Vectors & Three Dimensional Geometry

What if angry vectors veer Round your sleeping head, and from. There's never need to fear Violence of the poor world's abstract storm.
........ Warren, Robert Penn
Nature is an infinite sphere of which the centre is everywhere and the circumference nowhere........Pascal, Blaise

Vect or
orss and their representation :
ector

Vector quantities are specified by definite magnitude and definite direction. A vector is generally
represented by a directed line segment, say AB . A is called the initial point and B is called the
terminal point. The magnitude of vector is expressed by  .
Zero vector
vector:
A vector of zero magnitude i.e. which has the same initial and terminal point, is called a zero vector.
It is denoted by O. The direction of zero vector is indeterminate.
Unit vector
vector:
A vector of unit magnitude in the direction of a vector is called unit vector along and is denoted
r
a
by , symbolically â = r .
|a|

Example # 1 : Find unit vector of î − 2 ĵ + 3k̂

r
Solution : a =
( )
⇔rr r
aa−1 λ+ a 3ĵk̂+2 a k̂ 2
2ĵb+
1=î2
r â
bîAB
a 14
x + 2a y +3a z
1
xa
if a = + a y ĵ + a zk̂
b114
r
then |a| =
r
∴ |a| =
r
a 2 3
â = | ar | = î – ĵ + k̂
14 14
Equal vectors
vectors:
Two vectors are said to be equal if they have the same magnitude, direction and represent the same
physical quantity.
Collinear vectors
vectors:
Two vectors are said to be collinear if their directed line segments are parallel irrespective of their
directions. Collinear vectors are also called parallel vectors. If they have the same direction they
are named as like vectors otherwise unlike vectors.
r
Symbolically, two non-zero vectors a and are collinear if and only if, , where λ ∈ R
r r
a = λb ⇔ (
= λ b1î + b 2 ĵ + b 3k̂ ⇔ )
a1 = λb1, a2 = λb2, a3 = λb3

a2 a
= = 3 ( = λ)
b2 b3

r r a1 a2 a3
Vectors a = a1 + a 2 ĵ + a 3k̂ and b = b1 + b 2 ĵ + b3k̂ are collinear if = =
b1 b2 b3

RESONANCE VECTORS & 3-DIMENSIONAL GEOMETRY - 172