Recent content by korters

I don't understand how a scalar can be negative. Like work for example, how can this be - or + yet still be a scalar. I've read that scalars only have magnitude, while vectors have both magnitude and direction. As vague as these definitions seem, I reason that scalars wouldn't have any +/-...

This is just a basic incline plane problem. I know how to do it, but these sign conventions and vector issues are what confuse me. I know that I align my coordinate system so the x-axis is basically the surface the block is resting/moving on, the net weight vector of the block will be directed...

What exactly is a position vector? Does a position vector ALWAYS have it's initial point at the origin (0,0)? What if there was an equivalent vector from P1 (NOT the origin) to P2 that has the same magnitude and direction as a vector with its initial point at the origin? Obviously these...

I really don't think it's necessary to go back to precalculus. I don't really remember any similarities with it and calculus (but then again I don't remember any of the courses I took in high school, which is when I took precalc). I remember throughout high school I got C's in all my math...

Is calculus based physics harder than physical chemistry? Just curious. I've taken p-chem I (basically calc-based derivations of the laws of thermodynamics, chemical equilibrium, phase transitions, colligative properties, and electrochemical principals) and was wondering if this was harder...