Question

What is the difference between a position vector and unit vector?

(a) Position vector has magnitude = 1 and direction, while the unit vector has magnitude = 0 and no direction

(b) Position vector has magnitude = 0 and direction, while unit vector has magnitude = 0 and no direction

(c) Position vector has some magnitude and direction, while the unit vector has magnitude = 0 and no direction

(d) Position vector has some magnitude and direction, while the unit vector has magnitude = 1 and a specified direction

This question was posed to me in unit test.

I would like to ask this question from Cartesian Vectors in section Force Vectors of Engineering Mechanics

Answer 1

Right choice is (d) Position vector has some magnitude and direction, while the unit vector has magnitude = 1 and a specified direction

The explanation is: As position vector defines the position of the point in the Cartesian plane with respect of the origin, it will definitely have a direction and also a magnitude. Unit vector is a vector whose magnitude is = 1 and is having a specific direction.