JEE Advanced Revision Notes

Maths
Vectors

Scalar Quantity:
A quantity that has only magnitude and is not related to any direction is called a
scalar quantity.
For example Mass, length, time, Temperature, Area volume, Speed, Density
work, etc.

Vector Quantity:
A quantity which has magnitude and also a direction space is called a vector
quantity.
For example, Displacement, Velocity, Acceleration, Force, Torque etc.
Linearly Independent and Dependent Vectors:
● A set of vectors a1 , a2 ,............, an is said to be linearly independent if

x1a1  x2a2  ............  xn an  0

 x1  x2  .....xn  0

● A set of vectors a1 , a2 ,............, an is said to be linearly dependent if there

exists scalars x1 , x2 ,......, xn not all zero such that

x1a1  x2a2  ............  xn a3  0 .

Collinearity:
● Two vectors a1 and a2 are collinear  a1  a2 for some scalar  .
● Three vectors a1 , a2 and a3 are collinear, If there exists scalars x,y,z such
that
xa1  ya2  zan  0 where x  y  z  0

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Also the points A,B,C are collinear if AB   BC for some scalar  .

Coplanarity:
● Three vectors a1 , a2 and a3 are coplanar if one of them is a liner
combination of the other two if there exist scalar x and y such that
a3  xa1  ya2
● Four vectors a1 , a2 , a3 and a4 are coplanar if scalars x, y, z, w not all zero
simultaneously such that
xa1  ya2  za3  wa4  0 Where x  y  z  w  0

Null vector or zero vector:

If a vector's initial and terminal points coincide, it is called a zero vector. It is
denoted by 0 or 0. Its magnitude is zero and direction indeterminate.

Unit Vector:
A vector whose magnitude is of unit length along any vector a is called a unit
vector in the direction of a and is denoted by â .

Reciprocal vector:
A vector whose direction is same as that of given vector a but its magnitude is
the reciprocal of the magnitude of the given vector a is called the reciprocal of
a and is denoted by a1

1
Thus if a  a.aˆ then a 1  aˆ
a

Equal vector:
Two non-zero vectors are said to be equal if their magnitudes are equal and
directions are the same. They act parallel to each other in the same direction.

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Negative Vector:
The negative of a vector is defined as the vector having the same magnitude but
opposite direction.
For example if a  PQ , then the negative of a is the vector QP and is denoted
as a .

Like and Unlike vector:

Collinear vectors with the same direction are known as like vectors, while those
with opposite directions are known as unlike vectors.
For example, the vector given in the figure.

Image: Like and Unlike vectors

Localised vector and free vector:

A vector is drawn parallel to a given vector through a specified point as the
initial point is known as a localised vector. If the initial point of a vector is not
specified, it is said to be a free vector.

Position vector:
Let O be the origin and A be a point such that OA  a then, we say that the
position vector of A is a .

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Representation of Vectors:
Directed line segments represent vectors. A vector a is represented by the
directed line segment AB . The magnitude of vector a is equal to AB, and the
direction of vector a is along the line from A to B .

Image: Representation of vector

Addition of Vector:
● Let a and b be any two vectors. From the terminal point of a , vector b
is drawn. Then the vector from the initial point O of a to the terminal
point Q of b is called the sum of vectors a and b and is denoted by a  b
this is called the triangle law of addition of vectors.

Image: Triangle law of addition

Properties of Vector addition:

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 ● Vector addition is commutative a  b  b  a .
● Vector addition is associative a  (b  c )  (a  b)  c .
● O  a  a  O  a So the zero vector is additive identity.
● a  (a )  O  (a )  a So the additive inverse of a is a .

Addition of any Number of Vectors:

To find the sum of any number of vectors by a directed line segment with the
terminal point of the previous vector as the initial point of the next vector. Then
the line segment joining the initial point of the first vector to the terminal point
of the last vector will represent the sum of the vectors:
Thus if, OA  a , AB  b , BC  c , CD  d , DE  e and EF  f then

a  b  c  d  e  f  OA  AB  BC  CD  DE  EF  OF

If the terminal point F of the last vector coincide with the initial point of the first
vector then
a  b  c  d  e  f  OA  AB  BC  CD  DE  EO  O

The sum of vectors is zero or null in this case.

Image: Addition of any number of vectors

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Difference of Vectors:
If a and b be any two vectors, then their difference a  b is defined as a  (b) .

Image: Difference of vectors

Multiplication of a vector by a scalar:

Suppose a is any vector and m any scalar. Then the multiplication of a by m is
defined as a vector having magnitude |m|| a |and direction same as of a if m is
positive and reversed if m is negative. The product of a and m is denoted by m.
a . If m=0, then m a is the zero vector.

For example if a  AB then | 2a || 2 || a | 2 | a | and direction same as that of a .

The magnitude of the vector | 3a | 3| a | and direction opposite as that of a .

Important Properties and Formulas:

● Triangle law of vector addition AB  BC  AC .
● Parallelogram law of vector addition: if ABCD is a parallelogram, then
AB  AD  AC .
● a and b are parallel if and only a  mb for some non-zero scalar m.

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 a
● aˆ 
|a|
● a | a | aˆ
● Associate law: m  na    mn  a  n  ma 
● Distributive laws:  m  n  a  ma  na and n  a  b   na  nb
● If r  xiˆ  yjˆ  zkˆ then mr  mxiˆ  myjˆ  mzkˆ
r , a , b are coplanar if and only if r  xa  yb for some scalar x and y
● If the position vectors of the points A and B be a and b then, the
position vectors of the points dividing the line AB in the ratio m:n
mb  na mb  na
internally and externally are and
mn mn
● Position vector of the middle point of AB is given by
1
2

a b 
● If r̂  xiˆ  yjˆ  zkˆ then | rˆ | x 2  y 2  z 2
● The points A,B,C will be collinear if and if AB  mAC , for some non-zero
scalar m.

Methods to prove four points to be coplanar:

To prove that the four points A, B, C and D are coplanar. Find the vector
AB, AC and AD and then prove them to be coplanar by the method coplanar.
One of them is a linear combination of the other two.
|a b | |a ||b |

|a b | |a ||b |

| a b | |a ||b |

| a b | |a ||b |

Scalar Product or Dot Product:

The scalar product of two vectors a and b is given by
a.b | a || b | cos  0  

Where  is the angle between a & b

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 b .a
Projection of b along a =
|a|

Vector or cross Product:

The vector product of two vectors a and b is given by a  b | A || B | sin   n ,
where  is the angle between a & b , nˆ is the unit vector perpendicular to a & b .

● The vector perpendicular to both a and b is given by a  b

● The unit vector perpendicular to both a and b is given by nˆ 

a b 
| a b |

Properties of Vector Product:

● a  b  b  a (that is a  b  b  a )

a b   
2 2
●  a 2b 2  a.b

iˆ ˆj kˆ
● a  a1iˆ  a2 ˆj  a3kˆ & b  b1iˆ  b2 ˆj  b3kˆ then a  b  a1 a2 a3
b1 b2 b3

● The vector perpendicular to both a and b is given by a  b

a b
● The unit vector perpendicular to the plane of a and b is and a
| a b |

vector magnitude  Perpendicular to the plane of  a & b  is 


 a b 
| a &b |
● If a and b are collinear then a  b  0
1
● The area of a triangle adjacent sides are a & b is given by | a b |
2
● The area of a parallelogram if adjacent sides are a & b is given by | a  b |
1
● The area of a parallelogram if diagonals are c & d is given by  | c  d |
2

Scalar Triple Product:

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If a , b and c be there vectors, there  a  b  .c called the scalar triple product of
these three vectors.
 abc  =volume of the parallelepiped whose conterminous edges are dorm by
a, b , c

 abc  = bca   cab  but  abc     acb  etc.

A change of two vectors in a scalar triple product changes the sign of the scalar
triple product.
If any two of the vectors a , b , c are equal then  abc   0

The position of dots and crosses in a scalar triple product can be interchanged.

Hence,  a  b  .c  a.  b  c 

The value of a scalar triple product is zero if two of its vectors are parallel.
 a , b  d ,c  r    abc    abr    adc    adr 
         

Application of Vector in Geometry:

Vector equation of a straight line passing through a point a and parallel b is
r  a  tb where t is an arbitrary constant.

Vector equation of a straight line passing two points a and b is r  a  t  b  a 

Vector equation of a plane passing through a point a and parallel to two given
vectors b and c is r  a  sb  tc where t and s are arbitrary constants.
Vector equation of a plane passing through the points a , b , c is
r  1  s  t  a  sb  tc .

Vector equation of a plane passing through the point a and perpendicular to n

is r .n  a.n

Example:

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If the middle points of sides BC,CA & AB of triangle ABC are respectively
D,E,F then position vector of centre of triangle DEF, if position vector of A, B,
C are respectively iˆ  ˆj , ˆj  kˆ, kˆ  iˆ is

Ans:
The position vector of points D,E,F are respectively
B C AC A B
, ,
2 2 2

iˆ  ˆj ˆ ˆ kˆ  ˆj iˆ  kˆ ˆ
 k, i  and j
2 2 2

So position vector of the centre of DEF

1  iˆ  ˆj ˆ ˆ kˆ  ˆj iˆ  kˆ 
ˆj 
  k i   
3  2 2 2 

2  ˆ ˆ ˆ
 i  jk
3 

Example:
ABCDEF is a regular hexagon with point O as centre. The value of
AB  AC  AD  AE  AF is k AO . What will be the value of k?

Ans:

Image: Addition of vectors

Since, from the figure it can be seen that AB  AF  AO

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From this, AB can be written as
 AB  AO  AF

Also,

AC  AB  AO

AD  2 AO

So by using the above two relation, we can write

AE  AO  AF

Now, from the question, it is given that

AB  AC  AD  AE  AF  k

Therefore on substituting the terms, we get

 5 AO  AB  AF  5 AO  AO  6 AO

Therefore the value of k  6 AO

Common mistakes/errors to avoid:

● Vectors in the same direction can be added by simply adding their
magnitudes. But if the vectors to be added are in opposite directions, then
their magnitudes are subtracted and not added.
● When two vectors are parallel, their cross product is zero and the dot
product is equal to 1.
● There is always linear dependence between two collinear vectors.
● A pair of non-zero, non-collinear vectors are always linearly independent.
● Three coplanar vectors always rely linearly on one another.
● It is always linearly independent for three non-coplanar non-zero vectors.
● The linear dependence of more than three vectors is constant.
● If three vectors are coplanar, then they are linearly dependent on one
another, with each one of them being able to be expressed as a linear
combination of the other two.

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