Which term describes a force's magnitude and direction as a graphic representation?

• A. Velocity
• B. Venturi tube
• C. Vector
• D. Vertical axis

Answer: (C)

A graphic representation of a quantity that has both magnitude and direction is a vector. A vector is drawn as an arrow where the length shows how large the quantity is and the arrow points in the direction of the quantity. For a force, using a vector lets you see not only how strong the force is but also the direction in which it acts, which is essential for solving equilibrium and resultant-force problems. Scalars like mass or temperature have only magnitude and no direction, so they aren’t shown with arrows. The other terms aren’t about depicting a force’s magnitude and direction: a venturi tube is a fluid-flow device, and a vertical axis is just a graph axis.