Final answer:
The acceleration of gravity is the only option listed that is a vector, as it has both magnitude and direction. Examples of vector quantities include displacement and velocity. Vectors differ from scalars because they have both magnitude and direction, enabling operations like vector addition and subtraction.
Step-by-step explanation:
The correct answer to the question of which of the following is a vector is a) acceleration of gravity. A vector quantity is one that has both magnitude and direction. For example, the acceleration due to gravity has a magnitude of approximately 9.81 meters per second squared (m/s2) and it is directed towards the center of the Earth.
Two other examples of vectors are displacement and velocity. Displacement includes information about the length and direction from the starting point to the final position, while velocity tells us the speed of an object and the direction of its motion. On the other hand, a person's height or the boiling point of water are scalar quantities because they have only magnitude without a specific direction.
Vectors and scalars both represent physical quantities but differ in that scalars only have magnitude, whereas vectors have both magnitude and direction. This distinction allows for more complex operations with vectors, such as vector addition and subtraction, which can help us solve problems in fields like physics and engineering.