R Error in Function – invalid type character of argument (2 Examples)

vec_char <- as.character(c(8, 1, 5, 5, 2))    # Example vector in R
vec_char                                      # Display vector
# [1] "8" "1" "5" "5" "2"

vec_char <- as.character(c(8, 1, 5, 5, 2)) # Example vector in R vec_char # Display vector # [1] "8" "1" "5" "5" "2"

sum(vec_char)                                 # sum function leads to error
# Error in sum(vec_char) : invalid 'type' (character) of argument

sum(vec_char) # sum function leads to error # Error in sum(vec_char) : invalid 'type' (character) of argument

vec_num <- as.numeric(vec_char)               # Change data class

vec_num <- as.numeric(vec_char) # Change data class

sum(vec_num)                                  # Properly apply sum function
# [1] 21

sum(vec_num) # Properly apply sum function # [1] 21