Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chapter 1: Vectors and The Geometry of Space
Chapter 1: Vectors and The Geometry of Space
Geometry of Space
Section 2.3
The Dot Product of Two Vectors
The dot product of two vectors u u1 , u2 , u3 and v v1 , v2 , v3 is
u v u1v1 u2v2 u3v3 .
Properties of the Dot Product
Let u, v, and w be vectors in the plane or in space
and let c be a scalar.
1. The commutativ e property holds : u v v u.
2. The distributi ve property holds : u (v w) u v u w
3. c(u v) cu v u cv
4. 0 v 0
2
5. v v v
Proofs of other
2 2
properties are
v v1 v2 v3 v1 v2 v3
2 2 2 2 2 2
2 similar.
Therefore v v v
Consider two non-zero vectors. We can use their dot
product and their magnitudes to calculate the angle
between the two vectors. We begin with the sketch.
v u
u
v
From the Law of Cosines where c is the
side opposite the angle theta:
c 2 a 2 b 2 2ab cos
2 2 2
v u u v 2 u v cos
From the properties that we just developed for dot product
2
we have that w w w. It follows that :
2
v u (v u ) (v u )
v (v u ) u (v u )
v v v u u v u u
2 2
v 2u v u
Example 1
Find the angle between the vectors:
u 3, 5 and v 4,1 .
Solution u v 3, 5 4,1 12 5 7
cos
u v 3, 5 4,1 9 5 16 1 14 17
cos 0.4537......
2.04 or 117.0
Example 2
Find the angle between ve ctors w and z if :
w - 3, 1, - 2 and z 3, - 3, - 6 .
Solution 3,1, 2 3, 3, 6
u v 9 3 12
cos 0
u v 3,1, 2 3, 3, 6 9 1 4 9 9 36
2
uv
cos
1
u v 2 2 4
x
1
2
v
25
If u and v are nonzero vectors, then
w2 v w1
the projection of u onto v can be
calculated as follows : x
u v The quantity inside the parenthesi s
projv u 2 v
v
is a scalar so the projection of u onto
v is a multiple of vector v.
Example : if u is 5,9 and v is 6,3 find projv u and find the vector
component of u orthogonal to v.
u v 5,9 6,3
projv u 2 v 6,3
v 2
6,3
30 27 57 (5,9)
6,3 6,3
2
36 9 45
7.6, 3.8 w1
7.6, 3.8 w2 5, 9 (6,3)
2
Example: an object is pulled 12 feet across the floor using a force of 100
pounds. Find the work done if the force is applied at an angle of 50 degrees
above the horizontal.
Solution B : note that the force vector in coordinate form is 100cos50 ,100 sin 50
and the direction vector is 12,0 . Note also that
100cos50 ,100 sin 50 12,0 100 cos 50 (12) 771.35 foot - pounds.
Two Ways to Calculate Work
Work W done by a constant force u moving its point of applicatio n
along vector v can be calculated by Method A or by Method B :
Method A : W projv u v
Method B : W u v