1

CHAPTERONE

VECTORGEOMETRY

1.1INTRODUCTION

Inthischaptervectorsarefirstintroducedasgeometricobjects,namelyasdirectedline
segments,orarrows. Theoperationsofaddition,subtraction,andmultiplicationbya
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
onlyamagnitude,theyarecalled scalars. [Thewordscalarmeansrepresentableby
positiononaline;havingonlymagnitude.]Ontheotherhandphysicalquantitiessuchas
displacement,velocity,forceandaccelerationrequirebothamagnitudeandadirectionto
completelydescribethem.Suchquantitiesarecalledvectors.

Ifyousaythatacaristravelingat90km/hr,youareusingascalarquantity,namelythe
number90withnodirectionattached,todescribethespeedofthecar. Ontheother
hand,ifyousaythatthecaristravelingduenorthat90km/hr,yourdescriptionofthe
car'svelocityisavectorquantitysinceitincludesbothmagnitudeanddirection.

Todistinguishbetweenscalarsandvectorswewilldenotescalarsbylowercaseitalic
typesuchasa,b,cetc.anddenotevectorsbylowercaseboldfacetypesuchasu,v,w
etc.Inhandwrittenscript,thiswayofdistinguishingbetweenvectorsandscalarsmustbe
modified.Itiscustomarytoleavescalarsasregularhandwrittenscriptandmodifythe
symbolsusedtorepresentvectorsbyeitherunderlining,suchasuorv,orbyplacingan
r r
arrowabovethesymbol,suchas u or v .
 2

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.25m3.

h.Acarisspeedingeastward.

i.Therockhasadensityof5gm/cm3.

j.Abulldozermovestherockeastward15m.

k.Thewindisblowingat20km/hrfromthesouth.

l.Astonedroppedintoapondissinkingattherateof30cm/sec.

1.3GEOMETRICALREPRESENTATIONOFVECTORS

Becausevectorsaredeterminedbybothamagnitudeandadirection,theyarerepresented
geometrically in 2 or 3 dimensional space as directed
Q line segments or arrows. The length of the arrow
corresponds to the magnitude of the vector while the
v directionofthearrowcorrespondstothedirectionofthe

P
 3

vector.Thetailofthearrowiscalledtheinitialpointofthevectorwhilethetipofthe
arrowiscalledthe terminalpoint ofthevector. Ifthevector v hasthepointPasits
initialpointandthepointQasitsterminalpointwewillwrite v = PQ .

Equalvectors u
Twovectorsuandv,whichhavethesamelengthandsame v
direction,aresaidtobeequalvectorseventhoughtheyhave
differentinitialpointsanddifferentterminalpoints.Ifuand
vareequalvectorswewriteu=v.

Sumoftwovectors
Thesumoftwovectorsuandv,writtenu+visthevector u+v
determinedasfollows. Placethevector v sothatitsinitial v
pointcoincideswiththeterminalpointofthevector u. The
u
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.

u u
uuur
If AB isusedtodenotethevectorfrompointAtopointB,thenthevectorfrompointB
uuur uuur uuur
topointAisdenotedby BA ,and BA = AB .

Differenceoftwovectors
 4

Ifuandvareanytwovectors,wedefinethedifferenceofuandv,denoteduv,tobe
thevectoru+(v).Toconstructthevectoruvwecaneither
(i)constructthesumofthevectoruandthevectorv;or
(ii)positionuandvsothattheirinitialpointscoincide;thenthevectorfromtheterminal
pointofvtotheterminalpointofuisthevectoruv.

(i) (ii)

v v uv

u
v
uv

Multiplyingavectorbyascalar
If v isanonzerovectorand c isanonzeroscalar,wedefinethe productof c and v,
denoted cv, to be the vector whose length is c times the length of v and whose
directionisthesameasthatofvifc>0andoppositetothatofvofc<0.Wedefine
cv=0ifc=0orifv=0.

Parallel vectors
v 2v
The v vectors v (1)v and cv are
parallel to each other. Their directions coincide if c
>0andthedirectionsareoppositetoeachotherifc<0.Ifuandvareparallelvectors,
thenthereexistsascalarcsuchthatu=cv.Conversely,ifu=cvand c 0, thenuand
vareparallelvectors.

Example
Let O, A and B be 3 points in the plane. Let B
OA = aandletOB = b. Findanexpressionforthevector
BA intermsofthevectorsaandb.
b

O a A
 5

Solution
BA = BO + OA
= OB + OA
= OA OB
=ab.

ExampleProvethatthelinejoiningthemidpointsoftwosidesofatriangleisparallel
toandonehalfthelengthofthethirdsideofthetriangle.

Solution C
Let ABCbegiven.LetMbethemidpointofsideACand
letNbethemidpointofsideBC.Then
MN = MC + CN = 12 AC + 12 CB = 12 (AC + CB) = 12 AB .
M N
ThisshowsthatMNisonehalfthelengthofABandalso
uuuu
r
thatMNisparalleltoAB[sincethetwovectors MN and
uuur
A B
2 AB areequal,theyhavethesamedirectionandhenceare
1
uuuu
r uuur
parallel,so MN and AB willalsobeparallel].

Example
LetMbethemidpointofthelinesegmentPQ. LetObeapointnotonthelinePQ.
Provethat OM = 12 OP + 12 OQ .

Solution
P M Q
OM = OP + PM = OP + 12 PQ
= OP + 12 (PO + OQ)
= OP + 12 PO + 12 OQ
= OP 12 OP + 12 OQ
= 12 OP + 12 OQ
O

1.3Problems

1. Foreachofthefollowingdiagrams,findanexpressionforthevectorcintermsofthe
vectorsaandb.
 6

a.
c
b. b c
c b b
c.
a
a a

B C
2. LetOACBbetheparallelogramshown. Let
b
a = OAandletb = OB. Findexpressionsfor
the diagonals OCandAB in terms of the
vectorsaandb.
O a A

3. LetABCbeatriangle. LetMbeapointonACsuchthatthelengthofAM=
lengthofMC.LetNbeapointonBCsuchthatthelengthofBN=lengthofNC.
ShowthatMNisparalleltoABandthatthelengthofMNis 2 3 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
systemisaframeofreferencethatisusedasastandardformeasuringdistanceand
direction.Ifweareworkingwithvectorsintwodimensionalspacewewilluseatwo
 7

dimensionalrectangularCartesiancoordinatesystem.Ifweareworkingwithvectorsin
threedimensional space, the coordinate system that we use is a threedimensional
rectangularCartesiancoordinatesystem.Tounderstandthesetwoandthreedimensional
rectangularcoordinatesystemswefirstintroduceaonedimensionalcoordinatesystem
alsoknownasarealnumberline.
LetRdenotethesetofallrealnumbers.Letlbeagivenline.Wecansetupaoneto
onerelationshipbetweentherealnumbers R andthepointson l asfollows. Selecta
pointO,whichwillbecalledthe origin,ontheline l.Tothispointweassociatethe
number0.Selectaunitoflengthanduseittomarkoffequidistantlyplacedpointson
eithersideofO.ThepointsononesideofO,calledthepositiveside,areassignedthe
numbers1,2,3etc.whilethepointsontheothersideofO,calledthenegativesideare
assignedthenumbers1,2,3etc.Aonetoonecorrespondencenowexistsbetween
alltherealnumbersRandthepointsonl.Theresultinglineiscalledarealnumberline
ormoresimplya numberline andthenumberassociatedwithanygivenpointonthe
lineiscalledits coordinate. Wehavejustconstructedaonedimensionalcoordinate
system.

3 2 1 0 1 2 3
l
O

TwodimensionalrectangularCartesiancoordinatesystem
The twodimensional Cartesian coordinate system has as its frame of reference two
number lines that intersect at right angles. The
y
horizontalnumberlineiscalledthe xaxis andthe yaxis
vertical number line is the yaxis. The point of
intersectionofthetwoaxesiscalledtheoriginand x P ( x, y )
is denoted by O. To each point P in two
dimensionalspaceweassociatean orderedpair of y
real numbers (x, y) called the coordinates of the
point. Thenumber x iscalledthe xcoordinate of x
O
thepointandthenumberyistheycoordinateofthe origin xaxis
point. Thexcoordinatexisthehorizontaldistance
ofthepointPfromtheyaxiswhiletheycoordinateyistheverticaldistanceofthepoint
Pfromthexaxis.ThesetofallorderedpairsofrealnumbersisdenotedR2.
 8

ThreedimensionalrectangularCartesiancoordinatesystem
ThethreedimensionalCartesiancoordinatesystemhasasitsframeofreferencethree
numberlinesthatintersectatrightanglesatapointOcalledtheorigin.Thenumberlines
arecalledthe xaxis,the yaxis andthe zaxis. ToeachpointPinthreedimensional
spaceweassociateanorderedtripleofrealnumbers(x,y,z)calledthecoordinatesof
thepoint. Thenumber x isthedistanceofthepointPfromthe yzcoordinateplane.
ThenumberyisthedistanceofthepointPfromthexzcoordinateplane.Thenumberz
isthedistanceofthepointPfromthexycoordinateplane.Thesetofallorderedtriples
ofrealnumbersisdenotedbyR3.Whenthecoordinateaxesarelabeledasshowninthe

z z x
yzcoord y
xzcoord plane
P
plane
y y
O O

z
xycoord x pointP(x,y,z)
x plane
following diagrams, the coordinate system is said to be a righthanded Cartesian
coordinatesystem.

RighthandedCartesiancoordinatesystem
ArighthandedCartesiancoordinatesystemisoneinwhich
thecoordinateaxesaresolabeledthatifwecurlthefingerson
ourrighthandsoastopointfromthepositivexaxistowards y
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)
 9

2. Acubehasonevertexattheorigin,andthediagonallyoppositevertexisthepoint
withcoordinates(1,1,1).Findthecoordinatesoftheotherverticesofthecube.

3. Arectangularparallelepiped(box)hasonevertexattheoriginandthediagonally
oppositevertexatthepoint(2,3,1).Findthecoordinatesoftheothervertices.

4. Apyramidhasasquarebaselocatedonthexycoordinateplane.Diagonallyopposite
verticesofthesquarebasearelocatedatthepointswithcoordinates(0,0,0)and
(2,2,0).Theheightofthepyramidis2units.Findthecoordinatesoftheother
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
tetetrahedron
nonnegative

1.5DEFININGVECTORSALGEBRAICALLY

Sinceavectorisdeterminedsolelybyitsmagnitudeand
y
direction,anygivenvectormayberelocatedwithrespect
toagivencoordinatesystemsothatitsinitialpointisat
v
the origin O. Such a vectoris said tobe in standard P(a,b)
position.Whenagivenvector v isinstandardposition v
thereexistsauniqueterminalpointPsuchthat v = OP . x
O
Thisonetoonerelationshipbetweenthevectorvandthe
terminalpointPenablesustogiveanalgebraicdefinitionforthevector v. If v isa
vectorintwodimensionalspaceandP(a,b)istheuniquepointPsuchthat v = OP ,then
wewillidentifythevectorvwiththeorderedpairofrealnumbers (a, b) andwrite v = (a,
b).SimilarlyifvisavectorinthreedimensionalspaceandP(a,b,c)istheuniquepoint
Psuchthat v = OP , thenwewillidentify v withtheorderedtripleofrealnumbers
(a, b, c) andwrite v= (a,b,c). Thetwodimensionalvector v =(a,b)issaidtohave
components a and b and the threedimensional vector v = (a, b, c) is said to have
componentsa,bandc.
 10

Toavoidconfusion,whendealingwiththecomponentsofseveralvectorsatthesame
timeitiscustomarytodenotethecomponentsofagivenvectorbysubscriptedlettersthat
agreewiththeletterusedtodesignatethevector.Thuswewillwritev=(v1,v2)ifvisa
vectorinR2andv=(v1,v2,v3)ifvisavectorinR3.

Equalvectors
Ifequalvectorsuandvarelocatedsothattheirinitialpointsareattheorigin,thentheir
terminalpointswillcoincide,andhencethecorrespondingcomponentsofuandvmust
beequaltoeachother. Thus u = v in R2 ifandonlyif u1 = v1 and u2 = v2 whilefor
vectorsinR3,u=vifandonlyifu1=v1,u2=v2andu3=v3.
Sumoftwovectors y
2
Letu=(u1,u2)andv=(v1,v2)betwovectorsinR .If
thevectorsarelocatedsothattheirinitialpointsareat
u+v
the origin, then their terminal points are the points v2
with coordinates (u1, u2) and (v1, v2). If v is now v
placedsothatitsinitialpointisat(u1,u2),whichisthe
terminalpointofu,thentheterminalpointofvisthe u2 u
pointwithcoordinates(u1+v1,u2+v2). x
Henceu+v=(u1+v1,u2+v2). u1 v1
Asimilarargumentforthevectorsu=(u1,u2,u3)andv=(v1,v2,v3)inR3gives
u+v=(u1+v1,u2+v2,u3+v3).

Example
Letu=(1,2,3)andv=(4,1,5).Thenu+v=(1+4,2+1,3+5)=(5,3,8).
Multiplyingavectorbyascalar
cu2
If u =(u1, u2)isavectorin R2 thathasitsinitial
pointattheorigin,thentheterminalpointof u is cu
thepointwithcoordinates(u1,u2).Ifc>0,thenthe u2
vectorcuhasthesamedirectionasuandisctimes u
aslongas u soitsterminalpointisthepointwith
coordinates(cu1, cu2). Asimilarargumentapplies
u1 cu1
ifc<0,exceptinthiscasethedirectionisreversed.
Ineithercasewehavecu=(cu1,cu2).

IfinsteaduisavectorinR3,thenasimilarargumentwillshowthatcu=(cu1,cu2,cu3).
 11

Example
Ifu=(3,1,2),then5u= (5 3, 5 1, 5 2) = (15, 5, 10) .

Differenceoftwovectors
Thevectoruvisdefinedtobeequaltothevectorsumu+(1)v.
Ifu=(u1,u2)andv=(v1,v2)aretwovectorsinR2,then
uv=(u1,u2)+(1)(v1,v2)=(u1,u2)+(v1,v2)=(u1v1,u2v2).

Similarly,inR3wehaveuv=(u1v1,u2v2,u3v3).

Example
Ifu = (4,5, 2)andv = (2, 1,3) then u v = ( 4 2, 5 (1), 2 3) = (2, 6, 1).

Vectorrepresentationofadirectedlinesegment
Let v = AB whereAisthepointwithcoordinates A
(a1, a2)andBisthepointwithcoordinates(b1, b2).
Then v
v= AB =AO + OB
uuur uuur uuur uuur
= OA + OB = OB OA B
=(b1,b2)(a1,a2)=(b1a1,b2a2).

InR3,ifA=(a1,a2,a3)andB=(b1,b2,b3)then
O
AB =(b1a1,b2a2,b3a3).

Example
IfA=(1,2,3)andB=(4,6,9),then AB = (4 1, 6 2, 9 3) = (3, 4, 6)

Lengthofavector
If v =(v1, v2)thenthelengthof v isequaltothe (v1,v2)
lengthofthedirectedlinesegmentfromtheorigin
v
(0,0)tothepoint(v1, v2). Wewillusethesymbol v2

v1
 12

v torepresentthelengthofthevectorv.UsingPythagorastheoremforrighttriangles
wecancalculatethatlengthtobe v1 2 + v 2 2 andsowehavetheformula v = v1 2 + v 2 2 .
Asimilarargumentforavectorv=(v1,v2,v3)inR3,usingPythagorastheoremtwice,
gives v = v1 + v2 + v3 .
2 2 2

TheoremIfcisascalarandvisavectorinR2orR3,then c v = c v .

ProofThefollowingproofisforvinR2.TheproofforvinR3issimilar.
c v = (cv1 , cv2 ) = (cv1 ) 2 + (cv2 ) 2 = c 2 (v1 + v2 2 ) = c 2 v12 + v2 2 = c v.

Unitvector
If v = 1 wesayvisaunitvector.Becausethelengthofavectorisapositivequantity,
thelengthofthevectorcvis c v .Tofindaunitvectorinthedirectionofagiven
1 1
vector v, multiplythevector v bythescalar . Theresultingvector v v isaunit
v
1
vectorinthedirectionofv.Aunitvectorinthedirectionoppositetovis v v .

Example
Ifv =(2,2,1),thenthelengthof vis v = 2 2 + 2 2 + 12 = 4 + 4 + 1 = 9 = 3 anda
1 1 2 2 1
unitvectorinthedirectionof v is v = (2, 2,1) = , , . Aunitvectorinthe
v 3 3 3 3
2 2 1
directionoppositetothatofvis , , .
3 3 3

1.5Problems
 13

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. 2w d. u + v e. u v 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=(u1,u2)andv=(v1,v2)aretwovectorsinR2,wedefinetheirdotproduct,denoted
u v ,asfollows: u v =u1v1+u2v2.
 14

Ifu=(u1,u2,u3)andv=(v1,v2,v3)aretwovectorsinR3,wedefinetheirdotproductto
be u v =u1v1+u2v2+u3v3.

Example
Letu=(1,2,3)andv=(4,5,6).
Then u v =(1)(4)+(2)(5)+(3)(6)=4+10+18=32.
Thefollowingtheoremrelatesthelengthofavectortothedotproductofthevectorwith
itself.

TheoremForanyvectoruinR2orinR3, u = u u .

ProofThefollowingproofisforR2.TheproofforR3issimilar.
Letu=(u1,u2).Then u u = (u1,u2) (u1,u2)=u12+u22= u .
2

Takingsquarerootsgives u = u u .

Thenexttheoremlistssomealgebraicpropertiesofthedotproduct.

TheoremLetu,vandwbevectorsinR2orR3,andletcbeascalar.Then
(a) u v = v u
(b)c (u v) = (cu) v=u (cv)
(c)u (v+w)=u v+u w
(d)u 0=0.

Proof(a)Letu=(u1,u2)andv=(v1,v2)beanytwovectorsinR2.
Then u v =u1v1+u2v2=v1u1+v2u2=v u.TheproofforR3issimilar
Theproofsforparts(b),(c)and(d)aresimilarstraightforwardcomputations.

Thefollowingtheoremshowshowthedotproductoftwovectorsuandvisrelatedtothe
anglebetweenthevectors.
 15

TheoremLetuandvbetwovectorsinR2orR3.Letbetheanglebetweenuandv.
Then u v = u v cos .

Proof Let u and v tobeapairofadjacentsidesofa

trianglewhosethirdsideisuv.Usingthecosinelawfor
trianglesweget
2 2 2
u uv
u v = u + v 2 u v cos
(u v) (u v) = u u + v v 2 u v cos
u u u v v u + v v = u u + v v 2 u v cos

2 u v = 2 u v cos v
u v = u v cos

Anglebetweentwovectors
Theprecedingtheoremprovidesamethodforfindingthecosineoftheanglebetween
two vectors and hence finding the angle between the two vectors. Solving
uv
u v = u v cos for cos givestheformula cos = .
u v

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
13
Havingfoundthecosineoftheangle ,wecanfindtheangle = cos = 47 .
1

2 7

Orthogonalvectors
Vectorsuandvaresaidtobeorthogonalorperpendiculartoeachotheriftheymeetat
rightangles.Ifuandvareorthogonal,then u v = u v cos( 2) = 0 .[Sincecos ( 2)
=0.]Conversely,ifu v=0wemusthaveeitheru=0orv=0oru v.Sincethezero
vector0canhaveanydirection,wewillagreethat0isorthogonaltoanyvector.Hence
wesaythatuandvareorthogonalifandonlyifu v=0.

Example
 16

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

Solution
u v=(1,2,2) (2,1,2)=2+24=0.Henceu v.

Normalvector
IflisalineinR2orinR3andnisavectorthatisorthogonaltothelinel,wecallna
normalvectortothelinel.

TheoremLetax+by=cbetheequationofalinelinR2.Thenthevectorn=(a,b)
isanormalvectortothelinel.

ProofFirstselecttwopointsPandQonl.SelectP=(c/a,0)and n=(a,b)
Q=(0,c/b),thenthevector PQ liesonl.
But PQ = (0,c/b)(c/a,0)=(c/a,c/b).Toshowthatn PQ we Q
takethedotproduct.
P
n PQ =(a,b) (c/a,c/b)=c+c=0.Thisprovesthatthe
l:ax+by=c
vectornisanormalvectortothelinel.
Example
Findavectorthatisnormaltotheline2x+3y=5.

Solution
Fromtheprevioustheoremthevectorn=(2,3)isnormaltothegivenline2x+3y=5
sincethecoefficientsofxandyare2and3.

Projections
Let u and v be two given vectors with v 0 . The u up
projectionof ualong v,denotedprojvu isthevector p
foundasfollows.Dropaperpendicularfromtheterminal
pointofuthatintersectsthelinethroughvatthepointP. O v
p P
Thenprojvu=p= OP .

Wefindpasfollows.Sincepliesalongv,thereisascalarksuchthatp=kv.Nowup
isorthogonaltovso(up) v=0.But
 17

uv uv
(up) v=0 u vp v=0 u vkv v=0 k= v v = 2 .
v
uv uv
Henceprojvu=p=kv= v v v = 2
v.
v

Example
Letu=(8,1,4)andletv=(1,2,2).Findprojvu.

Solution
uv (8, 1, 4) (1, 2, 2) 8+2+8
projvu= v = (1, 2, 2) = (1, 2, 2) = 2(1, 2, 2) = (2, 4, 4)
vv (1, 2, 2) (1, 2, 2) 1+ 4 + 4

DistancebetweenapointandalineinR2
TofindthedistanceDbetweenapointPandalinelinR2,weselectapointQontheline
l,thenthedistanceDisthelengthoftheprojectionof
P
QP onn,anormalvectortothelinel. n
uuu
r
uuu
r QP n
D = projn QP = n
n n
uuu
r uuur uuu
r
QP n QP n PQ n
= n = = D
n n n n
Q
uuu
r uuu
r l
Notethat QP n = PQ n andsoeitherofthelasttwo
formsforthedistanceDcanbeusedinterchangeably.
Example
FindthedistancebetweenthepointP=(9,1)andtheline3x+4y=6.

Solution
ThepointQ=(2,0)liesontheline3x+4y=6so QP = (9, 1) ( 2, 0) = (7, 1) .
QP n (7, 1) (3, 4) 21 + 4 25
Sincen=(3,4),thedistanceis D = = = = =5
n (3, 4) 9 + 16 5

1.6Problems
 18

Inproblems1to3below,letu=(1,2,1),v=(3,2,4)andw=(1,1,3).

1. Calculatethefollowingdotproducts.
a. u v b. u w c. v w d. u (v + w) e. u ( 2 v + 3w)

2. Findthelengthofeachofeachofthefollowingvectors.
a.u b.v c.w d.u+v e.2u3v

3. Findthecosineoftheanglebetweenthefollowingpairsofvectors.
a.uandv b.uandwc.vandw d.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. FindavectornwhichisnormaltothegivenlineinR2.
a.2x+3y=5 b.x2y=3 c.3x+y=4 d.x+3y=1

6. Findprojvuforeachofthefollowingpairsofvectorsuandv.
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. FindthedistancebetweenthepointPandthelinelinR2.
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 Pythagorastheorem: Thesquare onthehypotenuse of arighttriangle

equalsthesumofthesquaresontheothertwosides.

9. Provethattheangleinscribedinasemicircleisarightangle.

10. Provethatthesumofthesquaresofthediagonalsofaparallelogramequalsthesum
ofthesquaresofitssides.

11. Prove that the diagonals of a rhombus (parallelogram with equal sides) are
perpendicular.
 19

12. Provethatthemidpointofthehypotenuseofarighttriangleisequidistantfromthe
threeverticesofthetriangle

13. Provethatthealtitudesofatriangleareconcurrent.

14. Let a and b beunitvectorsinthexyplanemakingangles y

and respectivelywiththexaxis. Let i and j bethevectors a
(1,0)and(0,1)respectively.
b
a.Showthati i=1,i j=0andj j=1.
b.Showthata = cos i + sin j and b = cos i + sin j
j

x
c.Provethat cos( ) = cos cos + sin sin . i

1.7THECROSSPRODUCT(VECTORPRODUCT)

Intheprevioussectionwewereintroducedtothedotproductoftwovectors.Theresult
oftakingthedotproductoftwovectorsisascalarquantity.Wenowintroduceasecond
methodofmultiplyingtwovectorsfromR3thatresultsinavectorquantity.Thesymbol
usedtodenotethisproductisacross ,hencethename"crossproduct".Becausethe
resultisavector,theterm"vectorproduct"issometimesusedforthisproduct.

Thecrossproducthasanumberofapplications.Wewillusethecrossproducttofindthe
areasoftrianglesandparallelograms.Itwillalsobeusedtocalculatethevolumeofa
parallelepipedandlatertofindthedistancebetweenapointandalineinR3.

Crossproduct(vectorproduct)
Ifu=(u1,u2,u3)andv=(v1,v2, v3)aretwovectorsinR3,thecrossproductu visthe
vectorinR3definedasfollows.
u v=(u2v3u3v2,u3v1u1v3,u1v2u2v1).

Example
Letu=(3,1,2)andletv=(4,6.5).
Thenu v= (1 5 2 6, 2 4 3 5, 3 6 1 4) = ( 7, 7, 14) .
 20

Although the definition of the cross product as given above may be difficult to
remember,theconceptofa2 2determinantcanbeusedtosimplifytheprocess.
a b a b
Considerthe2 2arrayofnumbers . The determinant of ,written,
c d c d
a b a b
det or ,isdefinedtobethenumberadbc.Thenthecrossproductof
c d c d
u=(u1,u2,u3)andv=(v1,v2,v3),usingdeterminants,canbewrittenasthevector
u 2 u3 u u 3 u1 u 2
u v = , 1 , .

v 2 v 3 v1 v 3 v1 v 2
Werememberthecomponentsofu vasfollows.

u1 u 2 u 3
1) Formthe2 3rectangulararray wherethefirstrowconsistsofthe
v1 v 2 v 3
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
2 3 4
Constructtherectangulararray .Then
5 6 7

3 4 2 4 2 3
u v = , ,

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

Theorem u v = v u

Proofu v=(u2v3u3v2,u3v1u1v3,u1v2u2v1)
=(u3v2u2v3,u1v3u3v1,u2v1u1v2)
=(v2u3v3u2,v3u1v1u3,v1u2v2u1)
=v u

Theoremu visorthogonaltobothuandv.

ProofWeshowthatu visorthogonaltoubyshowingthatthedotproductofu vand

uisequaltozero.Theproofthatu visorthogonaltovissimilar.
(u v) u=(u2v3u3v2,u3v1u1v3,u1v2u2v1) (u1,u2,u3)
=(u2v3u3v2)u1+(u3v1u1v3)u2+(u1v2u2v1)u3
= u2v3 u1 u3v2
u1+u3v1u2u1v3 u2+u1v2u3
u2v1u3

arrowsindicate
cancelingpairs
=0
Since(u v) u=0,u vanduareorthogonal.

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

Solution
Thevectoru visorthogonaltobothuandv,sowecalculateu v.

3 2 1 2 1 3
u v = , , = (3 0, (1 8), 0 12) = (3, 7, 12)

0 1 4 1 4 0
 22

Thenexttheoremisausefulresultthatcanbeappliedtocalculatetheareaofatriangle
andtheareaofaparallelogram.Itisalsousedtocalculatethevolumeofaparallelepiped
inR3andtofindthedistancebetweenapointandalineinR3.

Theorem u v = u v sin where is the angle between u and v .

ProofTheproofconsistsof2steps.
2 2 2
(1)Wefirstshow u v = u v (u v) 2 bycomputingtheleftandrighthand
sidesseparatelyandshowingthattheyareequaltoeachother.
2
u v = (u 2 v 3 u 3 v 2 ) 2 + (u 3 v1 u1 v 3 ) 2 + (u 1 v 2 u 2 v1 ) 2 ....(i)
2 2
u v (u v) 2 = (u 1 + u 2 + u 3 )(v1 + v 2 + v 3 ) (u1 v1 + u 2 v 2 + u 3 v 3 ) 2 ...(ii)
2 2 2 2 2 2

A lengthy computation shows right hand sides of (i) and (ii) are equal and so we
2 2 2
conclude u v = u v (u v) 2 .
2 2 2
(2)Startingwith u v = u v (u v) 2 weexpandthedotproductontheright
2 2
= u v ( u v cos ) 2
2 2
= u v (1 cos 2 )
2 2
= u v sin 2
Takingsquarerootsgivestherequiredresult: u v = u v sin .

The next theorem lists several properties of the cross product. The properties are
establishedbystraightforwardcomputationsandsotheproofsareomitted.

Theorem Let u, v and w bevectorsin R3. Then u, v and w satisfythefollowing

properties.

(a) u (v + w) = u v + u w
(b) (u + v) w = u w + v w
(c) u 0 = 0 u = 0
(d) u u = 0
 23

Theareaofaparallelogram
Let u and v bethe adjacentsidesofaparallelogram. The
areaofaparallelogramislengthofbase height.Fromthe
adjoiningdiagramwehavethatthelengthofthebaseis v u h
h
andtheheightish.Fromtrigonometryweget u = sin so
v
h = u sin .ThereforetheareaAisgivenby
A = base height = v u sin = u v

Theareaofatriangle
Letuandvbetheadjacentsidesofatriangle.Sincethe
u h
areaofthetriangleisonehalftheareaoftheparallelogram
withuandvasitsadjacentsides,theareaofthetriangleis
A = 12 u v . v

Example
Findtheareaoftheparallelogramhavingadjacentsidesu=(2,3,1)andv=(4,02).

Solution
3 1 2 1 2 3
u v = , , = (6, 0, 12)
0 2 4 2 4 0
Area = u v = (6, 0, 12) = 36 + 0 + 144 = 180 = 36 5 = 36 5 = 6 5

Example
FindtheareaofthetrianglewhoseverticesareA=(1,2,2),B=(3,4,5)and
C=(5,6,4)

Solution
 24

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

4 2 4 2 4 4
AreaoftriangleABC = 2 u v = 2 (8, 8, 0) = 12 64 + 64 + 0 = 4 2
1 1

Thevolumeofaparallelepiped
Aparallelepipedisasolid(3dimensional)
uv
figurehavingsixfaceswithoppositepairs
offacesbeingcongruentparallelograms.A
parallelepipedcanbespecifiedbygiving3
vectors u, v and w thatformthe3edges w
emanating from a common vertex. The
v
volumeoftheparallelepipedistheareaof
thebase height. Theareaofthebaseis u
theareaoftheparallelogramwithuandvasadjacentsidesandisequalto u v .The
heightisthelengthoftheprojectionofwontou v= proju v w .
w (u v ) w (u v) w (u v)
But proju v w = (u v ) = u v = .
(u v ) (u v ) u v
2
u v
w (u v)
Thusthevolumeoftheparallelepipedis V = u v = w (u v ) .
u v

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

Solution
3 1 2 1 2 3
u v = , , = (5, 3, 1)

4 3 3 3 3 4
w (u v) = (4, 5, 6) (5, 3, 1) = 20 15 6 = 1
Volume= w (u v) = 1 = 1

1.7Problems
 25

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) A

c b
sin A sin B sin C
7. Provethelawofsinesfortriangles. = = .
a b c B C
a

8. Letuandvbetwononzerovectorsin R 3 .
a.Provethatifuandvareparallelvectors,then u v = 0.
b.Provethatif u v = 0 ,thenuandvareparallelvectors.

1.8STANDARDBASISVECTORSFORR3

Thefollowingthreeunitvectors i = (1, 0, 0) , j = (0,1, 0) and k = (0, 0,1) playaspecial

roleinR3TheyarecalledthestandardbasisvectorsforR3.EveryvectorinR3canbe
writtenasauniquecombinationofthesethreevectorsasfollows.Letv=(a,b,c)bean
arbitraryvectorinR3.Thenwecanwrite
v = (a, b, c) = (a, 0, 0) + (0, b, 0) + (0, 0, c) = a(1, 0, 0) + b(0,1, 0) + c(0, 0,1) = ai + bj + ck .
Example
If v = (2,3,5), then v = 2i + 3 j + 5k .
 26

Forthedotproductofthestandardbasisvectorswitheachother,wehavethefollowing
results,whichcanbeverifiedbyadirectcomputation.
i i = j j = k k = 1 and i j = j i = j k = k j = k i = i k = 0 .

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 .

ii
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
k j
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. i i = 1 b. j j = 1 c. i j = 0 d. j k = 0
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.
 27

a. u = ai + 2aj + k , v = i 3 j 5k b. u = 3ai + 2 j 3k , v = 2i 6 j + ak

1.9VECTORSINRm

Wehavealreadyseenthatthesetofallrealnumbers R canbeidentifiedwithaone
dimensionalnumberline;thesetofallorderedpairsofrealnumbers R 2 canbeidentified
withatwodimensionalplaneandthatthesetofallorderedtriplesofrealnumbers R 3
canbeidentifiedwiththreedimensionalspace.Continuinginthismannerwouldsuggest
thatthesetofallorderedfourtuplescouldbeidentifiedwithafourdimensionalspace
andmoregenerallythesetofallorderedmtuplescouldbeidentifiedwithan
mdimensionalspace.

WeusethesymbolRmtodenotethesetofallorderedmtuplesu= (u1 , u2 , u3 ,, um ) .
WewillrefertothemtuplesasvectorsinthespaceRmandtheentriesu1,u2,etc.asthe
componentsofthevectoru.

TwovectorsfromRmaresaidtobeequaliftheircorrespondingcomponentsareequalto
eachother.Thatisu=vifandonlyifu1=v1,u2=v2,etc.

Wedefinethesumofuandvbyu+v= (u1 + v1 , u2 + v2 , ,um + vm ) .

Wedefinemultiplicationofavectorvbyascalarcascu= (cu1 , cu2 ,cum ) .

Thelengthofthevectoruisdenoted u andisdefinedby u = u1 + u2 + + um .
2 2 2

Thedotproductisdefinedtobe u v = u1v1 + u2v2 + + um vm .

If u v = 0 wesaythatthevectorsuandvareorthogonaltoeachother.

NotethatthereisnocrossproductdefinedforRmwhen m 3.

Example
 28

Letu=(1,3,2,4)andv=(2,1,4,3)betwovectorsinR4.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)
u v = (1,3, 2, 4) (2, 1, 4,3) = (1)(2) + (3)(1) + (2)(4) + (4)(3) = 2 3 + 8 + 12 = 19
3u=3(1,3,2,4)= (3 1, 3 3, 3 2, 3 4) =(3,9,6,12)
u = 12 + 32 + 22 + 42 = 1 + 9 + 4 + 16 = 30

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. u v b. v w c. u (v + w)

3. Find a. u b. v + w 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
e1 = (1, 0, 0, 0), e 2 = (0,1, 0, 0), e3 = (0, 0,1, 0) and e 4 = (0, 0, 0,1) in R 4 .Writeeach
ofthefollowingvectorsfrom R 4 asacombinationofthevectors e1 , e 2 , e3 and e 4 .
a.(2,3,5,4) b.(3,1,0,2) c.(5,7,2,3)
 29

8. Provethefollowingresultsfor e1 , e 2 , e3 and e 4 .
a. e1 = 1 b. e1 e 2 = 0 c.
( e1 + e2 ) ( e1 e2 ) = 0