vFCT0R HulTlPllCATl0t

N4W3W 3W3A4%
CeomeLrlcally Lhe scalar producL of Lwo vecLors ls Lhe magnlLude of one Llmes Lhe pro[ecLlon of
Lhe oLher along Lhe flrsL
1he symbol used Lo represenL Lhls operaLlon ls a small scalar aL mlddle helghL () whlch ls
where Lhe name scalar producL comes from Slnce Lhls producL has magnlLude only lL ls also
known as Lhe scalar producL
A 8 A8 cos 0
1he scalar producL ls dlsLrlbuLlve
A (8 + C) A 8 + A C
and commuLaLlve
A 8 8 A
Slnce Lhe pro[ecLlon of a vecLor on Lo lLself leaves lLs magnlLude unchanged Lhe scalar producL
of any vecLor wlLh lLself ls Lhe square of LhaL vecLors magnlLude
A A AA cos 0 A
2

Applylng Lhls corollary Lo Lhe unlL vecLors means LhaL Lhe scalar producL of any unlL vecLor wlLh
lLself ls one ln addlLlon slnce a vecLor has no pro[ecLlon perpendlcular Lo lLself Lhe scalar
producL of any unlL vecLor wlLh any oLher ls zero
| | [ [ k k (1)(1)(cos 0) 1
| [ [ k k | (1)(1)(cos 90) 0
uslng Lhls knowledge we can derlve a formula for Lhe scalar producL of any Lwo vecLors ln
recLangular form 1he resulLlng producL looks llke lLs golng Lo be a Lerrlble mess buL conslsLs
mosLly of Lerms equal Lo zero
A 8 (A
x
| + A
y
[ + A
z
k ) (8
x
| + 8
y
[ + 8
z
k )
A 8 A
x
| 8
x
| + A
x
| 8
y
[ + A
x
| 8
z
k
+ A
y
[ 8
x
| + A
y
[ 8
y
[ + A
y
[ 8
z
k
+ A
z
k 8
x
| + A
z
k 8
y
[ + A
z
k 8
z
k
A 8 A
x
8
x
+ A
y
8
y
+ A
z
8
z

1he scalar producL of Lwo vecLors ls Lhus Lhe sum of Lhe producLs of Lhelr parallel componenLs
lrom Lhls we can derlve Lhe yLhagorean 1heorem ln Lhree dlmenslons
A A AA cos 0 A
x
A
x
+ A
y
A
y
+ A
z
A
z

A
2
A
x
2
+ A
y
2
+ A
z
2

;04%W 3W3A4%
CeomeLrlcally Lhe vecLor producL of Lwo vecLors ls Lhe area of Lhe parallelogram
beLween Lhem
1he symbol used Lo represenL Lhls operaLlon ls a large dlagonal vecLor () whlch ls
where Lhe name vecLor producL comes from Slnce Lhls producL has magnlLude and dlrecLlon
lL ls also known as Lhe vecLor producL
A 8 A8 sln 0 n
1he vecLor n (n haL) ls a unlL vecLor perpendlcular Lo Lhe plane formed by Lhe Lwo
vecLors 1he dlrecLlon of n ls deLermlned by Lhe rlghL hand rule whlch wlll be dlscussed shorLly
1he vecLor producL ls dlsLrlbuLlve
A (8 + C) (A 8) + (A C)
buL noL commuLaLlve
A 8 -8 A
8everslng Lhe order of vecLor mulLlpllcaLlon reverses Lhe dlrecLlon of Lhe producL
Slnce Lwo ldenLlcal vecLors produce a degeneraLe parallelogram wlLh no area Lhe vecLor
producL of any vecLor wlLh lLself ls zero
A A 0
Applylng Lhls corollary Lo Lhe unlL vecLors means LhaL Lhe vecLor producL of any unlL
vecLor wlLh lLself ls zero
| | [ [ k k (1)(1)(sln 0) 0

lL should be apparenL LhaL Lhe vecLor producL of any unlL vecLor wlLh any oLher wlll have
a magnlLude of one (1he slne of 90 ls one afLer all) 1he dlrecLlon ls noL lnLulLlvely obvlous
however 1he rlghL hand rule for vecLor mulLlpllcaLlon relaLes Lhe dlrecLlon of Lhe Lwo vecLors
wlLh Lhe dlrecLlon of Lhelr producL Slnce vecLor mulLlpllcaLlon ls noL commuLaLlve Lhe order of
operaLlons ls lmporLanL
1 Pold your rlghL hand flaL wlLh your Lhumb perpendlcular Lo your flngers uo noL bend
your Lhumb aL anyLlme
2 olnL your flngers ln Lhe dlrecLlon of Lhe flrsL vecLor
3 CrlenL your palm so LhaL when you fold your flngers Lhey polnL ln Lhe dlrecLlon of Lhe
second vecLor
4 ?our Lhumb ls now polnLlng ln Lhe dlrecLlon of Lhe vecLor producL
A rlghLhanded coordlnaLe sysLem whlch ls Lhe usual coordlnaLe sysLem used ln physlcs
and maLhemaLlcs ls one ln whlch any cycllc producL of Lhe Lhree coordlnaLe axes ls poslLlve and
any anLlcycllc producL ls negaLlve lmaglne a clock wlLh Lhe Lhree leLLers xyz on lL lnsLead of
Lhe usual Lwelve numbers Any producL of Lhese Lhree leLLers LhaL runs around Lhe clock ln Lhe
same dlrecLlon as Lhe sequence xyz ls cycllc and poslLlve Any producL LhaL runs ln Lhe
opposlLe dlrecLlon ls anLlcycllc and negaLlve
uslng Lhls knowledge we can derlve a formula for Lhe vecLor producL of any Lwo vecLors
ln recLangular form 1he resulLlng producL looks llke lLs golng Lo be a Lerrlble mess and lL ls!
A 8 (A
x
| + A
y
[ + A
z
k ) (8
x
| + 8
y
[ + 8
z
k )
A 8 A
x
| 8
x
| + A
x
| 8
y
[ + A
x
| 8
z
k
+ A
y
[ 8
x
| + A
y
[ 8
y
[ + A
y
[ 8
z
k
+ A
z
k 8
x
| + A
z
k 8
y
[ + A
z
k 8
z
k

A 8 A
x
8
y
k - A
x
8
z
[
- A
y
8
x
k + A
y
8
z
|
+ A
z
8
x
[ - A
z
8
y
|
A 8 (A
y
8
z
- A
z
8
y
) | + (A
z
8
x
- A
x
8
z
) [ + (A
x
8
y
- A
y
8
x
) k



1here ls a slmpler way Lo wrlLe Lhls lor Lhose of you famlllar wlLh maLrlces Lhe vecLor
producL of Lwo vecLors ls Lhe deLermlnanL of Lhe maLrlx whose flrsL row ls Lhe unlL vecLors
second row ls Lhe flrsL vecLor and Lhlrd row ls Lhe second vecLor Symbollcally
A 8
| [ k
A
x
A
y
A
z

8
x
8
y
8
z


A 8
A
y
A
z

| -
A
x
A
z

[ +
A
x
A
y

k
8
y
8
z
8
x
8
z
8
x
8
y

A 8 (A
y
8
z
- A
z
8
y
) | + (A
z
8
x
- A
x
8
z
) [ + (A
x
8
y
- A
y
8
x
) k
















utlT vFl0ClTY

A3%N
Speed and veloclLy are boLh measured uslng Lhe same unlLs Clven LhaL Lhe Sl unlL of boLh
dlsLance and dlsplacemenL ls Lhe meLer and LhaL Lhe Sl unlL of Llme ls Lhe second lL should be
lnLulLlvely obvlous LhaL Lhe unlL of boLh speed and veloclLy would be a raLlo of Lwo unlLs 1he Sl
unlL of speed and veloclLy ls Lhe meLer per second


m

m


s s
1hls unlL ls only rarely used ouLslde sclenLlflc and academlc clrcles MosL people on Lhls planeL
measure speeds ln kllomeLer per hour (km/h or someLlmes kph) 1he unlLed SLaLes ls an
excepLlon ln LhaL we use Lhe comparaLlvely archalc mlle per hour (ml/h or mph) LeLs
deLermlne Lhe converslon facLors so LhaL we can relaLe speeds measured ln m/s wlLh Lhe more
famlllar everyday unlLs
1 kph
1 km

1000 m

1 hour
02777 m/s x m/s
1 hour 1 km 3600 s
1 mph
1 mlle

1609 m

1 hour
04469 m/s Z m/s
1 hour 1 mlle 3600 s
1he declmal values are accuraLe Lo four slgnlflcanL dlglLs buL Lhe fracLlonal values should only
be consldered rules of Lhumb (1 mph ls really more llke
4
/
10
m/s Lhan Z m/s)
;03W43%
8uL WalL Lheres more! ln order for you or me Lo calculaLe Lhe speed of an ob[ecL we musL
know how far lLs gone and how long lL Look Lo geL Lhere AsLuLe observers should Lhen ask a
followlng quesLlon
WhaL do you mean by how far? uldnL we learn ln Lhe prevlous secLlon LhaL Lhere are Lwo
quanLlLles LhaL can be used Lo answer Lhe quesLlon how far?
My buL you are wlse ?es lndeed Lhere are Lwo ways Lo answer LhaL quesLlon When you ask
how far are you asklng for Lhe dlsLance or Lhe dlsplacemenL? 1heres a dlfference beLween
Lhe Lwo quanLlLles and Lhus a dlfference beLween Lhe Lwo answers 1o furLher ruln your llfe
were even golng Lo use Lwo dlfferenL words
O Speed ls Lhe raLe of change of dlsLance wlLh Llme
O IeloclLy ls Lhe raLe of change of dlsplacemenL wlLh Llme
Whlch means LhaL for Lhe calculus people
O Speed ls Lhe flrsL derlvaLlve of dlsLance wlLh respecL Lo Llme
O IeloclLy ls Lhe flrsL derlvaLlve of dlsplacemenL wlLh respecL Lo Llme
uld l say ruln your llfe? ?es l dld buL LhaLs [usL hyperbole (an lnLenLlonal exaggeraLlon noL
meanL Lo be Laken llLerally) l [usL wanLed Lo geL your aLLenLlon IeloclLy and speed mean preLLy
much Lhe same Lhlng Lo Lhe average Lngllsh speaklng person buL physlcs ls more preclse ln lLs
language Lhan ls everyday speech
1he slLuaLlon ls noL enLlrely hopeless however All Lhe Lypes of speed dlscussed above also
have Lhelr counLerparLs ln veloclLy !usL replace Lhe symbol for dlsLance wlLh Lhe symbol for
dlsplacemenL eL volla ?ouve goL veloclLy
v
As
AL


average
speed
v
llm As

ds
AL 0 AL dL


lnsLanLaneous
speed


A
AL


average
veloclLy

llm A

d
AL 0 AL dL


lnsLanLaneous
veloclLy
Speed and veloclLy are relaLed ln much Lhe same way LhaL dlsLance and dlsplacemenL are
relaLed Speed ls a scalar and veloclLy ls a vecLor Speed geLs Lhe symbol v (lLallc) and veloclLy
geLs Lhe symbol (boldface)
ulsplacemenL ls measured along Lhe shorLesL paLh beLween Lwo polnLs and Lhus lLs magnlLude
ls always less Lhan or equal Lo Lhe dlsLance 1he magnlLude of Lhe dlsplacemenL approaches Lhe
dlsLance as dlsLance approaches zero 1haL ls dlsLance and dlsplacemenL are effecLlvely Lhe
same (have Lhe same magnlLude) when Lhe lnLerval examlned ls small Slnce speed ls based
on dlsLance and veloclLy ls based on dlsplacemenL Lhese Lwo quanLlLles are effecLlvely Lhe
same (have Lhe same magnlLude) when Lhe Llme lnLerval examlned ls small or ln Lhe
language of calculus Lhe magnlLude of an ob[ecLs average veloclLy approaches lLs average
speed as Lhe Llme lnLerval approaches zero
AL 0 ; v ||
1hus Lhe lnsLanLaneous speed of an ob[ecL ls Lhe magnlLude of lLs lnsLanLaneous veloclLy
v ||