VECTORS 2. 2.

1 VECTORS Introductions

Scalar:Physical quantities which have only magnitude are called scalar quantities. For example, speed, volume, mass, work done, energy, temperature etc. Vector:Physical quantities which possess both magnitude and direction are called vector quantities. For example, displacement velocity, acceleration and force etc. Geomatrical representation of vectors: A vector is customarily re[resented by a directed line segment from a point A called initial point to another point B called terminal point. B

A We usually denote vectors by bold faced letter or letters with arrow over them. For example;

A,

A,

AB

The magnitude or modulus or length of the vector A is denoted by

A,

A,

AB

Equal Vectors:

Two vectors A and B ara said to be equal I f they have the same magnitude and the same direction regardless of their initial point

Negative vecto

A vector having direction opposite to that of a vector A is denoted - A or

PQ = - QP

A
P P

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Zero Vector: If the initial and terminal points of a vector coincide, then the vector has length zero, denoted by O 2.2 Vector in Space

The position vector a with terminal point at P(a1, a2, a3) denoted by < a1, a2, a3> as shown in figure 2.1

a = <a1, a2, a3>

P(a1, a2, a3)

O y x Figure 2.1

The vector a = OP = < a1, a2, a3> is the position vector of the point P(a1,a2,a3). The vector with initial point at P( a1, a2, a3) and terminal point Q ( b1, b2, b3) correspond to position vector

PQ = <b1 a1, b2 a2, b3 a3>

The magnitude of the position vector a = < a1, a2, a3> is the length of its representation and denoted by

a =

a1 + a2 + a3
2 2

Vector Addition

The addition of two vector a = < a1, a2, a3> and b = < b1, b2, b3> is

a + b = < a1 + b1, a2 + b2, a3 + b3>

Graphical representation of vector addition are as shown below b a a+b Triangle Law
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a a+b b Parallelogram Law

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Vector Difference

The difference of two vectors a = < a1, a2, a3> and b = < b1, b2, b3> is

a - b = < a1 - b1, a2 - b2, a3 - b3>

Graphical representation of vector substraction is

a-b -b Scalar Multiplication:

If c is a scalar and a = < a1, a2, a3> then the vector

c a = c < a1, a2, a3> = < ca1, ca2, ca3>

The two vectors a and b are parallel if b = c a for some scalar c Example 1 Find the vector represented by the line segment with initial point A(2, -3, 4) and terminal point B(-2, 1, 1)

Example 2

If a = <4, 0, 3> and b = <-2,1,5>, find a and the vector a + b , a b , 3b , 2a + 5b Example 3 Determine whether the given pair of vectors is parallel:

(a) (b)

a = < 2,3,4> and b = < 4,6,5>

a = < 2,3,4> and b = < -4,-6,-8>

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Since V3 is three-dimensional, these standard basis vectors are unit vector,

since i = j = k = 1. Thus for any a = < a1, a2, a3>, we can write

a = < a1, a2, a3> = a1 i

a2 j

a3 k

1 k
i j

1 y 1

For example <1, -2, 6> = i 2 j + 6 k Example 4

If a = i + 2 j - 3 k and b = 4 i + 7 k , express 2 a + 3 b in terms of i ,

j and k . Find 2 a +3 b

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Unit Vector:

Unit vector is a vector having 1 unit length. If a is a any vector, then

u=

is a unit vector in the direction of a

Example 5

Find the unit vector in the direction of the vector 2 i j - 2 k

Example 6

Find a vector with the given magnitude in the same direction as the given vector

(a) (b)

magnitude 3, v = i + 2 j - 3 k

magnitude 4, v = 2 i j - 2 k

Dot Product

Definition: The dot product of two vectors a = <a1, a2, a3> and b = <b1, b2, b3> in V3 is defined by

a . b = <a1, a2, a3> .<b1, b2, b3> = a1b1 + a2b2 + a3b3

Notice that the dot product of two vectors is a scalar

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Example 5

Compute the dot product a . b for

a) b) c)

a = <1,2,3> and b = <5, -3, 4>

a = <-1, 7, 4> and b = <6, 2, 1/2>

a = i + 2j 3k and b = 2j k

The dot product in V3 satisfies the following properties

If a , b and c are vectors in V3 and c is a scalar, then i) ii) iii) iv) v)

a . a = a

a . ( b + c) = a . b + a . c
0. a =0

a . b = b . a

(c a ) . b = c ( a . b ) = a .(c b ) If is the angle between the vectors a and b , then

Theorem :

a . b = a b cos

Example 6

Find the angle between the vectors

a) b)

a = <2, 1, -3> and b = <1, 5, 6>

a = <2, 2, 1> and b = <5, -3, 2>

Two non zero vectors a and b are called perpendicular or orthogonal if the angle between them is =

. Then Theorem ?? gives

a . b = a b cos

=0

Thus two vectors a and b are orthogonal if and only if a . b = 0

Example 7

Show that 2i + 2j k is perpendicular to 5i 4j + 2k

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Example 8

Determine whether or not the following pair of vectors are orthogonal.

a) b)

a = <1, 3, -5> and b = <2, 3, 10>

a = <4, 2, -1> and b = <2, 3, 14>

Example 9

Find the angle between the vectors a = <2, 2, -1> and b = <5, -3, 2>
Example 10

Find the angle between the vectors u = i -2j + 2k and a) c)

v = -3i + 6j + 2k z = -3i + 6j 6k

b)

w = 2i + 7j + 6k

Cross Preoduct

Theorem:

For two vectors a = <a1, a2, a3> and b = <b1, b2, b3> in V3,

we define the cross product of a and b to be

j a2 b2

a x b = a1 b1
Example 11

a a3 = 2 b2 b3

a3 a i- 1 b3 b1

a3 a j+ 1 b3 b1

a2 b2

Compute

a) b)

<1, 2, 3> x <4, 5, 6> <1, 3, 4> x <2, 7, -5>

Example 12

Show that a x a = 0

Theorem1 :

The vector a x b is orthogonal to both a and b

Theorem2 : If is the angle between a and b , then a x b = a b sin

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Two nonzero vectors a and b are parallel if and only if a x b = 0 The geometry interpretation of theorem 2 can be seen at figure below. If a and b are represented by directed line segments with the same initial point, then they determine a parallelogram with base a altitude b sin , and the area A = a ( b sin ) = a x b

b sin

a
Example 13

Find a vector perpendicular to the plane that passes through the points P(1, 4, 6), Q(-2, 5, -1) and R(1, -1, 1)

Example 14

Find the area of the triangle with vertices P(1, 4, 6), Q(-2, 5, -1) nd R(1, -1, 1)

If we apply Theorem 1 and 2 to the standard basis vectors i, j, and k using = / 2 , we obtain
ixj=k jxi=-k jxk=i kxj=-i kxi=j ixk=-j

Observe that i x j j x i

Theorem 3: If a , b and c are vectors and k is a scalar, then

i) ii) iii) iv) v)

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a x b =- b x a

(k a ) x b = k( a x b ) = a x (k b ) a x (b + c ) = a x b + a x c

(a + b ) x c = a x b + a x c

a . (b x c ) = (a x b ) . c
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vi)

a x ( b x c ) = ( a . c) b - ( a . b ) c

The product a . (b x c) in (v) is called the scalar triple product of the vectors a, b and c. We can write the scalar triple product as a determinant

a1 a . ( b x c ) = b1 c1

a2 b2 c2

a3 b3 c3

The geometric significance of the scalar triple product can be seen by

considering the parallelepiped determined by the vectors a , b and c in the figure 1. The volume of parallelepiped determined by V = (Area of Parallelogram) x h = Ah = b x c a cos = a .( b x c )

bxc _

a c b
Figure 1

The volume of the parallelepiped determined by the vectors a, b and c is the magnitude of their scalar triple product a .( b x c )

If we discover that the volume of parallelepiped determined by the vectors a ,

b and c is zero, then the vectors must lie in the same plane: that is, they are coplanar
Example 15

Use the scalar triple product to show that the vectors a = <1, 4, 7>,

b = <2, -1, 4>, and c = <0, -9, 18> are coplanar

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Exercises

1.

Find PQ and magnitude of PQ a) b) c) P = (0,0,0) and Q = (3, -4, 10) P = (1,-3,2) and Q = (3, -1, 3) P = (0,1,0) and Q = (3, -1, 7 )

2.

Compute a + b and a 2 b

a) b)
c)

a = 2i - 5j + 10k, b = -i + 2j - 9k

a = i + 2j - 3k, b = i - j - 3k a = 2i , b = 2j + k

3.

Find a unit vector having the same direction as the given vector a) c)

a =i +j -k

b)

a = -3i + 4j - 13k

a = 7i + 12 2 j - 12 2 k

4.

Find two unit vectors parallel to the given vectors and write the given vectors as the product of its magnitude and a unit vector. a) <3, 1, 2> b) <2, -4, 6> b) d) <2, 3, 1> <4, -6, -2>

4.

Find a vector with the given magnitude and in the same direction as the given vector.

a) b) c)

Magnitude 6, v = <2, -2, 1>

Magnitude 10, v = <3, 0, -4>

Magnitude 2, v = <2, 0, -1>

Find a vector w of magnitude 4 that is parallel to vector v = 2 i j + 3 k (Oct 2008) Determine whether the vectors a and b are parallel

6.

a) b) c) d)
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a = <2, 1, 1> , b = <-4, -2, -2>

a = <1, -2, 3> , b = <-4, 8, -12> a = <-2, 3, 1> , b = <4, 6, -2> a = i + 2j - k, b = 3i + 6j - 3k

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e) 7.

a = 2i + j - k, b = -i - j - 3k

Compute a . b and the angle between a and b

a) b) c) d) e)

a = <2, -1, 3> , b = <0, 2, 4>

a = <3, 2, 0> , b = <-2, 4, 3>

a = 2i - k , b = 4j - k
a = i + 1/3 j - 2k , b = 2i - 2j + k a = i + 2j - k
, b = 3i + 6j - 3k

8.

Determine if the vectors are orthogonal.

a) b) c) 9. Let
a) b) d)

a = <4, -1, 1> , b = <2, 4, 4>

a = <1, 5, 2> , b = <-4, 3, 5>

a = -4i + 2j - 5k

, b = i + 6j + 2k

k. 2 2 Determine which two vectors are perpendicular to each other. Determine which two vectors are parallel to each other. Give reason to your answers. (April 2008)

A = 2 i + 4 j 2 k , B = i + j + k and C =

i j +

10.

Find what value of b are the vectors <-6, b, 2> and <b, b2, b> so that they are coplanar

11.

Find the cross product a x b and verify that it is orthogonal to both a and b

a) b) c) d)

a = <1, 2, 0> , b = <0, 3, 1>

a = <5, 1, 4> , b = <-1, 0, 2> a = 2i + j - k, b = j + 2k a =i -j +k , b = i +j +k

12. 13

If a = <1, 2, 3> , b = <0, 1, 3> find a x b and b x a

If a = <3, 1, 2> , b = <-1, 1, 0> , and C = <1, 2, -1> show that a x ( b x c)

(a x b ) x c

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14 15.

Find two unit vector orthogonal to both <1, -1, 1> and <0, 4, 4> Find the area of parallelogram with vertices A(1, 2, 3), B(1, 3, 6) and C(3, 8,6) Find a vector orthogonal to the plane through the point P, Q and R a) b) P(1, 0, 0), Q(0, 2, 0) and R(0, 0, 3) P(2, 1, 5), Q(-1, 3, 4) and R(3, 0, 6)

16.

17.

Find the volume of parallelepiped determined by vectors a , b , c .

a) b) 18.

a = <6, 3, -1> , b = <0, 1, 2> , c = <4, -2, 5>

a = i + j - k , b = i - j + k, c = -i + j + k

Use the scalar triple product to verify that the vectors a = 2i + 3j + k,

and b = i - j , c = 7i + 3j + 2k are coplanar 19. Use the scalar triple product to verify that the points P(1, 0, 1), Q(2, 4, 6) and R(6, 2, 8) lie in the same plane.

19.

The coordinates of the points A, B, C and D are (1,2,3), (2,3,5), (4,3,1) and (2,0,1) respectively. Show that A, B, C and D are coplanar. (Oct 2008)

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