Measurement & Vectors · Physics

Vector Addition Simulation

Drag vectors on a grid and see their sum appear tip to tail. Read magnitude, angle and components, subtract vectors, and scale them.

Interactive virtual lab · no download · works on phones and laptops

Chapter: Motion in a Plane · Vector Algebra
For: Class 11 · JEE
Time: ~10 min

Vector Addition is a Pro simulation

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How to use it

1Drag a vector's tail to move it and its tip to change it.
2Show components as projections or as a triangle.
3Toggle the sum, and A − B.
4Equations: scale A and B with the sliders.

What to notice

Add vectors tip to tail; the sum runs from the first tail to the last tip.
Components add like ordinary numbers: Rx = Ax + Bx.
A − B is A + (−B): flip B and add.
|A + B| is largest when they point the same way and smallest when opposite.

For teachers

A ready-made teaching kit comes with this lab

Lesson plan
19 min, 4 steps
Ask the class
3 questions with answers
Quick quiz
6 questions, printable
Key formulas
3 formulas

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About the Vector Addition simulation

A vector has a size and a direction, so vectors cannot simply be added as numbers. Placed head to tail, the resultant runs from the first tail to the last head; equivalently, add their x-components and y-components separately. The order of addition does not matter.

In this vector addition simulation you drag vectors on a grid, read their magnitudes, angles and components, and see the sum drawn tip to tail. It fits Motion in a Plane (Class 11), Vector Algebra in Class 12 maths and JEE.

Also covers: vectors, components, resultant, triangle law, parallelogram law, polar, cartesian.