VECTORS

Vector Notation
Vector AB is a line joining A to B.
It has its direction and magnitude

A (2,1) B (5,7)
3
AB
6
3
BA
6
magnitude of AB 9 36
3 5

Position vector
If A is(1,2,3) then
1

OA 2 i 2 j 3k
3

Scalar multiplication

-a

2a

Magnitude of a vector
p ai bj ck
p a b c
2

Unit vector
vector with magnitude 1
u
u
u

Vector Operations
Vector Addition ( a + b )

Addition and subtraction of vectors

-b

a-b

a+b

Vector addition is commutative,

a+b=b+a

Vector addition is associative,

a + b + c = (a + b) + c = a + (b + c)

 Find the magnitude of 2i-3j+k

Hence find a unit vector parallel to 2i-3j+k

i,j,k component and column vector

If a 3i 5 j 5k
3

then a 5
5

 Points A , B has position vectors a and b

respectively. Find the position vector of M
if
a. M is the mid point of AB
b. AM : AB = 2/5

Dot (scalar) product of vectors

p q p q cos where is the angle between p and q
p p p

since cos 0 0 1

If p q, p q 0 since cos 900 0

pq q p
( p q) r p r q r
p q p q
i i j j k k 1
i j ik jk 0
If p ai bj ck , q i j k
then p.q a b c

 Find the angle between p=i+3j-k

and q=-3i+4j+k
Show that p=2i-j+k and q=-i-j+k are
perpendicular