How can the magnitude of a vector in three-space be determined? (I:1)

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

First, consider what the magnitude of a vector in three-space represents: it is the length of the vector, which is computed from its components. 
Option a: 'By taking the dot product with itself and then square rooting the result' — this is a correct method. If the vector is v = (x, y, z), then v · v = x^2 + y^2 + z^2, and the magnitude is sqrt(v · v) = sqrt(x^2 + y^2 + z^2). This aligns with the Euclidean norm.
Option b: 'By calculating the area under the curve' — this has no direct relation to the magnitude of a vector. The area under a curve is a concept from calculus, not a vector length computation, so this is incorrect in this context.
Option c: 'By dividing the components by their sum' — this describes a normalization step in some contexts, but simply dividing components by their sum does not yield the magnitude. The magnitude is not derived from summing components and then dividing; this would distort the actual length. Therefore this is incorrect.
Option d: 'By adding the components' — summing x, y, and z gives a scalar, but it does not produce the length of the vector unless you artificially interpret a one-dimensional projection. The true magnitude involves squares and a square root, not a simple sum, so this option is incorrect.
In summary, option a correctly applies the standard formula for vector magnitude in three dimensions, while options b, c, and d rely on unrelated operations or misunderstanding of the length calculation. The intended method is to compute the squared components, sum them, and take the square root to obtain the magnitude.

How can the magnitude of a vector in three-space be determined? (I:1)

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