Section 11.

3 • The Cross Product of Two Vectors 191

Name______________________________________________
Section 11.3 The Cross Product of Two Vectors

Objective: In this lesson you learned how to find cross products of

vectors in space, use geometric properties of the cross
product, and use triple scalar products to find volumes of
parallelepipeds.

I. The Cross Product (Pages 827−828) What you should learn

How to find cross
A vector in space that is orthogonal to two given vectors is called products of vectors in
their cross product . space

Let u = u1i + u2j + u3k and v = v1i + v2j + v3k be two vectors in
space. The cross product of u and v is the vector
u×v= (u2v3 − u3v2)i − (u1v3 − u3v1)j + (u1v2 − u2v1)k

Describe a convenient way to remember the formula for the

cross product.

Answers will vary.

Example 1: Given u = − 2i + 3j − 3k and v = i − 2j + k, find

the cross product u × v.
− 3i − j + k

Let u, v, and w be vectors in space and let c be a scalar.

Complete the following properties of the cross product:

1. u × v = − (v × u)

2. u × (v + w) = (u × v) + (u × w)

3. c(u × v) = (cu) × v = u × (cv)

4. u × 0 = 0×u=0

5. u × u = 0

6. u • (v × w) = (u × v) • w

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192 Chapter 11 • Analytic Geometry in Three Dimensions

II. Geometric Properties of the Cross Product What you should learn
(Pages 829−830) How to use geometric
properties of cross
Complete the following geometric properties of the cross products of vectors in
product, given u and v are nonzero vectors in space and θ is the space
angle between u and v.

1. u × v is orthogonal to both u and v .

2. || u × v || = || u || || v || sin θ .

3. u × v = 0 if and only if u and v are scalar multiples .

4. || u × v || = area of the parallelogram having u and v as

adjacent sides .

III. The Triple Scalar Product (Page 831) What you should learn
How to use triple scalar
For vectors u, v, and w in space, the dot product of u and v × w products to find volumes
is called the triple scalar product of u, v, and w, and of parallelepipeds
is found as

u1 u2 u3
u • ( v × w ) = v1 v2 v3
w1 w2 w3

The volume V of a parallelepiped with vectors u, v, and w as

adjacent edges is V = | u • (v × w) | .

Example 2: Find the volume of the parallelepiped having

u = 2i +j − 3k, v = i − 2j + 3k, and w = 4i − 3k as
adjacent edges.

The volume is 3 cubic units.

Homework Assignment

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Larson/Hostetler Precalculus/Precalculus with Limits Notetaking Guide

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