So my physics book, it shows me a bunch of two dimensional vector math. Great, yeah I can multiply too...what is it good for? Please tell me before I burn this book.
Vector math is used as the basis for a lot of computer graphics stuff. You can normalize a vector and rotate it back to a well known coordinate system (like, say, the X-Y axis of your display), perform very simple vector math on it, then rotate it back to the original frame of reference. Cross product is also how you find a vector normal to a plane. Dot product can be useful for finding angles using a matrix solver.
Stuff like cross product shows up in electrical charge physics later and angular momentum physics. In physics, whenever you have a force that is perpendicular to a plane, you'll use a cross product. Dot product is used to determine work (in the physics sense, as Work = Force DistanceTraveled).
Really, this stuff is useful. It's just really abstract when they're teaching you the math without the application. Hang in there!
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Stuff like cross product shows up in electrical charge physics later and angular momentum physics. In physics, whenever you have a force that is perpendicular to a plane, you'll use a cross product. Dot product is used to determine work (in the physics sense, as Work = Force DistanceTraveled).
Really, this stuff is useful. It's just really abstract when they're teaching you the math without the application. Hang in there!
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