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Magnitude

Key Stage 4

Meaning

Magnitude is the size or strength of a quantity.

About Magnitude

A scalar is a quantity which has only magnitude.
A vector is a quantity which has magnitude and direction.
The greater the magnitude the larger the quantity.
10 has a greater magnitude than 2 as it is a larger number. -22 has a greater magnitude than +10 because, even though the number is lower, it is larger in size.

References

AQA

Magnitude, page 114, GCSE Physics; Third Edition, Oxford University Press, AQA

Edexcel

Magnitude, page 2, GCSE Physics, Pearson Edexcel
Magnitude, page 286, GCSE Combined Science, Pearson Edexcel

OCR

Magnitude, order of, pages 21, 283, Gateway GCSE Physics, Oxford, OCR