Vector Addition Sandbox
Six modes covering the whole vector-addition toolkit: 1D signed vectors, a free-form 2D drag sandbox, manually-stepped tip-to-tail/parallelogram/components methods, subtraction and scaling, IGCSE-style scale drawing with a virtual ruler and protractor, and randomly generated challenge problems with worked solutions.
Drag any arrowhead to change its displacement. Notice: when two vectors point in opposite directions, the tip-to-tail chain doubles back on itself — that's why opposite vectors subtract, not add, in size.
Drag any arrowhead left or right to change that vector along the line. The top row shows each vector from zero; the bottom row shows them chained tip-to-tail, ending at the signed resultant R. Switch context to relabel the same maths as displacement, force, or velocity.
Learning objectives- Represent a 1D vector as a signed number (magnitude + direction).
- Add collinear vectors by chaining them tip-to-tail.
- Explain why opposite directions subtract rather than add.