A quantity that has both magnitude and direction is called a

• A. Scalar
• B. Vector
• C. Tensor
• D. Matrix

Answer: (B)

A quantity that has both magnitude and direction is a vector. Magnitude is how large it is, while direction tells you which way it points. Vectors describe things like displacement, velocity, and force, and they can be drawn as arrows where the length represents the magnitude and the arrow points in the direction of the quantity. You can break a vector into components along chosen axes, for example in two dimensions a velocity might have components along x and y; the magnitude is found using the Pythagorean relation, and the angle gives the direction. Scalars have magnitude only and no direction (such as mass or temperature). Tensor or matrix describes more complex, multi-directional relationships beyond a single quantity with direction, so they aren’t the simple magnitude-and-direction type of quantity.