Length (Magnitude) of a Vector

!
Consider the vector AB = 2i − 5 j .
! !
The magnitude or modulus of vector AB , written AB , is represented geometrically by the length of the
line AB .
291.8
AB aitbj
absolutevaluesymbol

IAB NH is usedto notethe G

length magnitude
size
of a vector

tano battement I
The direction of the vector in the angle that the vector makes with the positive x-axis.

ÉÉ

two
Otani't 68assai
3 Dimensions
291.80 2700
So far we’ve looked at vectors in 2 dimensions, but to be more useful, vectors need to be defined in the 3rd
dimension. Adding, subtracting and multiplying vectors in 3D is the same process in that you apply the
operations to all three components.

! ⎜
⎛ v ⎞
1
⎟ !
is isl ksl
v = ⎜ v2 ⎟ in column form, and v = v1i + v2 j + v3k in unit vector form.
⎜ ⎟
⎝ v3 ⎠

The magnitude of is the length, found by Pythagoras’ theorem, so the 3D formula works;

!
v = v12 + v2 2 + v32

vectors
position
⎛ −3 ⎞

É
! ! ! ⎜

É
Example: Calculate AB given the position vectors OA = 2i + 3 j − k and OB = ⎜ 4 ⎟⎟ .
⎜⎝ 5 ⎟⎠
FB otto's
A
3 I 1 y
LAB Nts t 12 6 NET
 b.IM

in 41 52 412 His Ostmity 450

y
is l i Neitz di Otani E 63.2
L ri
j ji NJ
any
180763.40 243
if in 141 118772 V37
y star 78 21.25

gitj is sitjl V87 NI CI p twill's 7.130

socanty sings coso tano

ftp.tanos
 a
E 13442 125 5

I4 lengths

8 8 1 ft lengths

Pap EI
8 15 sa
al E NEM NT
25 92 74 a
at
stop
 7
The Scalar (dot) Product of two vectors

! !
Dot Product of Vectors. Let u and v be two non-zero vectors in 2-D or 3-D and assume these vectors have
! !
been positioned so that their initial points coincide. By the angle between u and v , we shall mean the
! !
angle q determined by u and v that satisfies 0 ≤ θ ≤ 180! .









! ! ! !
Definition: If u and v are vectors in 2-D and q is the angle between u and v , then the dot product u i v is
defined by:

u i v = u v cosθ
⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞
Example: Find u i v if the angle between vectors u = ⎜ 0 ⎟ and v = ⎜ 2 ⎟ is 45o.
1⎝ ⎠ 2 ⎝ ⎠








Component Formula for the Dot Product

⎛ u ⎞ ⎛ v ⎞
⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞ ⎜
1
⎟
1
 u  v ! ! ⎜ ⎟
Let u = ⎜ 1 ⎟ and v = ⎜ 1 ⎟ also, u = ⎜ u2 ⎟ and v = ⎜ v2 ⎟
⎜⎝ u2 ⎟⎠ ⎜⎝ v2 ⎟⎠ ⎜ ⎟ ⎜ ⎟
⎝ u3 ⎠ ⎝ v3 ⎠













Finding the angle between 2 Vectors. If u and v are non-zero vectors, then we can write:

u⋅v
cosθ =
u v

⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞
Example: Find the angle between u = ⎜ 2 ⎟ and v = ⎜ 1 ⎟
⎝−1 ⎠ ⎝
1 ⎠








Example
⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞
If u = ⎜ 4 ⎟ , v = ⎜ −3 ⎟ and w = ⎜ 3 ⎟ , show that u and v make an obtuse angle, v and w make an
⎝ −2 ⎠ ⎝ 4 ⎠ ⎝ 6 ⎠
acute angle and u and w are perpendicular.














Properties of the Dot Product. If u, v and w are vectors in 2-D or 3-D, then:


(a)


(b)


(c)


(d)


Perpendicular Vectors. Two non-zero vectors are perpendicular if their dot product is zero.

! ! ! ! ! !
Example: Two vectors are defined as a = 2i + xj and b = i - 4 j . Find x if:
(a) Vectors are parallel (b) Vectors are perpendicular












Additional Examples

   
(a) OA and OB are two vectors such that OA = a + 2b, OB = 2a − b and OA is perpendicular to OB.

(i) (
2 2
Show that a ⋅b = b − a .
3 )
2

(ii) If a has magnitude 4 units and b has magnitude 5 units, find the angle between a and b .













(b) Find the angle between the vectors a and b given that a = 3i + 4 j and b = 5i - 12 j .










(c) The points A, B, C and D have position vectors
w1 = -2i + 3j w2 = 3i + 8 j w3 = 7i + 6 j and w 4 = 7i - 4 j respectively. Show that AC is
perpendicular to BD.