VECTORS

. Position Vector Of A Point:

let O be a fixed origin, then the position vector of a point P is the vector
 
OP . If a and b are position vectors of two points A and B, then,
 
AB = b  a = pv of B  pv of A.
 
DISTANCE FORMULA : Distance between the two points A (a) and B (b)
 
is AB = a  b

   
 na  m b ab
SECTION FORMULA : r  . Mid point of AB = .
mn 2

    
. Scalar Product Of Two Vectors: a . b = | a | | b | cos , where | a |, | b|
   
are magnitude of a and b respectively and  is angle between a and b.
 
 a.b

1. i.i = j.j = k.k = 1; i.j = j.k = k.i = 0  projection of a on b  
|b|
  
2. If a = a1i + a2j + a3k & b = b 1i + b 2j + b 3k then a.b = a1b 1 + a2b 2 + a3b 3

  a.b
3. The angle  between a&b is given by cos     , 0 
|a| |b|
     
4. a.b  0  a  b (a  0 b  0)

Page # 32
. Vector Product Of Two Vectors:
     
1. If a & b are two vectors &  is the angle between them then axb a b sin n ,
    
where n is the unit vector perpendicular to both a & b such that a,b&n
forms a right handed screw system.
 
2. Geometrically a xb = area of the parallelogram whose two adjacent sides
 
are represented by a& b .


3. î  î  ĵ  ĵ  k̂  k̂  0 ; î  ĵ  k̂, ĵ  k̂  î, k̂  î  ĵ

 
4. If a = a1 î +a2 ĵ + a3 k̂ & b = b 1 î + b 2 ĵ + b 3 k̂ then

î ĵ k̂
 
a  b  a1 a 2 a3
b1 b 2 b3

    
5. a  b  o  a and b are parallel (collinear)
   
(a  0,b  0) i.e. a  K b , where K is a scalar..
 
  a xb
6. Unit vector perpendicular to the plane of a & b is n̂    
a xb

 
 If a,b&c are the pv’s of 3 points A, B & C then the vector area of triangle

1     
ABC =
2
axb bxc  cxa . 
      
The points A, B & C are collinear if a x b  b x c  c x a  0
 
 Area of any quadrilateral whose diagonal vectors are d 1 & d2 is given by

1 
d1 xd2
2
 
   2 2  aa
. ab
.
 Lagrange's Identity : (axb)2  a b (a.b)2     
ab
. bb
.

Page # 33
V. Scalar Triple Product:
  
 The sc alar triple product o f three vectors a ,b&c is defined as:

     
a x b . c  a b c sin  cos  .

 Volume of tetrahydron V [abc]
 In a scalar triple product the position of dot & cross can be interchanged
i.e.
            
a . ( b x c)  (a x b). c OR [ a b c ]  [ b c a ]  [ c a b ]
       
 a . (b x c)   a .( c x b) i. e. [ a b c ]   [ a c b ]

   
a1 a 2 a 3
 If a = a1i+a2j+a3k; b = b 1i+b 2j+b 3k & c = c 1i+c 2j+c 3k then [abc ] b1 b 2 b 3 .
c1 c 2 c 3
   
 If a , b , c are coplanar [abc]0 .
  
 Volume of tetrahedron OABC with O as origin & A( a ), B( b ) and C( c )
1 
be the vertices = [a b c]
6

 if the pv’s of its vertices

    1    
are a, b , c & d are given by [a  b  c  d] .
4
V. Vector Triple Product:
                 
a x ( b x c ) = (a . c) b  (a . b) c , (a x b) x c = (a . c) b  (b . c) a
     
 (a x b) x c  a x ( b x c) , in general

Page # 34