VECTOR ALGEBRA

Problem 1
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].

Solution: Let a, b, c, d be the position vectors of A, B, C, D, respectively.

Then DA  a  d , DB  b  d , and DC  c  d .
  

The given vectors will be coplanar if

[a  d b  d c  d ]  0
 (a  d ) . [(b  d )  (c  d )]  0
 (a  d ) . (b  c  b  d  d  c  d  d )  0
 (a  d ) . (b  c  b  d  d  c)  0
 a . b c  a . b d  a . d c  d . b c  d . b d  d . d c  0
 [a b c] [a b d ] [a d c] [d b c]  0
 [b c d ]  [c a d ]  [a b d ]  [a b c].

Problem 2
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.
Solution: Let 3i  3 j  4k , 6i  2 j  k , 5i  7 j  3k and 2i  2 j  6k be the
position
 vectors of A, B, C, D,
respectively. Then
DA  a  d  iˆ  5 ˆj  2kˆ, DB  b  d  4iˆ  5kˆ, DC  c  d  3iˆ  5 ˆj  3kˆ.
The given vectors will be coplanar if [a  d b  d c  d ]  0.
Now we can see that
1 5 2
[a  d b  d c  d ]  4 0 5  4(15 10)  5(5 15)  0
3 5 3
Hence, the given points are coplanar.
Section 4: Multiple Product of Vectors
Dot and cross product of three vectors u, v and w produce meaningful
products (u . v)w, u .(v  w) and u  (v  w).
The vector u  (v  w) is called the vector triple product of u and v  w and
u  (v  w) is perpendicular to both u and v  w. It can be expressed as
u  (v  w)  (u . w)v  (u . v)w
Similarly, the vector (u  v)  w is the vector triple product of u  v and w
and (u  v)  w is perpendicular to both u  v and w. It can be expressed
as
(u  v)  w  (u . w)v  (v . w)u.
We can show that u  (v  w)  (u  v)  w.

Problem 3
If a  3iˆ  ˆj  2kˆ, b  2iˆ  ˆj  kˆ and c  iˆ  2 ˆj  2kˆ, then find (a  b)  c and
a  (b  c).

Problem 4
Show that a  (b  c)  b  (c  a)  c  (a  b)  0.

Problem 5
Show that d . [a {b  (c  d )}]  (b . d )(a . c  d ).

Problem 6
Show that a {b  (c  d )}  (a  c)(b . d )  (a  d )(b . c).

Let us now consider the scalar product of four vectors, namely,

(a b). (c  d ). Using the formula of scalar triple product, we can write
(a b). (c  d )  a . b  (c  d )  a .[(b . d ) c  (b . c) d ]
a .c a .d
 (a . c)(b . d )  (a . d )(b . c) 
b .c b . d
The above result is known as the Lagrange’s identity if a  c and b  d , i.e.
a . a a .b
(a  b). (a  b) 
a .b b .b