slope.
We want to change the gravity vector to be relative to the ramp basis. The
ground system, which gravity is initially relative to, is taken to be the
standard basis. Is this necessary or just done for convenience?
In abstract linear algebra you learn that vectorspaces (and in particular I
want to only consider ordered 2-tuples) have no natural coordinate system,
but you can introduce coordinate systems and describe vectors relative to
other vectors.
However, in physics, they often make the (1, 0) and (0, 1) vectors [2-tuple
vector objects themselves, *not* coordinates] parallel to the page edges,
regardless of the coordinate system used.
My question is: Is this merely convention?
I mean, it seems arbitrary that (1, 0) and (0, 1) get to be made parallel to
the page edges, although it is intuitive. So is this just the standard
intuitive way of interpreting the linear vector space of 2-tuples?
To clarify with an example, consider the ramp problems in physics.
There are two bases, the ground basis where we know gravity and the ramp
basis, where one of the axes is coincident with the ramp slope, and the
other orthogonal with the ramp slope.
We want to change the gravity vector to be relative to the ramp basis. The
ground system, which gravity is initially relative to, is taken to be the
standard basis. Is this necessary or just done for convenience?