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Nicole Buckenwolf
8,721 PointsCan someone help me understand this quiz answer? NumPy arrays scalar/vector
I'm working on the Introduction to NumPy course in the beginning data science track and am hoping someone can help me understand this quiz question "Since they are often used in mathematical equations, what is the common synonym for single dimension arrays?"
I selected scalar and got it wrong, the quiz says "Bummer! Whoops! Close this is the singular value, vector is used for multiple values."
The question is asking about single dimension arrays so I assumed the answer would refer to the singular value - can someone explain what I am missing here? Thanks.
2 Answers
Travis Alstrand
Treehouse Project ReviewerHiya Nicole Buckenwolf !
I totally understand the confusion on this one, I'll try my best here but it's hard for me to put into the right words.
Scalars are used to represent single values, such as a single number.
In the context of arrays, a vector typically refers to a one-dimensional array, which contains a sequence of values along a single axis.
A matrix is a two-dimensional array (or more than 2 if I remember correctly).
So the reason Scalar didn't work is because it's referring to a single value, whereas a vector pertains to arrays.
Nicole Buckenwolf
8,721 PointsThat makes sense, thank you for breaking it out like that!
Travis Alstrand
Treehouse Project ReviewerYou're very welcome! 😃