Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.
Dot Product
The dot product is a mathematical operation that takes two vectors and returns a scalar. It is calculated as the sum of the products of their corresponding components. For vectors v and w, the dot product can be used to find the cosine of the angle between them, which is essential for determining the angle itself.
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Magnitude of a Vector
The magnitude of a vector is a measure of its length and is calculated using the formula √(x² + y²) for a 2D vector with components x and y. Knowing the magnitudes of both vectors is crucial for applying the cosine formula to find the angle between them, as it normalizes the dot product result.
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Cosine of the Angle
The cosine of the angle between two vectors can be found using the formula cos(θ) = (v · w) / (|v| |w|), where v · w is the dot product and |v| and |w| are the magnitudes of the vectors. This relationship allows us to derive the angle θ by taking the inverse cosine (arccos) of the calculated value, which is necessary for solving the problem.
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