Components of a Vector:
From the figure given below we can write
It means B ,C and D vectors are the components of vector A
 .
Note that we can also write A =X +Y. So vectors X and Y are also components of vector A. It implies that we can draw any number of set of components in any desired direction.
For resolving a vector A along two directions making angles α and with it as shown in figure given below, we use the following:-
Aα = (A sinβ)/(sin(α + β))
Perpendicular Components
Representation of any vector lying in the x – y plane, as shown in figure given below, as the sum of two vectors, one parallel to the x-axis and the other parallel to y-axis, is extremely useful in physical analysis because both have mutually independent effects. These two vectors are labeled A and A. These are called theperpendicular or rectangular component of vector A and are expressed as:
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