Scalar quantity definition of Scalar quantity in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

scalar, quantity or number possessing only sign and magnitude, e.g., the real numbers (see number number, entity describing the magnitude or position of a mathematical object or extensions of these concepts.

The Natural Numbers

Cardinal numbers describe the size of a collection of objects; two such collections have the same (cardinal) number of
..... Click the link for more information. ), in contrast to vectors U [−3,1] and V [5,2], one can add their corresponding components to find the resultant vector R [2,3], or one can graph U and V on a set of coordinate axes and complete the parallelogram formed with U and V
..... Click the link for more information. and tensors tensor, in mathematics, quantity that depends linearly on several vector variables and that varies covariantly with respect to some variables and contravariantly with respect to others when the coordinate axes are rotated (see Cartesian coordinates ).
..... Click the link for more information. ; scalars obey the rules of elementary algebra. Many physical quantities have scalar values, e.g., length, area, mass, energy, and electric charge. Such quantities as velocity, force, momentum, and spin are vectors and follow different algebraic rules.

A single item or value. Contrast with vector and array, which are made up of multiple values.

1.	(mathematics)	scalar - A single number, as opposed to a vector or matrix of numbers. Thus, for example, "scalar multiplication" refers to the operation of multiplying one number (one scalar) by another and is used to contrast this with "matrix multiplication" etc.
2.	(architecture)	scalar - In a parallel processor or vector processor, the "scalar processor" handles all the sequential operations - those which cannot be parallelised or vectorised. See also superscalar.
3.	(programming)	scalar - Any data type that stores a single value (e.g. a number or Boolean), as opposed to an aggregate data type that has many elements. A string is regarded as a scalar in some languages (e.g. Perl) and a vector of characters in others (e.g. C).

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The Natural Numbers

scalar
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