Vectors

Vector Algebra
Suppose we have a point P with position vector p and
that this vector makes angles of A, B and C with the x, y
and z axes respectively.

Now the angle made by the p with the x-axis Suppose

p = ai + bj + ck written in component form.
Then p.i = |p||i| cos A ,
But p.i = (ai + bj + ck).i = a.
Also, |i| = 1 because i is a vector of one unit in length.
So now we have, a = |p| cos A and therefore
cos A = a/|p|. Similarly, cos B = b/|p| and cos C = c/|p|,
Also we know that |p| = √(a2+b2+c2)
We have now found the cosines of the angles
which p makes with the x, y and z axes
respectively. These are called direction
cosines.

Now the vector (cos A)i + (cos B)j + (cos C)k is

rather special.
Since it is equal to (a/|p|)i + (b/|p|)j + (c/|p|)k it
has the same direction as p and lies along OP.
Also, its length is given by the square root of
(cos2A + cos2B + cos2C).
From above, this is the same as the square
root of {(a2 + b2 + c2) divided by (a2 + b2
+ c2)}= 1.
So it is a unit vector in the direction of p,
and it is often written by putting a little
circumflex that over the p and calling it p
that.If we had started with a free vector p,
the working to find its direction cosines
would be exactly the same, since the
angles it makes with the 3 axes remain
the same if we slide it until its tail is at the
origin.
 Principal Axis Vectors
 A principal axis vector, e.g. <x> is named after
the principal axis it's parallel to (the x axis for
our example) and has a length of exactly one
unit.
For 2D space,  <x> = [1 0]  and  <y> = [0 1].
For 3D space, x = [1 0 0], y = [0 1 0]  and 
z = [0 0 1].
In math speak, these vectors form a ‘basis’, in
particular an ‘orthonormal’ one. A basis is a
collection of vectors combined in various
proportions to span the entirety of some space.
Orthonormal means the vectors are mutually
90° to each other and each is one unit in length
Principle Axis Principle Axis
Vectors in 2-D Vectors in 3-D

These symbols for the principal axis vectors are not

universal. They are more commonly known as i, j
and k.
 Unit Vectors
Unit vectors are always one unit in length, like
principal axis vectors, but can point in any
direction. They are used to indicate direction, or
used in pairs or triplets to form a new basis, a
local coordinate system. The orientation of an
aircraft may be described as three ‘orientation
vectors’ X,Y,Z in some Cartesian space
 Normal Vectors
Normal vectors are perpendicular to something,
usually a line in 2D space or a plane in 3D
space. Technically. normal vectors can have
any length greater than zero. In practice they
are often scaled to unit length to simplify the
equations that utilize them. The process of
forcing a vector to a length of 1 is called
normalization, a confusing term since normal
vectors don't have to be of unit length and
normalised vectors aren't necessarily intended
to be normal to anything.
Normals are often assigned to the
faces or vertices on 3D polygon
meshes, pointing outward. Lighting
calculations use the normals and the
direction of a light source to
determine the lit colour associated
with each normal.

Face normals used for flat shading

 Projection of Vectors
Projection of vector AB, making an angle of θ
with the line L, on line L is vector P = |AB| cos θ