How do you find the x and y components of a vector?

In answering this, the first part you should know is that the vector’s tail (the side without the arrow itself) can be moved to the origin. Note that the magnitude or size of the vector should not change, nor should the direction of the vector change. After you place the vector at the origin, you can then more easily find the x and y components of the vector. The x component is the “run”, meaning how far left or how far right does the vector extend across the x-axis. The y component of the vector is how high on the y-axis or low on the y-axis does the vector reach. This is referred to as the “rise”. Note that the rise divided by the run is the slope of the vector. Hope this helps!