Scalar

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In mathematics, physics, and computing, a scalar is a quantity usually characterized by a single numeric value or not involving the concept of direction. The term is often used in contrast to entities that are "composites" of many values, like vector, matrix, tensor, sequence, etc.. The first recorded usage of the term was by W. R. Hamilton in 1846.

In mathematics, scalars are components of vector spaces (and modules), usually real numbers which can be multiplied into vectors by scalar multiplication, or produced from vectors by scalar product. The real component of a quaternion is also called the scalar part. See scalar (mathematics).

In physics, a scalar is a simple physical quantity that does not change under a change of coordinate system; for example, speed (180 km/h) is a scalar, while velocity (180 km/h north) is a vector. See scalar (physics).

In computing, a scalar is a variable or field that can hold only one value at a time; as opposed to composite variables like array, list, record, etc.. In some contexts, a scalar value may be understood to be numeric. A scalar data type is the type of a scalar variable. For example, char, int, float, and double are the most common scalar data types in the C programming language.

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Scalar

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