same direction. ‘The vector products of the various possible pairs of unit vectors are kx xj kxk=0 ixi ixjak ixi ixk=-j jxk By arranging in a circle and in counterclockwise order the three letters representing the unit vectors (Fig. 3.11), we may simplify the determina- tion of the siga of the vector product of two unit vectors: The product of ‘ovo unit vectors will be positive if they follow each other in counterclock- wise order, and negative otherwise. ‘We may now easily express'the vector product V of two given vectors P and Q in terms of the rectangular components of these vectors. Resolv- ing P and Q into components, we first write V=PXQ=(Bi+ Ri + BK) Xx ( + Q,j +4) Making use of the distributive property, we express V as the products such as P.i X Q,j- Observing that each of the expressions ob- tained is equal to the vector product of two unit vectors, such as i x j, multiplied by the product of two scalars, such as P,Q,, and recalling the identities (3.7), we obtain, after factoring i, j, and k, V = (FQ. — P.O, ji + (PQ. — PQ.) + PQ, - 2Q.)k 88) ‘The rectangular components of the vector product V are thus found to be V, = F,Q, ~ £.Qy Vy = FQ; ~ FQ, 9) FQy — Fs Returning to Eq. (28), we observe that its right-hand member represents the expansion of a determinant. The vector product V may thus be ex pressed in the following form, more easily memorized:} ij ok =|2 2 2 (2.10) 1Q@ Qy | Any determinant consisting of thre sows and thre colums maybe erated by repent fg the fist and second columas and forming products along each diagonal line. The sum of the products obtained slong the colored line i then subtracted from the sum ofthe products obtained slong the black lines 64 8, Veclr Products Gxxessed in Terms of Rectangular Components Fig. 8.11iigid Bacien Equiveiond Sysiers of Forces Fig. 3.14 en We | a nen Fig. 3:15 3.7, Varignon’s Theorem. The distributive property of vector products may be used to determine the moment of the resultant of several concurrent forces. If several forces Fy, F,, .. . are applied at the same point A (Fig, 3.14), and if we denote by r the position vector of A, it follows immediately from formula (3.5) of Sec. 3.4 that rxX@ +h + J arx tex k, @.d) In words, the moment about a given point O of the resultant of several concurrent forces is equal to the sum of the moments of the various forces about the same point O. This property was originally established by the French mathematician Varignon (1654-1729), long before the introduction of vector algebra, and is known as Varignon's theorem. “The relation (3.14) makes it possible to replace the direct determina- tion of the moment of a force F by the determination of the moments of two or more component forces. AS we shall see in the next section, F will lly be resolved into components parallel to the coordinate axes to resolve F However, it may be found more expeditious in some instan into components which are not parallel to the coordinate axes (see Sample Prob. 33), 3.8, Rectangular Componenis of the Moment of @ Force. In general, the determination of the moment of a force in space will be considerably simplifed if the force and the position vector of its point of application are resolved into rectangular x, y, and = components. Consider, for example, the moment M, about O of a force F of components F,, F,, and E,, applied at point A of coordinates x, y, and = (Fig. 3.15) Observing that the components of the position vector r are respectively equal to the coordinates x, y, and of the point A, we write asi + yj tek (5) F=Ri+Rj+Rk (16) Substituting for r and F from (3.15) and (3.16) into My =1xF a ‘and recalling the results obtained in Sec. 3.5, we write the moment Mg of F about O in the form M, =M, (17) where the components M,, M,, and M, are