Vectors have both magnitude and direction, represented by arrows. Scalars have only magnitude, represented by a single number. Operations between vectors include addition, subtraction, and cross product, while the dot product calculates the scalar projection of one vector onto another. Matrices can represent vectors and operations include transposition, addition, subtraction, and determinant calculation. Vector operations include calculating length, adding, subtracting, and using trigonometric identities involving dot products and angles between vectors.