High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! In mathematics, scalar multiplication is one of the basic operations defining a vector space in linear algebra (or more generally, a module in abstract algebra). In an intuitive geometrical context, scalar multiplication of a real Euclidean vector by a positive real number multiplies the magnitude of the vector without changing its direction. The term "scalar" itself derives from this usage: a scalar is that which scales vectors. Scalar multiplication is different from the scalar product, which is an inner product between two vectors. In general, if K is a field and V is a vector space over K, then scalar multiplication is a function from K × V to V. The result of applying this function to c in K and v in V is denoted cv.