Spring 2023 January 11, 2023

Math 2551 Worksheet 2: R3 and Cross Products

1. Find the components of the vector in 3-space of length 3 lying in the yz-plane pointing
upward at an angle of π/6 measured from the positive y-axis.

2. Which is traveling faster, a car whose velocity vector is h28, 33i km/h or a car whose
velocity vector is h40, 0i km/h? At what speed is the faster car traveling?

3. Let P = (1, −1, 2), Q = (2, 0, −1), and R = (0, 2, 1).

(a) Find the area of the triangle determined by the points P, Q, and R.
(b) Find a unit vector normal to the plane containing P , Q, and R.

4. If the statement is always true, answer true. If the statement is ever false, answer false.
Justify your answer.
In each case, u, v, and w are vectors in R3 .

(a) u · v = v · u
(b) u · u = |u|2
(c) (u × u) · u = 0

5. Suppose u, v, and w are vectors in R3 . Which of the following make sense, and which
do not? For those that make sense, is the result a vector or a scalar?

(a) (u × v) · w
(b) u × (v · w)
(c) u × (v × w)
(d) u · (v · w)

6. Let u = h2, 3i. Find the maximum possible value for u · v if v is a unit vector, and find
a v which gives this maximum. Then repeat the problem with “maximum” replaced by
“minimum.”