The scalars involved merely multiply (scale) unit vectors so as to yield the vector components that lie along the given coordinate system axes. You shouldn't get the impression that vectors have scalar components Vectors have vector components. These values pertain to the forces and if they are positive or negative, that means the force has a down or up direction depending on how the coordinate plane is defined correct? When we break down vectors, we can break them down into thier scalar components.fx=Fcostheta and fy=Fsintheta. If the scalar value is negative, the magnitude of the vector increases, but the angle is increased by pi radians to indicate that the new vector is pointing in the opposite direction. If the scalar value is positive, then the magnitude of the unit vector increases, but the angle between the vector and the coordinate axis is still 0. Unit vectors can be multiplied by scalar values. These unit vectors also have a direction angle of 0, which means they are pointing in the positive direction of their respective coordinate axes. The unit vector in the x-direction is usually denoted by a lower case i with a ^ over it (also called 'i-cap' the unit vector in the y-direction is called 'j-cap', and 'k-cap' for the z-direction. In order to simplify things, we use vectors which have a magnitude of 1, which are also called unit vectors.
These component vectors have directions which are parallel to the x, y, or z coordinate axes. You are not understanding that the components of a vector are vectors themselves.
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