Question

State whether force is a scalar or a vector quantity?

Answer 1

Hint: Scalar quantities are those quantities which possess only magnitude. When we talk about them, we only have to worry about the magnitude. For example, speed. On the other hand, vector quantities are those quantities which possess both the magnitude and the directions. For example, velocity.

Complete answer:
Force is given as the product of mass with the acceleration. They are just multiplied; we do not have to take the dot product or the cross product. Since, mass is a scalar quantity but acceleration is a vector quantity, the force is a vector quantity. It has both the magnitude and the direction. If some force acts on the body then we have to specify the direction of the force in order to find in which direction the body moves.

Additional Information:
In order to add vector quantities which cannot be added simply by using algebraic laws, there are two laws to add the forces. They are triangle law of vector addition and parallelogram law of vector addition.

Note:
If there is more than one force acting on the system then in order to find the net force, we have to add all the forces vectorially. If a body is at rest and if two forces of equal magnitude act on it but in the opposite direction say one towards left and the other towards the right, then they both cancel out each other, this shows that force is a vector quantity having both magnitude as well as the direction.