CHAPTERONE

VECTORGEOMETRY

1.1INTRODUCTION
Inthischaptervectorsarefirstintroducedasgeometricobjects,namelyasdirectedline
segments, or arrows. The operations of addition, subtraction, and multiplication by a
scalar (real number) are defined for these directed line segments. Two and three
dimensionalRectangularCartesiancoordinatesystemsarethenintroducedandusedto
giveanalgebraicrepresentationforthedirectedlinesegments(orvectors). Twonew
operationsonvectorscalledthedotproductandthecrossproductareintroduced.Some
familiartheoremsfromEuclideangeometryareprovedusingvectormethods.
1.2SCALARSANDVECTORS
Some physical quantities such as length, area, volume and mass can be completely
describedbyasinglerealnumber. Becausethesequantitiesaredescribablebygiving
only a magnitude, they are called scalars. [The word scalar means representable by
positiononaline;havingonlymagnitude.]Ontheotherhandphysicalquantitiessuchas
displacement,velocity,forceandaccelerationrequirebothamagnitudeandadirectionto
completelydescribethem.Suchquantitiesarecalledvectors.
Ifyousaythatacaristravelingat90km/hr,youareusingascalarquantity,namelythe
number90 with no direction attached,todescribethespeedofthecar. Ontheother
hand,ifyousaythatthecaristravelingduenorthat90km/hr,yourdescriptionofthe
car'svelocityisavectorquantitysinceitincludesbothmagnitudeanddirection.
Todistinguishbetweenscalarsandvectorswewilldenotescalarsbylowercaseitalic
typesuchasa,b,c etc.anddenotevectorsbylowercaseboldfacetypesuchasu,v,w
etc.Inhandwrittenscript,thiswayofdistinguishingbetweenvectorsandscalarsmustbe
modified.Itiscustomarytoleavescalarsasregularhandwrittenscriptandmodifythe
symbolsusedtorepresentvectorsbyeitherunderlining,suchasuorv,orbyplacingan
arrowabovethesymbol,suchas u
r
or v
r
.
1
1.2Problems
1. Determine whether a scalar quantity, a vector quantity or neither would be
appropriatetodescribeeachofthefollowingsituations.
a.Theoutsidetemperatureis15C.
b.Atruckistravelingat60km/hr.
c.Thewaterisflowingduenorthat5km/hr.
d.Thewindisblowingfromthesouth.
e.Averticallyupwardsforceof10Newtonsisappliedtoarock.
f.Therockhasamassof5kilograms.
g.Theboxhasavolumeof.25m
3
.
h.Acarisspeedingeastward.
i.Therockhasadensityof5gm/cm
3
.
j.Abulldozermovestherockeastward15m.
k.Thewindisblowingat20km/hrfromthesouth.
l.Astonedroppedintoapondissinkingattherateof30cm/sec.

1.3GEOMETRICALREPRESENTATIONOFVECTORS
Becausevectorsaredeterminedbybothamagnitudeandadirection,theyarerepresented
geometrically in 2 or 3 dimensional space as directed
line segments or arrows. The length of the arrow
corresponds to the magnitude of the vector while the
directionofthearrowcorrespondstothedirectionofthe
2
P
Q
v
vector.Thetailofthearrowiscalledtheinitialpointofthevectorwhilethetipofthe
arrowiscalledtheterminalpoint ofthevector. Ifthevector v hasthepointPasits
initialpointandthepointQasitsterminalpointwewillwrite PQ v .
Equalvectors
Twovectorsu andv,whichhavethesamelengthandsame
direction,aresaidtobeequalvectorseventhoughtheyhave
differentinitialpointsanddifferentterminalpoints.Ifuand
vareequalvectorswewriteu=v.
Sumoftwovectors
Thesum oftwovectorsu andv,writtenu+visthevector
determined as follows. Place the vector v so that its initial
point coincideswiththe terminalpointofthevector u. The
vectoru+visthevectorwhoseinitialpointistheinitialpoint
ofuandwhoseterminalpointistheterminalpointofv.
Zerovector
Thezerovector,denoted0,isthevectorwhoselengthis0.Sinceavectoroflength0
doesnothaveanydirectionassociatedwithitweshallagreethatitsdirectionisarbitrary;
thatistosayitcanbeassignedanydirectionwechoose. Thezerovectorsatisfiesthe
property:v+0=0+v=vforeveryvectorv.
Negativeofavector
Ifuisanonzerovector,wedefinethenegativeofu,denotedu,tobethevectorwhose
magnitude(orlength)isthesameasthemagnitude(orlength)ofthevectoru,butwhose
directionisoppositetothatofu.
If
AB
uuur
isusedtodenotethevectorfrompointAtopointB,thenthevectorfrompointB
topointAisdenotedby
BA
uuur
,and
BA
uuur
=
AB
uuur
.
Differenceoftwovectors
3
u
v
u
v
u+v
u
u
Ifuandvareanytwovectors,wedefinethedifferenceofuandv,denoteduv,tobe
thevectoru+(v).Toconstructthevectoruvwecaneither
(i)constructthesumofthevectoruandthevectorv;or
(ii)positionuandvsothattheirinitialpointscoincide;thenthevectorfromtheterminal
pointofvtotheterminalpointofuisthevectoruv.
(i) (ii)

Multiplyingavectorbyascalar
If v isanonzerovectorandc isanonzeroscalar,wedefinethe productof c andv,
denoted cv, to be the vector whose length is
c
times the length of v and whose
directionisthesameasthatofv ifc>0andoppositetothatofvofc<0.Wedefine
cv=0ifc=0orifv=0.
Parallel vectors
The vectors v and cv are
parallel to each other. Their directions coincide if c
>0andthedirectionsareoppositetoeachotherifc<0.Ifuandvareparallelvectors,
thenthereexistsascalarcsuchthatu=cv.Conversely,ifu=cvand
0, c
thenuand
vareparallelvectors.
Example
Let O, A and B be 3 points in the plane. Let
. OB let and OA b a
Findanexpressionforthevector
BA
intermsofthevectorsaandb.
4
u
v uv
v
2v
v (1)v
u
v
v
uv
O A
B
a
b
Solution
OA BO BA +

OA OB+

OB OA
=ab.
ExampleProvethatthelinejoiningthemidpointsoftwosidesofatriangleisparallel
toandonehalfthelengthofthethirdsideofthetriangle.
Solution
Let ABCbegiven.LetMbethemidpointofsideACand
letNbethemidpointofsideBC.Then
AB ) CB AC ( CB AC CN MC MN
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
+ + + .
ThisshowsthatMNisonehalfthelengthofABandalso
thatMNisparalleltoAB[sincethetwovectors MN
uuuur
and
1
2
AB
uuur
areequal,theyhavethesamedirectionandhenceare
parallel,so MN
uuuur
and
AB
uuur
willalsobeparallel].
Example
LetMbethemidpointofthelinesegmentPQ. LetObeapointnotonthelinePQ.
Provethat OQ OP OM
2
1
2
1
+ .
Solution
PQ OP PM OP OM
2
1
+ +
) OQ PO ( OP
2
1
+ +
OQ PO OP
2
1
2
1
+ +
OQ OP OP
2
1
2
1
+
OQ OP
2
1
2
1
+
1.3Problems
1. Foreachofthefollowingdiagrams,findanexpressionforthevectorcintermsofthe
vectorsaandb.
5
P M
Q
O
A B
C
M N
a.

b.
c.
2. LetOACBbetheparallelogramshown. Let
. OB let and OA b a
Findexpressionsfor
the diagonals
AB and OC
in terms of the
vectorsaandb.
3. LetABCbeatriangle. LetMbeapointonACsuchthatthelengthofAM=
lengthofMC.LetNbeapointonBCsuchthatthelengthofBN=lengthofNC.
ShowthatMNisparalleltoABandthatthelengthofMNis 3
2
thelengthofAB.
4. LetthepointMdividethelinesegmentABintheratiot:switht+s=1.LetObea
pointnotonthelineAB.Prove
OM
s
+ OA
t
OB
.
5. Provethatthediagonalsofaparallelogrambisecteachother.
6. Provethatthemediansofatriangleareconcurrent.
1.4COORDINATESYSTEMS
In order to further our study of vectors it will be necessary to consider vectors as
algebraic entities by introducing a coordinate system for the vectors. A coordinate
system is a frame of reference that is used as a standard for measuring distance and
direction. Ifweareworkingwithvectorsintwodimensionalspacewewilluseatwo
6
O A
C
B
a
b
a
c
b
b
a
c
a
b
c
dimensionalrectangularCartesiancoordinatesystem.Ifweareworkingwithvectorsin
threedimensional space, the coordinate system that we use is a threedimensional
rectangularCartesiancoordinatesystem.Tounderstandthesetwoandthreedimensional
rectangularcoordinatesystemswefirstintroduceaonedimensionalcoordinatesystem
alsoknownasarealnumberline.
LetRdenotethesetofallrealnumbers.Letlbeagivenline.Wecansetupaoneto
onerelationshipbetween the realnumbers Randthepointsonl asfollows. Selecta
point O, which will be called the origin,ontheline l.Tothispointweassociatethe
number0.Selectaunitoflengthanduseittomarkoffequidistantlyplacedpointson
eithersideofO. ThepointsononesideofO,calledthepositiveside,areassignedthe
numbers1,2,3etc.whilethepointsontheothersideofO,calledthenegativesideare
assignedthenumbers1,2,3etc.Aonetoonecorrespondencenowexistsbetween
alltherealnumbersRandthepointsonl.Theresultinglineiscalledarealnumberline
ormoresimplyanumberline andthenumberassociatedwithanygivenpointonthe
line is called its coordinate. We have just constructed a onedimensional coordinate
system.
TwodimensionalrectangularCartesiancoordinatesystem
The twodimensional Cartesian coordinate system has as its frame of reference two
number lines that intersect at right angles. The
horizontal number line is called the xaxis and the
vertical number line is the yaxis. The point of
intersectionofthetwoaxesiscalledtheorigin and
is denoted by O. To each point P in two
dimensionalspaceweassociateanorderedpair of
real numbers (x, y) called the coordinates of the
point. Thenumber x iscalledthe xcoordinate of
thepointandthenumberyistheycoordinateofthe
point. Thexcoordinatex isthehorizontaldistance
ofthepointPfromtheyaxiswhiletheycoordinateyistheverticaldistanceofthepoint
Pfromthexaxis.ThesetofallorderedpairsofrealnumbersisdenotedR
2
.
7
xaxis
) , ( P y x
x
y
O
x
y
yaxis
origin
1 2 3
l
0 1 2 3
O
ThreedimensionalrectangularCartesiancoordinatesystem
The threedimensional Cartesian coordinatesystemhasasitsframeofreferencethree
numberlinesthatintersectatrightanglesatapointOcalledtheorigin.Thenumberlines
arecalledthe xaxis,the yaxis andthe zaxis. ToeachpointPinthreedimensional
spaceweassociateanorderedtripleofrealnumbers(x,y,z)calledthecoordinatesof
thepoint. Thenumber x isthedistanceofthepointPfromtheyzcoordinateplane.
ThenumberyisthedistanceofthepointPfromthexzcoordinateplane.Thenumberz
isthedistanceofthepointPfromthexycoordinateplane.Thesetofallorderedtriples
ofrealnumbersisdenotedbyR
3
.Whenthecoordinateaxesarelabeledasshowninthe
following diagrams, the coordinate system is said to be a righthanded Cartesian
coordinatesystem.

RighthandedCartesiancoordinatesystem
ArighthandedCartesiancoordinatesystemisoneinwhich
thecoordinateaxesaresolabeledthatifwecurlthefingerson
ourrighthandsoastopointfromthepositivexaxistowards
thepositiveyaxis,thethumbwillpointinthedirectionofthe
positivezaxis.[Ifthethumbispointinginthedirection
oppositetothedirectionofthepositivezaxis,thecoordinate
systemisalefthandedcoordinatesystem.]
1.4Problems
1. Draw a righthanded threedimensional Cartesian coordinate system, and plot the
followingpointswiththegivencoordinates.
a.P(2,1,3) b.Q(3,4,5) c.R(2,1,2) d.S(0,2,1)
8
y
y
x
z
xycoord
plane
yzcoord
plane
xzcoord
plane
O
x
y
z
P
z
x
y
pointP(x,y,z)
O
2. Acubehasonevertexattheorigin,andthediagonallyoppositevertexisthepoint
withcoordinates(1,1,1).Findthecoordinatesoftheotherverticesofthecube.
3. A rectangular parallelepiped (box) has onevertexat theoriginand thediagonally
oppositevertexatthepoint(2,3,1).Findthecoordinatesoftheothervertices.
4. Apyramidhasasquarebaselocatedonthexycoordinateplane.Diagonallyopposite
vertices of thesquare base arelocatedatthepointswithcoordinates(0, 0,0)and
(2, 2, 0). The height of the pyramid is 2 units. Find the coordinates of the other
verticesofthepyramid.[Assumethatthetopofthepyramidliesdirectlyabovethe
centreofthesquarebase.]
5. Aregulartetrahedronisasolidfigurewith4faces,each
of which is an equilateral triangle. If a regular
tetrahedronhasonefacelyingonthexycoordinateplane
with vertices at (0, 0, 0) and (0, 1, 0), find the
coordinatesoftheothertwoverticesifallcoordinatesare
nonnegative
1.5DEFININGVECTORSALGEBRAICALLY
Sinceavectorisdeterminedsolelybyitsmagnitudeand
direction,anygivenvectormayberelocatedwithrespect
toagivencoordinatesystemsothatitsinitialpointisat
the origin O. Such a vector is said to be in standard
position. When a given vector v is in standard position
thereexistsauniqueterminalpointPsuchthat
OP v
.
Thisonetoonerelationshipbetweenthevectorvandthe
terminal point P enables us to giveanalgebraicdefinitionforthevector v. If v isa
vectorintwodimensionalspaceandP(a,b)istheuniquepointPsuchthat OP v ,then
wewillidentifythevectorvwiththeorderedpairofrealnumbers
( , ) a b
andwrite
v
(a,
b).SimilarlyifvisavectorinthreedimensionalspaceandP(a,b,c)istheuniquepoint
P such that
OP v
, then we will identify v with the ordered triple of real numbers
( , , ) a b c
andwritev=(a,b,c). Thetwodimensionalvector v =(a,b)issaidtohave
components a and b and the threedimensional vector
( , , ) a b c v
is said to have
componentsa,bandc.
9
tetetrahedron
v
x
y
P(a,b)
v
O
Toavoidconfusion,whendealingwiththecomponentsofseveralvectorsatthesame
timeitiscustomarytodenotethecomponentsofagivenvectorbysubscriptedlettersthat
agreewiththeletterusedtodesignatethevector.Thuswewillwritev=(v
1
,v
2
)ifvisa
vectorinR
2
andv=(v
1
,v
2
,v
3
)ifvisavectorinR
3
.
Equalvectors
Ifequalvectorsuandvarelocatedsothattheirinitialpointsareattheorigin,thentheir
terminalpointswillcoincide,andhencethecorrespondingcomponentsofuandvmust
beequaltoeachother. Thus u =v inR
2
ifandonlyif u
1
=v
1
andu
2
=v
2
whilefor
vectorsinR
3
,u=vifandonlyifu
1
=v
1
,u
2
=v
2
andu
3
=v
3.
Sumoftwovectors
Letu=(u
1
,u
2
)andv=(v
1
,v
2
)betwovectorsinR
2
.If
thevectorsarelocatedsothattheirinitialpointsareat
the origin, then their terminal points are the points
with coordinates (u
1
, u
2
) and (v
1
, v
2
). If v is now
placedsothatitsinitialpointisat(u
1
,u
2
),whichisthe
terminalpointofu,thentheterminalpointofvisthe
pointwithcoordinates(u
1
+v
1
,u
2
+v
2
).
Henceu+v=(u
1
+v
1
,u
2
+v
2
).
Asimilarargumentforthevectorsu=(u
1
,u
2
,u
3
)andv=(v
1
,v
2,
v
3
)inR
3
gives
u+v=(u
1
+v
1
,u
2
+v
2
,u
3
+v
3
).
Example
Letu=(1,2,3)andv=(4,1,5).Thenu+v=(1+4,2+1,3+5)=(5,3,8).
Multiplyingavectorbyascalar
If u = (u
1
, u
2
) is a vector inR
2
thathasitsinitial
point at theorigin,then theterminalpointof u is
thepointwithcoordinates(u
1
, u
2
).Ifc>0,thenthe
vectorcuhasthesamedirectionasuandisctimes
aslongas u soitsterminalpointisthepointwith
coordinates(cu
1
, cu
2
). Asimilarargumentapplies
ifc<0,exceptinthiscasethedirectionisreversed.
Ineithercasewehavecu=(cu
1
,cu
2
).
IfinsteaduisavectorinR
3
,thenasimilarargumentwillshowthatcu=(cu
1
,cu
2
,cu
3
).
10
u
1
v
1
u
2
v
2
v
u
u+v
x
y
u
u
1
cu
1
u
2
cu
2
cu
Example
Ifu=(3,1,2),then5u=
(5 3, 5 1, 5 2) (15, 5, 10)
.
Differenceoftwovectors
Thevectoruvisdefinedtobeequaltothevectorsumu+(1)v.
Ifu=(u
1
,u
2
)andv=(v
1
,v
2
)aretwovectorsinR
2
,then
uv=(u
1
,u
2
)+(1)(v
1
,v
2
)=(u
1
,u
2
)+(v
1
,v
2
)=(u
1
v
1
,u
2
v
2
).
Similarly,inR
3
wehaveuv=(u
1
v
1
,u
2
v
2
,u
3
v
3
).
Example
( ) If (4, 5, 2)and (2, 1, 3) then 4 2, 5 ( 1), 2 3 (2, 6, 1). u v u v
Vectorrepresentationofadirectedlinesegment
Let v =
AB
whereA is thepointwithcoordinates
(a
1
, a
2
)andBisthepointwithcoordinates(b
1
, b
2
).
Then
v= OB AO AB +
OA OB +
uuur uuur
= OB OA
uuur uuur

=(b
1
,b
2
)(a
1
,a
2
)=(b
1
a
1,
b
2
a
2
).
InR
3
,ifA=(a
1
,a
2
,a
3
)andB=(b
1
,b
2
,b
3
)then
AB
=(b
1
a
1
,b
2
a
2
,b
3
a
3
).
Example
IfA=(1,2,3)andB=(4,6,9),then ) 6 , 4 , 3 ( ) 3 9 , 2 6 , 1 4 ( AB
Lengthofavector
If v = (v
1
, v
2
) then the length of v is equal to the
length of the directed line segment from the origin
(0,0)tothepoint(v
1
, v
2
). Wewillusethesymbol
11
(v
1
,v
2
)
v
1
v
2
v
O
A
B
v
v
torepresentthelengthofthevectorv.UsingPythagorastheoremforrighttriangles
wecancalculatethatlengthtobe
2
2
2
1
v v + andsowehavetheformula
v
=
2
2
2
1
v v + .
Asimilarargumentforavectorv =(v
1
, v
2
, v
3
)inR
3
,usingPythagorastheoremtwice,
gives
v
=
2
3
2
2
2
1
v v v + + .
TheoremIfcisascalarandvisavectorinR
2
orR
3
,then
. v v c c

ProofThefollowingproofisforvinR
2
.TheproofforvinR
3
issimilar.

2 2 2 2 2 2 2
1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
( , ) ( ) ( ) ( ) . c cv cv cv cv c v v c v v c + + + v v
Unitvector
If
1 v
wesayvisaunitvector.Becausethelengthofavectorisapositivequantity,
thelengthofthevectorcvis
v c
.Tofindaunitvectorinthedirectionofagiven
vector v, multiplythevector v bythescalar
v
1
. Theresultingvector
1
v
v
isaunit
vectorinthedirectionofv.Aunitvectorinthedirectionoppositetovis
1
v
v
.
Example
Ifv =(2,2,1),thenthelengthof v is
v
=
3 9 1 4 4 1 2 2
2 2 2
+ + + +
anda
unit vector in the direction of v is
1 1 2 2 1
(2, 2,1) , ,
3 3 3 3
_


,
v
v
. Aunit vectorin the
directionoppositetothatofvis
2 2 1
, ,
3 3 3
_


,
.
1.5Problems
12
Letu=(2,1,3),v=(3,1,2)andw=(4,1,1).

1. Findthefollowingvectors.
a.u+v b.uv c.2w d.2u3v e.u+2v3wf.2u+3v
w
2. Findthefollowinglengths.
a.
u
b.
v
c.
w 2
d.
v u +
e.
v u
f.
v w
3. Findcomponentsofthevectorequaltothedirectedlinesegment PQ.
a.P=(1,2,3)Q=(2,4,7) b.P=(3,1,4)Q=(5,7,1)
c.P=(2,5,1)Q=(4,3,2) d.P=(0,3,2)Q=(2,0,5)
4. Letv=
AB
.IfvandAareasgivenbelow,findthecoordinatesofB.
a.v=(3,5,4)A=(1,3,2) b.v=(2,5,4)A=(1,2,2)
5. Letv=
AB
.IfvandBareasgivenbelow,findthecoordinatesofA.
a.v=(3,5,4)B=(2,5,6) b.v=(2,5,4)B=(4,1,7).
6. Let v bethegivenvector. Findaunitvectorinthedirectionof v andfindaunit
vectorinthedirectionoppositetothatofv.
a.v=(2,2,1)b.v=(3,0,4)c.v=(1,2,3) d.v=(2,3,4).
7. Ifv=(3a,4a,5a)and
v
=10,findthevalueofa.
1.6THEDOTPRODUCT(SCALARPRODUCT)
Thedotproductisamethodformultiplyingtwovectors. Becausethe productofthe
multiplicationisascalar,thedotproductissometimesreferredtoasthescalarproduct.
The dot product will be used to find an angle between two vectors and will have
applicationsinfindingdistancesbetweenpointsandlines,pointsandplanes,etc.
Ifu=(u
1
,u
2
)andv=(v
1
,v
2
)aretwovectorsinR
2
,wedefinetheirdotproduct,denoted
v u
,asfollows:
v u
=u
1
v
1
+u
2
v
2
.
13
Ifu=(u
1
,u
2
,u
3
)andv=(v
1
,v
2,
v
3
)aretwovectorsinR
3
,wedefinetheirdotproductto
be
v u
=u
1
v
1
+u
2
v
2
+u
3
v
3
.
Example
Letu=(1,2,3)andv=(4,5,6).
Then
v u
=(1)(4)+(2)(5)+(3)(6)=4+10+18=32.
Thefollowingtheoremrelatesthelengthofavectortothedotproductofthevectorwith
itself.
TheoremForanyvectoruinR
2
orinR
3
,
u u u
.
ProofThefollowingproofisforR
2
.TheproofforR
3
issimilar.
Letu=(u
1
,u
2
).Then
u u
(u
1
,u
2
)

(u
1
,u
2
)=u
1
2
+u
2
2
=
2
u .
Takingsquarerootsgives
u u u
.
Thenexttheoremlistssomealgebraicpropertiesofthedotproduct.
TheoremLetu,vandwbevectorsinR
2
orR
3
,andletcbeascalar.Then
(a)
u v v u
(b)c
v) u (
(cu)

v=u

(cv)
(c)u

(v+w)=u

v+u

w
(d)u

0=0.
Proof(a)Letu=(u
1
,u
2
)andv=(v
1
,v
2
)beanytwovectorsinR
2
.
Then
v u
=u
1
v
1
+u
2
v
2
=v
1
u
1
+v
2
u
2
=v

u.TheproofforR
3
issimilar
Theproofsforparts(b),(c)and(d)aresimilarstraightforwardcomputations.
Thefollowingtheoremshowshowthedotproductoftwovectorsuandvisrelatedtothe
anglebetweenthevectors.
14
TheoremLetuandvbetwovectorsinR
2
orR
3
.Letbetheanglebetweenuandv.
Then
cos v u v u
.
Proof Let u and v to be a pair of adjacent sides of a
trianglewhosethirdsideisuv.Usingthecosinelawfor
trianglesweget


+ +
+
+
cos
cos
cos
cos
cos
2 2 2
v u v u
v u 2 v u 2
v u 2 v v u u v v u v v u u u
v u 2 v v u u v) (u v) (u
v u 2 v u v u

Anglebetweentwovectors
Theprecedingtheoremprovidesamethodforfindingthecosineoftheanglebetween
two vectors and hence finding the angle between the two vectors. Solving
cos v u v u
for cos givestheformula
v u
v u
cos
.
Example
Findthecosineoftheanglebetweenthevectorsu=(3,1,2)andv=(1,4,3).
Solution
(3, 1, 2) (1, 4, 3) 3 4 6 13 13 13
cos
(3, 1, 2) (1, 4, 3) 9 1 4 1 16 9 14 26 2 7 2 13 2 7
+ +

+ + + +
Havingfoundthecosineoftheangle ,wecanfindtheangle
1
13
=cos 47
2 7

,
.
Orthogonalvectors
Vectorsuandvaresaidtobeorthogonalorperpendiculartoeachotheriftheymeetat
rightangles.Ifuandvareorthogonal,then
0 ) 2 cos( v u v u
.[Sincecos
) 2 (
=0.]Conversely,ifu

v=0wemusthaveeitheru=0orv=0oru v.Sincethezero
vector0canhaveanydirection,wewillagreethat0isorthogonaltoanyvector.Hence
wesaythatuandvareorthogonalifandonlyifu

v=0.
Example
15
u
v
uv

Showthatthevectorsu=(1,2,2)andv=(2,1,2)areorthogonalvectors.
Solution
u

v=(1,2,2)

(2,1,2)=2+24=0.Henceu v.
Normalvector
Ifl isalineinR
2
orinR
3
andnisavectorthatisorthogonaltothelinel,wecallna
normalvectortothelinel.
TheoremLetax+by=cbetheequationofalinelinR
2
.Thenthevectorn=(a,b)
isanormalvectortothelinel.
ProofFirstselecttwopointsPandQonl.SelectP=(c/a,0)and
Q=(0,c/b),thenthevector PQliesonl.
But PQ (0,c/b)(c/a,0)=(c/a,c/b).Toshowthatn PQwe
takethedotproduct.
n

PQ=(a,b)

(c/a,c/b)=c+c=0.Thisprovesthatthe
vectornisanormalvectortothelinel.
Example
Findavectorthatisnormaltotheline2x+3y=5.
Solution
Fromtheprevioustheoremthevectorn=(2,3)isnormaltothegivenline2x+3y=5
sincethecoefficientsofxandyare2and3.
Projections
Let u and v be two given vectors with 0 v . The
projection of u along v, denoted proj
v
u is the vector p
foundasfollows. Dropaperpendicularfromtheterminal
pointofuthatintersectsthelinethroughvatthepointP.
Thenproj
v
u=p=
OP
.
Wefindpasfollows.Sincepliesalongv,thereisascalarksuchthatp=kv.Nowup
isorthogonaltovso(up)

v=0.But
16
l:ax+by=c
n=(a,b)
P
Q
P
v
p
O
u
up
(up)

v=0

vp

v=0

vkv

v=0

k= 2
v
v u
v v
v u

.
Henceproj
v
u=p=kv=
v
v
v u
v
v v
v u
2

.
Example
Letu=(8,1,4)andletv=(1,2,2).Findproj
v
u.
Solution
proj
v
u=
v
v v
v u

=
) 4 , 4 , 2 ( ) 2 , 2 , 1 ( 2 ) 2 , 2 , 1 (
4 4 1
8 2 8
) 2 , 2 , 1 (
) 2 , 2 , 1 ( ) 2 , 2 , 1 (
) 2 , 2 , 1 ( ) 4 , 1 , 8 (

+ +
+ +

DistancebetweenapointandalineinR
2

TofindthedistanceDbetweenapointPandalinelinR
2
,weselectapointQontheline
l, then the distance D is the length of theprojectionof
QP onn,anormalvectortothelinel.

QP
D proj QP
QP QP PQ

n
n
n
n n
n n n
n
n n n n
uuur
uuur
uuur uuur uuur
Note that
QP PQ n n
uuur uuur
and soeitherofthelasttwo
formsforthedistanceDcanbeusedinterchangeably.
Example
FindthedistancebetweenthepointP=(9,1)andtheline3x+4y=6.
Solution
ThepointQ=(2,0)liesontheline3x+4y=6so ) 1 , 7 ( ) 0 , 2 ( ) 1 , 9 ( QP .
Sincen=(3,4),thedistanceis

n
n QP
D
) 4 , 3 (
) 4 , 3 ( ) 1 , 7 (
5
5
25
16 9
4 21

+
+

1.6Problems
17
Q
P
n
l
D
Inproblems1to3below,letu=(1,2,1),v=(3,2,4)andw=(1,1,3).
1. Calculatethefollowingdotproducts.
a.
v u
b.
w u
c.
w v
d.
w) (v u +
e.
w) v ( u 3 2 +
2. Findthelengthofeachofeachofthefollowingvectors.
a.u b.v c.w d.u+v e.2u3v
3. Findthecosineoftheanglebetweenthefollowingpairsofvectors.
a.uandv b.uandwc.vandwd.u+vanduv
4. Showthatthefollowingpairsofvectorsareorthogonal.
a.(2,1,3)and(1,1,1) b.(1,3,5)and(2,1,1)
c.(4,5,1)and(2,1,3) d.(1,0,1)and(0,1,0)
5. FindavectornwhichisnormaltothegivenlineinR
2
.
a.2x+3y=5 b.x2y=3 c.3x+y=4 d.x+3y=1
6. Findproj
v
uforeachofthefollowingpairsofvectorsuandv.
a.u=(1,2,1)andv=(3,1,0) b.u=(3,1,4)andv=(1,2,2)
c.u=(5,4,3)andv=(3,1,1) d.u=(1,1,2)andv=(3,4,1)
7. FindthedistancebetweenthepointPandthelinelinR
2
.
a.P=(2,3)l:3x+4y=1 b.P=(5,1)l:3x4y=2
c.P=(5,3)l:5x+12y=1 d.P=(3,4)l:x+2y=3
8. Prove Pythagoras theorem: The square on the hypotenuse of a right triangle
equalsthesumofthesquaresontheothertwosides.
9. Provethattheangleinscribedinasemicircleisarightangle.
10. Provethatthesumofthesquaresofthediagonalsofaparallelogramequalsthesum
ofthesquaresofitssides.
11. Prove that the diagonals of a rhombus (parallelogram with equal sides) are
perpendicular.
18
12. Provethatthemidpointofthehypotenuseofarighttriangleisequidistantfromthe
threeverticesofthetriangle
13. Provethatthealtitudesofatriangleareconcurrent.
14. Let a andb beunitvectorsinthexyplanemakingangles
and respectivelywiththexaxis. Let i andj bethevectors
(1,0)and(0,1)respectively.
a.Showthati

i=1,i

j=0andj

j=1.
b.Showthata
cos sin + i j
and
b cos sin + i j
c.Provethat
+ sin sin cos cos ) cos(
.
1.7THECROSSPRODUCT(VECTORPRODUCT)
Intheprevioussectionwewereintroducedtothedotproductoftwovectors.Theresult
oftakingthedotproductoftwovectorsisascalarquantity.Wenowintroduceasecond
methodofmultiplyingtwovectorsfromR
3
thatresultsinavectorquantity.Thesymbol
usedtodenotethisproductisacross

,hencethename"crossproduct". Becausethe
resultisavector,theterm"vectorproduct"issometimesusedforthisproduct.
Thecrossproducthasanumberofapplications.Wewillusethecrossproducttofindthe
areasoftrianglesand parallelograms. Itwillalsobeusedtocalculatethevolumeofa
parallelepipedandlatertofindthedistancebetweenapointandalineinR
3
.
Crossproduct(vectorproduct)
Ifu=(u
1
,u
2
,u
3
)andv=(v
1
,v
2,
v
3
)aretwovectorsinR
3
,thecrossproductu

visthe
vectorinR
3
definedasfollows.
u

v=(u
2
v
3
u
3
v
2
,u
3
v
1
u
1
v
3
,u
1
v
2
u
2
v
1
).
Example
Letu=(3,1,2)andletv=(4,6.5).
Thenu

v=
) 14 , 7 , 7 ( ) 4 1 6 3 , 5 3 4 2 , 6 2 5 1 (
.
19
x
y
b
a

i
j
Although the definition of the cross product as given above may be difficult to
remember,theconceptofa2

2determinantcanbeusedtosimplifytheprocess.
Consider the 2

2 array of numbers
1
]
1

d c
b a
. The determinant of
1
]
1

d c
b a
, written,
det
1
]
1

d c
b a
or
d c
b a
,isdefinedtobethenumberadbc.Thenthecrossproductof
u=(u
1
,u
2
,u
3
)andv=(v
1
,v
2,
v
3
),usingdeterminants,canbewrittenasthevector
u

,
_

2 1
2 1
3 1
3 1
3 2
3 2
, ,
v v
u u
v v
u u
v v
u u
.
Werememberthecomponentsofu

vasfollows.
1) Formthe2

3 rectangulararray
1
]
1

3 2 1
3 2 1
v v v
u u u
wherethefirstrowconsistsofthe
componentsofthevectoruandthesecondrowconsistsofthecomponentsofvectorv.
2)Tofindthefirstcomponentofu

v,deletethefirstcolumnandtakethedeterminant
oftheremaining2

2array; tofindthesecondcomponentof u

v, deletethesecond
columnandtakethenegativeofthedeterminantoftheremaining2

2array;tofindthe
third component of u

v, delete the third column and take the determinant of the

remaining2

2array.
Example
Findu

vifu=(2,3,4)andv=(5,6,7).
Solution
Constructtherectangulararray
1
]
1

7 6 5
4 3 2
.Then
u

,
_

6 5
3 2
,
7 5
4 2
,
7 6
4 3
) 3 , 6 , 3 (
) 15 12 ), 20 14 ( , 24 21 (
) 5 3 6 2 ), 5 4 7 2 ( , 6 4 7 3 (



20
Theorem
v u
=
u v
Proofu

v=(u
2
v
3
u
3
v
2
,u
3
v
1
u
1
v
3
,u
1
v
2
u
2
v
1
)
=(u
3
v
2
u
2
v
3
,u
1
v
3
u
3
v
1
,u
2
v
1
u
1
v
2
)
=(v
2
u
3
v
3
u
2
,v
3
u
1
v
1
u
3
,v
1
u
2
v
2
u
1
)
=v

u
Theoremu

visorthogonaltobothuandv.
ProofWeshowthatu

visorthogonaltoubyshowingthatthedotproductofu

vand
uisequaltozero.Theproofthatu

visorthogonaltovissimilar.
(u

v)

u=(u
2
v
3
u
3
v
2
,u
3
v
1
u
1
v
3
,u
1
v
2
u
2
v
1
)

(u
1
,u
2
,u
3
)
=(u
2
v
3
u
3
v
2
)u
1
+(u
3
v
1
u
1
v
3
)u
2
+(u
1
v
2
u
2
v
1
)u
3
= u
2
v
3
u
1
u
3
v
2
u
1
+u
3
v
1
u
2
u
1
v
3
u
2
+u
1
v
2
u
3

u
2
v
1
u
3

=0
Since(u

v)

u=0,u

vanduareorthogonal.
Example
Findavectororthogonaltobothu=(1,3,2)andv=(4,0,1).
Solution
Thevectoru

visorthogonaltobothuandv,sowecalculateu

v.
) 12 , 7 , 3 ( ) 12 0 ), 8 1 ( , 0 3 (
0 4
3 1
,
1 4
2 1
,
1 0
2 3

,
_

v u
21
arrowsindicate
cancelingpairs
Thenexttheoremisausefulresultthatcanbeappliedtocalculatetheareaofatriangle
andtheareaofaparallelogram.Itisalsousedtocalculatethevolumeofaparallelepiped
inR
3
andtofindthedistancebetweenapointandalineinR
3
.
Theorem
v u v u v u and between angle the is where sin
.
ProofTheproofconsistsof2steps.
(1) We first show
2
v) u v u v u (
2 2 2
by computingthe left and right hand
sidesseparatelyandshowingthattheyareequaltoeachother.
2
1 2 2 1
2
3 1 1
2
2 3 2
2
) (u ) ( ) ( v u v v u v u v u v u
3 3
+ + v u ....(i)
2
3 3 2 2 1 1
2
3
2
2
2
1
2
3
2
2
2 2 2
) ( ) )( ( ( v u v u v u v v v u u u
1
+ + + + + +
2
v) u v u ...(ii)
A lengthy computation shows right hand sides of (i) and (ii) are equal and so we
conclude
2
v) u v u v u (
2 2 2
.
(2)Startingwith
2
v) u v u v u (
2 2 2
weexpandthedotproductontheright

2
2 2
2
2 2
2
2 2
sin
) cos 1 (
) cos (
v u
v u
v u v u
Takingsquarerootsgivestherequiredresult:
sin v u v u
.
The next theorem lists several properties of the cross product. The properties are
establishedbystraightforwardcomputationsandsotheproofsareomitted.
Theorem Let u, v andw be vectorsinR
3
. Thenu, v andwsatisfythefollowing
properties.
(a)
w u v u w) (v u + +
(b)
w v w u w v) (u + +
(c) 0 u 0 0 u
(d) 0 u u
22
Theareaofaparallelogram
Let u andv bethe adjacentsidesofaparallelogram. The
areaofaparallelogramislengthofbase

height.Fromthe
adjoiningdiagramwehavethatthelengthofthebaseis
v

andtheheightish.Fromtrigonometryweget
h
sin
u
so
sin h u
.ThereforetheareaAisgivenby
A base height sin v u uv
Theareaofatriangle
Let u andv bethe adjacentsidesofatriangle. Sincethe
areaofthetriangleisonehalftheareaoftheparallelogram
withuandvasitsadjacentsides,theareaofthetriangleis
v u
2
1
A
.
Example
Findtheareaoftheparallelogramhavingadjacentsidesu=(2,3,1)andv=(4,02).
Solution
3 1 2 1 2 3
, , (6, 0, 12)
0 2 4 2 4 0
Area (6, 0, 12) 36 0 144 180 36 5 36 5 6 5
_


,
+ +
uv
uv
Example
FindtheareaofthetrianglewhoseverticesareA=(1,2,2),B=(3,4,5)and
C=(5,6,4)
Solution
23
u

v
h
u

v
h
Let AB (3, 4, 5) (1, 2, 2) (2, 2, 3) u
uuur
and
let AC (5, 6, 4) (1, 2, 2) (4, 4, 2) v
uuur
.
Then
) 0 , 8 , 8 (
4 4
2 2
,
2 4
3 2
,
2 4
3 2

,
_

v u
AreaoftriangleABC
2 4 0 64 64 ) 0 , 8 , 8 (
2
1
2
1
2
1
+ + v u
Thevolumeofaparallelepiped
Aparallelepipedisasolid(3dimensional)
figure having sixfaceswith oppositepairs
offacesbeingcongruentparallelograms.A
parallelepipedcanbespecifiedbygiving3
vectors u, v and wthat form the 3 edges
emanating from a common vertex. The
volumeoftheparallelepipedistheareaof
thebase

height. Theareaofthebaseis
theareaoftheparallelogramwithuandvasadjacentsidesandisequalto
u v
.The
heightisthelengthoftheprojectionofwontou

v=
w
v u
proj
.
But
v u
v u w
v u
v u
v u w
v u
v u v u
v u w
w
v u

) ( ) (
) (
) ( ) (
) (
proj
2 .
Thusthevolumeoftheparallelepipedis
) (
) (
V v u w
v u
v u w
v u

.
Example
Findthevolumeoftheparallelepipedhavingthefollowingthreevectorsasedges.
u=(2,3,1),v=(3,4,3)andw=(4,5,6)
Solution
) 1 , 3 , 5 (
4 3
3 2
,
3 3
1 2
,
3 4
1 3

,
_

v u
1 6 15 20 ) 1 , 3 , 5 ( ) 6 , 5 , 4 ( v) (u w
Volume=
1 1 v) (u w
1.7Problems
24
u
v
w
uv

Forproblems1to5letu=(4,3,2),v=(5,1,3)andw=(2,1,4).
1. Finda.u

v b.u

w c.v

w d.u

(v+w)
2. Finda.u

(v

w) b.(u

v)

w c.(u

v)

v
3. Findavectororthogonaltoa.uandv b.uandw
4. Findtheareaoftheparallelogramwhoseadjacentsidesare
a.uandv b.uandw c.vandw
5. Findtheareaofthetrianglewhoseadjacentsidesare
a.uandv b.uandw c.vandw
6. Findtheareaofthetrianglewhoseverticesaregiven.
a.(1,2,3),(2,4,5),(4,5,8) b.(2,2,1),(4,3,5),(5,6,7)
7. Provethelawofsinesfortriangles.
sin A sin B sin C
a b c

.
8. Letuandvbetwononzerovectorsin
3
R .
a.Provethatifuandvareparallelvectors,then . u v 0
b.Provethatif u v 0 ,thenuandvareparallelvectors.
1.8STANDARDBASISVECTORSFORR
3
Thefollowingthreeunitvectors
(1, 0, 0) i
,
(0,1, 0) j
and
(0, 0,1) k
playaspecial
roleinR
3
TheyarecalledthestandardbasisvectorsforR
3
.EveryvectorinR
3
canbe
writtenasauniquecombinationofthesethreevectorsasfollows.Letv=(a,b,c)bean
arbitraryvectorinR
3
.Thenwecanwrite
( , , ) ( , 0, 0) (0, , 0) (0, 0, ) (1, 0, 0) (0,1, 0) (0, 0,1) a b c a b c a b c a b c + + + + + + v i j k
.
Example
If
(2, 3, 5), v
then
2 3 5 + + v i j k
.
25
a
b c
A
B C
Forthedotproductofthestandardbasisvectorswitheachother,wehavethefollowing
results,whichcanbeverifiedbyadirectcomputation.
1 i i j j k k
and
0 i j j i j k k j k i i k
.
Forthecrossproductofthestandardbasisvectorswitheachother,wehavethefollowing
resultswhichcanalsobeverifiedbyadirectcomputation.
i i j j k k 0
and
i j k j k i k i j j i k k j i i k j
.

The results for the cross products of any two of the three
standardbasisvectorscanberememberedbyusingtheadjoining
diagram. The product of any two successive vectors in the
diagram, when moving clockwise, is the third vector in the
diagram. The product of any two successive vectors in the
diagram,whenmovingcounterclockwise,isthenegativeofthe
thirdvectorinthediagram.
1.8Problems
1. Writeeachofthefollowingvectorsasacombinationofthethreestandardbasis
vectorsi,j,andk.
a.u=(4,3,7) b.v=(3,1,2) c.w=(2,5,6) d.r=(1,0,2)
2.Verifythefollowingresultsforthestandardbasisvectors
i=(1,0,0),j=(0,1,0),andk=(0,0,1).
a. 1 i i b.
1 j j
c.
0 i j
d.
0 j k
e. i i 0 f.
i j k
g.
i k j
h.
j k i
3.Computethefollowingdotproducts.
a.(2i+3j+k)

(3i2j+5k) b.(3i+j+4k)

(2i5j+6k)
c.(2i5j+3k)

(4i+2j3k) d.(i3j+2k)

(6i+j3k)
4. Computethefollowingcrossproducts.
a.(2i+3j+k)

(3i2j+5k) b.(3i+j+4k)

(2i5j+6k)
c.(2i5j+3k)

(4i+2j3k) d.(i3j+2k)

(6i+j3k)
5. Findaifthefollowingpairsofvectorsareorthogonal.
26
i
j
i
k
a.
2 , 3 5 a a + + u i j k v i j k
b.
3 2 3 , 2 6 a a + + u i j k v i j k
1.9VECTORSINR
m

Wehavealreadyseenthatthesetofallrealnumbers R canbeidentifiedwithaone
dimensionalnumberline;thesetofallorderedpairsofrealnumbers
2
R canbeidentified
withatwodimensionalplaneandthatthesetofallorderedtriplesofrealnumbers
3
R
canbeidentifiedwiththreedimensionalspace.Continuinginthismannerwouldsuggest
thatthesetofallorderedfourtuplescouldbeidentifiedwithafourdimensionalspace
andmoregenerallythesetofallorderedmtuplescouldbeidentifiedwithan
mdimensionalspace.
WeusethesymbolR
m
todenotethesetofallorderedmtuplesu=
) , , , , (
3 2 1 m
u u u u
.
WewillrefertothemtuplesasvectorsinthespaceR
m
andtheentriesu
1
,u
2,
etc.asthe
componentsofthevectoru.
TwovectorsfromR
m
aresaidtobeequaliftheircorrespondingcomponentsareequalto
eachother.Thatisu=vifandonlyifu
1
=v
1
,u
2
=v
2,
etc.
Wedefinethesumofuandvbyu+v=
) (
2 2 1 1 m m
v u , , v u , v u + + +
.
Wedefinemultiplicationofavectorvbyascalarcascu=
) , , (
2 1 m
cu cu cu
.
Thelengthofthevectoruisdenoted
u
andisdefinedby
2 2
2
2
1 m
u u u + + + u .
Thedotproductisdefinedtobe
m m
v u v u v u + + +
2 2 1 1
v u
.
If 0 u v wesaythatthevectorsuandvareorthogonaltoeachother.
NotethatthereisnocrossproductdefinedforR
m
when 3. m
Example
27
Letu=(1,3,2,4)andv=(2,1,4,3)betwovectorsinR
4
.Then
u+v=(1,3,2,4)+(2,1,4,3)=(1+2,31,2+4,4+3)=(3,2,6,7)
uv=(1,3,2,4)(2,1,4,3)=(12,3+1,24,43)=(1,4,2,1)
(1, 3, 2, 4) (2, 1, 4, 3) (1)(2) (3)( 1) (2)(4) (4)(3) 2 3 8 12 19 + + + + + u v
3u=3(1,3,2,4)=
) 4 3 , 2 3 , 3 3 , 1 3 (
=(3,9,6,12)
30 16 4 9 1 4 2 3 1
2 2 2 2
+ + + + + + u
1.9Problems
Forquestions1to6,letu=(1,3,2,4),v=(5,3,0,1),andw=(3,2,1,4).
1. Find a.u+v b.2u3v c.u+vw
2. Find a.
v u
b.
w v
c.
w) (v u +
3. Find a.
u
b.
w v +
c.
u v
4. Findaunitvectorinthedirectionofa.ub.v c.w
5. Showthatthefollowingpairsofvectorsareorthogonalbyshowingthattheirdot
productis0.
a.(1,2,3,1)(3,1,1,8) b. (2,0,3,1)(5,6,2,4)
c.(1,2,3,4,5)(4,4,3,2,1) d. (1,3,5,2,4)(3,4,1,3,2)
6. Showthatthefollowingsetsofvectorsaremutuallyorthogonalbyshowingthateach
vectorinthesetisorthogonaltoalltheothervectorsintheset.
a. (1,1,0,0)(1,1,2,3)(2,2,1,2)
b. (2,1,11,4)(3,2,0,2)(2,1,1,2)
c. (1,1,1,1)(2,2,3,3)(3,3,2,2)
d. (1,0,2,1)(2,3,1,0)(6,5,3,0)
7. Considerthefourunitvectors
1 2 3 4
(1, 0, 0, 0), (0,1, 0, 0), (0, 0,1, 0) and (0, 0, 0,1) e e e e
in
4
R .Writeeach
ofthefollowingvectorsfrom
4
R asacombinationofthevectors
1 2 3 4
, , and e e e e
.
a.(2,3,5,4) b.(3,1,0,2) c.(5,7,2,3)
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8. Provethefollowingresultsfor
1 2 3 4
, , and e e e e
.
a.
1
1 e
b.
1 2
0 e e
c.
( ) ( )
1 2 1 2
0 + e e e e
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