The standard unit vectors
Any vector of length 1 is called a unit vector. There are three special unit vectors: the standard unit vectors. These are , , and .
Any vector can be written as a linear combination of the standard unit vectors. Use this interactive figure to explore how to write vectors as a linear combination of , , and . Change the coefficients of , , and in the window on the right and observe how the vector changes in the window on the left.
Developed for use with Thomas' Calculus, published by Pearson.