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30. (~v + w
~ ) = ~v + w
~
32. ~v + ~0 = ~v
33. 1~v = ~v
34. ~v + (1)w
~ = ~v w
~
35. (~
u + ~v ) + w
~ =~
u + (~v + w
~)
36. The earth is at the origin, the moon is at the point
(384, 0), and a spaceship is at (280, 90), where distance
is in thousands of kilometers.
13.3
701
~v
~v
1
Example 1
Suppose ~v = ~i and w
~ = 2~i + 2~j . Compute ~v w
~ both geometrically and algebraically.
Solution
To use the geometric definition, see Figure 13.27. The angle between the vectors is /4, or 45 , and
the lengths of the vectors are given by
k~v k = 1 and kw
~ k = 2 2.
702
Thus,
= 2.
~v w
~ = k~v kkw
~ k cos = 1 2 2 cos
4
Using the algebraic definition, we get the same result:
~v w
~ = 1 2 + 0 2 = 2.
Why the Two Definitions of the Dot Product Give the Same Result
In the previous example, the two definitions give the same value for the dot product. To show that
the geometric and algebraic definitions of the dot product always give the same result, we must
show that, for any vectors ~v = v1~i + v2~j + v3~k and w
~ = w1~i + w2~j + w3~k with an angle
between them:
k~v kkw
~ k cos = v1 w1 + v2 w2 + v3 w3 .
One method follows; a method which does not use trigonometry is given in Problem 62 on page 710.
Using the Law of Cosines. Suppose that 0 < < , so that the vectors ~v and w
~ form a
triangle. (See Figure 13.28.) By the Law of Cosines, we have
k~v w
~ k2 = k~v k2 + kw
~ k2 2k~v kkw
~ k cos .
This result is also true for = 0 and = . We calculate the lengths using components:
k~v k2 = v12 + v22 + v32
kw
~ k2 = w12 + w22 + w32
k~v w
~ k2 = (v1 w1 )2 + (v2 w2 )2 + (v3 w3 )2
~v w
~
w
~
~v
703
Suppose the vector ~b is fixed and has length 2; the vector ~a is free to rotate and has length 3. What
are the maximum and minimum values of the dot product ~a ~b as the vector ~a rotates through all
possible positions? What positions of ~a and ~b lead to these values?
Solution
The geometric definition gives ~a ~b = k~a kk~b k cos = 3 2 cos = 6 cos . Thus, the maximum
value of ~a ~b is 6, and it occurs when cos = 1 so = 0, that is, when ~a and ~b point in the same
direction. The minimum value of ~a ~b is 6, and it occurs when cos = 1 so = , that is,
when ~a and ~b point in opposite directions. (See Figure 13.29.)
~a
When ~a is in this
position, ~a ~b = 0
~a
~a
When ~a is in this
position, ~a ~b = 6
~b
When ~a is in this
position, ~a ~b = 6
704
Example 3
Which pairs from the following list of 3-dimensional vectors are perpendicular to one another?
~ = 3~i + ~j ~k .
~u = ~i + 3 ~k , ~v = ~i + 3 ~j , w
Solution
The geometric definition tells us that two vectors are perpendicular if and only if their dot product
is zero. Since the vectors are given in components, we calculate dot products using the algebraic
definition:
~v w
~ = (~i + 3 ~j + 0~k ) ( 3~i + ~j ~k ) = 1 3 + 3 1 + 0(1) = 2 3,
w
~ ~u = ( 3~i + ~j ~k ) (~i + 0~j + 3 ~k ) = 3 1 + 1 0 + (1) 3 = 0.
So the only two vectors which are perpendicular are w
~ and ~u .
plane. Then P0 P = (x x0 )~i + (y y0 )~j + (z z0 )~k is a vector whose head and tail both lie in
the plane. (See Figure 13.30.) Thus, the vectors ~n and P0 P are perpendicular, so ~n P0 P = 0. The
~n
P0 P
(x, y, z)
Figure 13.30: Plane with normal ~n and containing a fixed point (x0 , y0 , z0 )
The equation of the plane with normal vector ~n = a~i + b~j + c~k and containing the point
P0 = (x0 , y0 , z0 ) is
a(x x0 ) + b(y y0 ) + c(z z0 ) = 0.
Letting d = ax0 + by0 + cz0 (a constant), we can write the equation of the plane in the form
ax + by + cz = d.
Example 4
Find the equation of the plane perpendicular to ~i +3~j +2~k and passing through the point (1, 0, 4).
Solution
705
Example 5
Solution
(a) Since the coefficients of ~i , ~j , and ~k in a normal vector are the coefficients of x, y, z in the
equation of the plane, a normal vector is ~n = ~i ~j + 2~k .
(b) Before we can find a normal vector, we rewrite the equation of the plane in the form
0.5x + 1.2y z = 0.
A video store sells videos, tapes, CDs, and computer games. We define the quantity vector ~q =
(q1 , q2 , q3 , q4 ), where q1 , q2 , q3 , q4 denote the quantities sold of each of the items, and the price
vector p~ = (p1 , p2 , p3 , p4 ), where p1 , p2 , p3 , p4 denote the price per unit of each item. What does
the dot product p~ ~q represent?
Solution
~v
~
u
~v perp
(b)
~v
~v perp
~
u
~v parallel
~v parallel
The projection of ~v on ~u , written ~v parallel , measures (in some sense) how much the vector ~v
is aligned with the vector ~u . The length of ~v parallel is the length of the shadow cast by ~v on a line
in the direction of ~u .
To compute ~v parallel , we assume ~u is a unit vector. (If not, create one by dividing by its length.)
Then Figure 13.31(a) shows that, if 0 /2:
k~v parallel k = k~v k cos = ~v ~u
706
A similar argument shows that if /2 < , as in Figure 13.31(b), this formula for ~v parallel still
holds. The vector ~v perp is specified by
~v perp = ~v ~v parallel .
Thus, we have the following results:
Projection of ~
v on the Line in the Direction of the Unit Vector u
~
If ~v parallel and ~v perp are components of ~v which are parallel and perpendicular, respectively,
to ~u , then
Projection of
= ~v parallel = (~v ~u )~u
~v on to ~u
~v = ~v parallel + ~v perp
and
Example 7
provided k~u k = 1
~v perp = ~v ~v parallel .
so
Figure 13.32 shows the force the wind exerts on the sail of a sailboat. Find the component of the
force in the direction in which the sailboat is traveling.
Wind direction
~
u
30
Sail
~
F
wind
j?
wind
Solution
Let ~u be a unit vector in the direction of travel. The force of the wind on the sail makes an angle of
30 with ~u . Thus, the component of this force in the direction of ~u is
F~
parallel
Thus, the boat is being pushed forward with about 87% of the total force due to the wind. (In fact,
the interaction of wind and sail is much more complex than this model suggests.)
707
we assume 0 /2. Figure 13.33 shows how we can resolve F~ into components that are
parallel and perpendicular to d~ :
F~ = F~ parallel + F~ perp ,
Then the work done by F~ is defined to be
W = kF~
parallel k kd k.
~ parallel has magnitude kF~ k cos . So the work is given by the dot
We see from Figure 13.33 that F
product:
W = (kF~ k cos )kd~ k = kF~ kkd~ k cos = F~ d~ .
~
F
~
F
perp
~
F
parallel
d~
The formula W = F~ d~ holds when /2 < also. In that case, the work done by the
force is negative and the object is moving against the force. Thus, we have the following definition:
~
y = 4~i 7~j
~c = ~i + 6~j
~
z = ~i 3~j ~k
1. ~a ~
y
2. ~c ~
y
14. (x 1) = (1 )(y z) +
3. ~a ~b
4. ~a ~z
5. ~c ~a + ~a ~
y
6. ~a (~c + ~
y)
7. (~a ~b )~a
8. (~a ~
y )(~c ~
z)
9. ((~c ~c )~a ) ~a
708
~ = 0.2~i 0.5~j
19. F
~ = 9~i + 12~j
20. F
~ = 0.4~i + 0.3~j
21. F
~ = 3~i 5~j
22. F
~ = 6~i 8~j
23. F
~ = 20~j . For
In Exercises 2427, the force on an object is F
vector ~v , find:
~ parallel to ~v .
(a) The component of F
~ perpendicular to ~v .
(b) The component of F
~ through displacement ~v .
(c) The work, W , done by force F
24. ~v = 2~i + 3~j
25. ~v = 5~i ~j
26. ~v = 3~j
27. ~v = 5~i
Problems
28. Match the planes in (a)(d) with one or more of the descriptions in (I)(IV). No reasons needed.
(a) 3x y + z = 0
(c) x + y = 5
I
II
III
IV
(b) 4x + y + 2z 5 = 0
(d) x = 5
29. Which pairs (if any) of vectors from the following list
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Are perpendicular?
Are parallel?
Have an angles less than /2 between them?
Have an angle of more than /2 between them?
~a = ~i 3~j ~k ,
~c = 2~i ~j + ~k ,
~b = ~i + ~j + 2~k ,
d~ = ~i ~j + ~k .
30. Which pairs of the vectors 3~i +~j , 3~i + 3~j ,~i 3~j
are parallel and which are perpendicular?
31. Compute the angle between the vectors ~i + ~j + ~k and
~i ~j ~k .
32. (a) Give a vector that is parallel to, but not equal to,
~v = 4~i + 3~j .
(b) Give a vector that is perpendicular to ~v .
33. What values of a make ~v = 2a~i a~j + 16~k perpendicular to w
~ = 5~i + a~j ~k ?
34. Let be the angle between ~v and w
~ , with 0 < < /2.
What is the effect on ~v w
~ of increasing each of the
following quantities? Does ~v w
~ increase or decrease?
(a) ||~v ||
(b)
35. Write ~a = 3~i + 2~j 6~k as the sum of two vectors, one
parallel, and one perpendicular, to d~ = 2~i 4~j + ~k .
42. Perpendicular to the vector ~v = 2~i 3~j + 5~k and passing through the point (4, 5, 2).
44. The points (5, 0, 0), (0, 3, 0), and (0, 0, 2) form a triangle. Find the lengths of the sides of the triangle and
each of its angles.
45. Let S be the triangle with vertices A = (2, 2, 2), B =
(4, 2, 1), and C = (2, 3, 1).
(a) Find the length of the shortest side of S.
(b) Find the cosine of the angle BAC at vertex A.
46. A basketball gymnasium is 25 meters high, 80 meters
wide and 200 meters long. For a half time stunt, the
cheerleaders want to run two strings, one from each of
the two corners above one basket to the diagonally opposite corners of the gym floor. What is the cosine of the
angle made by the strings as they cross?
47. A 100-meter dash is run on a track in the direction of the
vector ~v = 2~i + 6~j . The wind velocity w
~ is 5~i + ~j
km/hr. The rules say that a legal wind speed measured in
the direction of the dash must not exceed 5 km/hr. Will
the race results be disqualified due to an illegal wind?
Justify your answer.
w
~ 2 = ~i 2~j
w
~ 4 = 10~i + 2~j
w
~ 3 = ~i + 8~j
w
~ 5 = 5~i 2~j
49. A canoe is moving with velocity ~v = 5~i + 3~j m/sec relative to the water. The velocity of the current in the water
is ~c = ~i + 2~j m/sec.
(a) What is the speed of the current?
(b) What is the speed of the current in the direction of
the canoes motion?
50. A street vendor sells six items, with prices p1 dollars per unit, p2 dollars per unit, and so on. The vendors price vector is p
~ = (p1 , p2 , p3 , p4 , p5 , p6 ) =
(1.00, 3.50, 4.00, 2.75, 5.00, 3.00). The vendor sells q1
units of the first item, q2 units of the second item,
and so on. The vendors quantity vector is ~
q =
(q1 , q2 , q3 , q4 , q5 , q6 ) = (43, 57, 12, 78, 20, 35). Find
p
~ ~
q , give its units, and explain its significance to the
vendor.
51. A course has four exams, weighted 10%, 15%, 25%,
50%, respectively. The class average on each of these
exams is 75%, 91%, 84%, 87%, respectively. What do
the vectors ~a = (0.75, 0.91, 0.84, 0.87) and w
~ =
(0.1, 0.15, 0.25, 0.5) represent, in terms of the course?
Calculate the dot product w
~ ~a . What does it represent,
in terms of the course?
709
and
k~
u k2
k~v k2
k~
u kk~v k
k~
u kk~v k
have the same magnitude where ~
u and ~v are nonzero
vectors.
59. Figure 13.34 shows that, given three vectors ~
u , ~v , and
w
~ , the sum of the components of ~v and w
~ in the direction of ~
u is the component of ~v + w
~ in the direction of
~
u . (Although the figure is drawn in two dimensions, this
result is also true in three dimensions.) Use this figure to
explain why the geometric definition of the dot product
satisfies (~v + w
~ )~
u = ~v ~
u +w
~ ~
u.
~
u
w
~
~v + w
~
~v
Component
of ~
v in the
~
direction of u
Component
of w
~ in the
direction of ~
u
Component of ~
v +w
~
in the direction of ~
u
53. Find a vector that bisects the smaller of the two angles
formed by 3~i + 4~j and 5~i 12~j .
~
u (~v ) = (~
u ~v ).
~
u (~v ) = (~
u ~v )
(~
u ) ~v = (~
u ~v ).
710
13.4
q(t) = (~v + tw
~ ) (~v + tw
~ ).
(a) Explain why q(t) 0 for all real t.
(b) Expand q(t) as a quadratic polynomial in t using the
properties on page 702.
(c) Using the discriminant of the quadratic, show that,
|~v w
~ | k~v kkw
~ k.
How would we compute the area of the parallelogram if we were given ~v and w
~ in components,
~v = v1~i + v2~j + v3~k and w
~ = w1~i + w2~j + w3~k ? Project 1 on page 721 shows that if ~v and w
~
are in the xy-plane, so v3 = w3 = 0, then
Area of parallelogram = |v1 w2 v2 w1 | .
What if ~v and w
~ do not lie in the xy-plane? The cross product will enable us to compute the area
of the parallelogram formed by any two vectors.
6
w
~
kw
~ k sin
~v
k~v k