VECTOR ALGEBRA

Section 3: Cross Product of Vectors

In this section, we shall construct a vector in 3D-space that is
perpendicular to two given vectors. From our previous section we know
that dot product of two given vectors in 2D- or in 3D-space produces a
scalar. We will now define a type of vector multiplication that produces a
vector as the product but which is applicable only in 3D-space.
If u  (u1, u2 , u3 ) and v  (v1, v2 , v3 ) are any two nonzero vectors in 3D-
space, then the cross product u  v is the vector defined by
i j k
u2 u3 u1 u3 u1 u2
u  v  u1 u2 u3  i j k (1)
v2 v3 v1 v3 v1 v2
v1 v2 v3
 (u2v3  u3v2 )i  (u1v3  u3v1) j  (u1v2  u2v1)k

Problem 1
Find u  v where u  (1,2, 2) and v  (3,0,1).
i j k
2 2 1 2 1 2
Solution: Calculate u  v  = 1 2 2  i j k
0 1 3 1 3 0
3 0 1
 [(2)(1)  (0)(2)]i [(1)(1)  (3)(2)] j  [(1)(0)  (3)(2)]k
 2i  7 j  6k
Therefore, there is an important difference between the dot product and
cross product of two vectors - the dot product is a scalar and the cross
product is a vector.
Definition: The cross product of u and v is a vector u  v. The magnitude
of u  v is the product of the langths of u and v and the sine of the angle
 between them; that is,
u  v  u v sin nˆ (2)
where 0     and where n̂ is the unit vector representing the direction
of u  v.
The direction of the vector w  u  v is perpendicular to the plane of u and
v such that u, v and w form a right-handed system.
If u  v or if u is parallel to v, then sin  0 and we define u  v  0.
Consider the vectors
i  (1,0,0), j  (0,1,0), k  (0,0,1)
These vectors each have length 1 and lie along the coordinate axes. They
are called the standard unit vectors in 3D-space. Every vector
u  (u1, u2 , u3 ) in 3D-space can be expressed in terms of standard unit
vectors i, j and k since we can write
u  (u1, u2 , u3 )  (u1,0,0)  (0, u2 ,0)  (0,0, u3 )
 u1(1,0,0)  u2 (0,1,0)  u3(0,0,1)  u1i  u2 j  u3 k
For example, (2,3,4)  2i  3 j  4k .
Properties
1. u  v   v  u ;
2. u  (v  w)  u  v  u  w ;
3. k (u  v)  (ku )  v  u  (kv )  (u  v)k , k being a nonzero scalar;
4. i  i  j  j  k  k  0; i  j  k , j  k  i, k  i  j ;
j  i   k , k  j  i, i  k   j ;
5. If u  (u1, u2 , u3 ) and v  (v1, v2 , v3 ) are any two nonzero vectors in 3D-
space, then
i j k
u  v  u1 u2 u3
v1 v2 v3
6. The magnitude of u  v represents the area of a parallelogram with
adjacent sides u and v ;
7. If u  v  0, where u  0 and v  0, then u and v are parallel
vectors.
 Geometrical Interpretation of the Cross Product of Vectors

Let OA  a and OB  b be any two nonzero and noncollinear vectors and

 

let AOB   . Complete the parallelogram OACB.

Then, by definition, we have
ab  a b sin  (OA)(OB)sin
 2[(1/ 2)(OA)(OB)sin ]
 2(area of the triangle  OAB)
 area of the parallelogram OACB
Thus, the vector product a  b is a vector perpendicular to the plane
containing a and b ; the magnitude of a  b represents the area of a
parallelogram determined by a and b as its adjacent sides.

Theorem (Area of a parallelogram)

If u and v are any two nonzero vectors in 3D-space, then a  b is equal
to the area of the parallelogram determined by u and v.

Problem 1
Find the area of the triangle determined by the points P  (1,2, 2),
Q  (3,0,1) and R  (0,4,3).
1
Solution: The area A of the triangle is times the area of the
2 
parallelogram determined by the vectors PQ and PR. Compute
PQ  (2, 2,3) and PR  (1,2,5). It follows that
 

i j k
PQ  PR  2 2 3  16i 13 j  2k
 

1 2 5
 1   1
and consequently, area A  PQ  PR  (16) 2  (13)2  (2) 2 or
2 2
1
A  429 square unit.
2
Problem 2
Find the area of the parallelogram having a  2i  j  k and b  3i  4 j  k
as its diagonals.

Problem 3
Find the area of the parallelogram having a  3i  j  2k and b  i  3 j  4k
as its diagonals.

Problem 4
Find the area of the triangle determined by the vertices P  (1,2,3),
Q  (2,5, 1) and R  (1,1,2).

Problem 5
Determine a unit vector perpendicular to the plane of a and b, where
a  4i  3 j  k and b  2i  6 j  3k. Also find the angle made by the vectors
a and b.
i j k
Solution: We have a  b  4 3 1  15i 10 j  30k
2 6 3
Since a  b is a vector perpendicular to the plane of a and b, the unit
vector perpendicular to the plane of a and b is
a  b 15i 10 j 30k 3 2 6
n   i j k
ab 35 7 7 7
Let  be the angle between a and b, then we have
ab 35 5  5 
sin    so that   sin 1  .
a b 26 49 26  26 
Definition: If u, v and w are any three nonzero vectors in 3D-space, then
u . (v  w) or [u v w] is called the scalar triple product or box product
of u, v and w .
The scalar triple product of the vectors u  (u1, u2 , u3 ), v  (v1, v2 , v3 ) and
w  (w1, w2 , w3 ) can be calculated from the formula
u1 u2 u3
v v3 v v3 v v2
u . (v  w)  v1 v2 v3  u1 2  u2 1  u3 1
w2 w3 w1 w3 w1 w2
w1 w2 w3

Geometric Interpretation of Determinants

The next theorem provides a useful geometric interpretation of a 3 3
determinant.

Theorem 3.4
u1 u2 u3
The absolute value of the determinant v1 v2 v3 is equal to the
w1 w2 w3
volume of the parallelepiped in 3D-space determined by the vectors
u  (u1, u2 , u3), v  (v1, v2 , v3 ) and w  (w1, w2 , w3).

Problem 1
Calculate the scalar triple product u . (v  w) of the vectors u  3i  2 j  5k ,
v  i  4 j  4k and w  3 j  2k.
Solution: Using formula,
3 2 5
3 5 3 2
u . (v  w)  1 4 4  3 2
1 4 1 4
0 3 2
 3(12  5)  2(12  2)  49

Using the properties of determinants we can get the following identities:

u . (v  w)  v . (w  u)  w . (u  v)
If u . (v  w)  0 then the vectors u, v and w are coplanar vectors.
Problem 2
Show that the four points whose position vectors are a, b, c and d are
coplanar if
[b c d ]  [c a d ] [a b d ]  [a b c]

Problem 3
Show that the four points whose position vectors are 3i  3 j  4k ,
6i  2 j  k , 5i  7 j  3k and 2i  2 j  6k are coplanar.

Problem 4
If a, b, c are any three vectors such that a  b  c and b  c  a, show that
the vectors are orthogonal (perpendicular) in pairs and b  1, c  a .