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and CROSS PRODUCTS
Vectors, whether in space or space, can be added, subtracted, scaled, and multiplied. There are two different
products, one producing a scalar, the other a vector. Both, however, have important applications to physics and
engineering as well as to mathematics. They incorporate geometry, area and volume into vectors as we shall see.
It's important to note that the angle between any two of the unit coordinate
vectors , , and is because they are mutually perpendicular.
Definition: the Dot Product, , quite frequently called the Inner
Product, of vectors and is the scalar value defined by
A number of properties follow immediately from this definition using the perpendicular vectors :
Properties:
1.
2.
3.
These properties provide a convenient algebraic way of computing the dot product of vectors
For by expanding using also Properties 1, 2, and 3, we get
Example 1: determine the dot product of the vectors is given by
Example 2: determine the dot product of the coordinatefree form by
vectors when
Solution: the dot product is defined in
PROJECTIONS, COMPONENTS: the geometric definition of dot product helps us express the projection of one vector
onto another as well as the component of one vector in the direction of another. But let's approach the concept from a
different direction: given vectors and scalars , we know how to form the linear combination to
create a new vector . Suppose instead that we start with vectors , and a vector . Then we can try to determine
scalars so that
On the other hand, when we denote by the unit vector in
the direction of , then by right triangle trig in the graphic to the right
the dashed red vector has
is called the component of in the direction of .
Example 3: the box shown in
Solution: as the unit cube has sidelength ,
So when
and
is the unit cube having one corner at the origin
and the coordinate planes for three of its faces.
Determine the projection of onto .
You'll meet these ideas again in wave motion when you learn about Fourier coefficients and Fourier series, for instance;
trig functions, interpreted as harmonics, then play the role of the unit coordinate vectors. In fact, a Taylor Series can be
thought of as an infinitedimensional version where the coefficient is the 'component' of a 'vector' in the
direction of the basis function .
On the hand, components of force vectors like gravity or velocity will be important in this and many other courses.
CROSS PRODUCT: now we want 'multiplication' of vectors to produce a vector, , not a scalar. Such a vector
product occurs many times in geometry as well as in engineering and physics. Recall that the determinant of a
the entries being labeled simply to emphasize how they get combined and multiplied.
Because a vector has direction, a convention has to be adopted
when defining the 'vector' product of two vectors. If , are vectors
arranged so that they have the same tail, then vectors are
said to form a righthanded system when is perpendicular to the
plane containing , and points in the direction shown to the right.
Since there could be two directions for to point and still be
perpendicular to the plane containing and , the right hand
convention amounts to specifying which direction we'll choose. Notice
that is a righthanded system. More generally, we ask:
Properties:
1.
2.
3.
COMPUTING CROSS PRODUCTS: the previous properties provide a good algebraic way of computing the cross product
of
For by Properties 1, 2, and 3,
so by properties of determinants,
Solution: the nonzero vectors orthogonal to are
all of the form
So
with a scalar. This means the only unit vectors
orthogonal to are
Thus the unit vectors orthogonal to are
SCALAR TRIPLE PRODUCT: the dot and cross products of vectors can be combined and written as a
determinant:
called the Scalar triple product. To illustrate how the cross and scalar triple product get used note:
Geometric Application 1: when vectors , are adjacent sides of
the parallelogram shown to right, then the height of the parallelogram
is , so its
Thus the length of is the area of the parallelogram whose sides
are and .
Thus the parallelepiped has
Mechanics Application 1: when we push down on a bike pedal we exert a force,
a vector, on the bike pedal. The objective is to turn the chain wheel. In the figure to
the right only the component of will have any effect. Thus Torque as
defined by the cross product
is a measure of the turning force exerted as the cyclist pushes on the pedal.
We shall meet many such applications on a number of occasions. For instance, two useful properties of the scalar triple
product follow immediately from its interpretation as the volume of a parallelepiped:
because in both cases the parallelepiped collapses to a parallelogram, and so has zero volume. But what might we say
about the triple vector product Let's leave this as the first of a set of
CHALLENGE PROBLEMS: when are arbitrary vectors in ,
For the triangle shown to the right:
Problem 3: establish and interpret the identity
Problem 4: describe in vector terms the foot of the
perpendicular from onto side .