CHAPTER 3: VECTORS

DQT 101

CHAPTER 3 : VECTORS
3.1 Introduction

Definition 3.1
A vector is a quantity that has both magnitude and direction.

A vector is often represented by an arrow or a directed line segment.

The length of the arrow represents the magnitude of the vector and the
arrow points in the direction of the vector. For example, force,
velocity, acceleration, etc are quantity that has magnitude and
direction.

Definition 3.2
A scalar is a quantity that has magnitud only.

Length, area, volume, mass, time, etc are types of scalar that has
magnitude only.

3.2 Vector Representation

Suppose a particle moves along a line segment from point P to point

Q. The corresponding displacement vector, shown in figure below,
has initial point P (the tail) and the point Q is referred as its head and
we indicate this by writing PQ . Notice that the vector QP has the
same length but it is in the opposite direction.
Q Q

PQ QP

P P

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A vector could be written as a , b , u , v and w . The magnitude of

the vector, v is denoted by | v | . Note that  v would represent a
vector of the same magnitude but with opposite direction.
Q Q

v v

P P

3.3 Two Equal Vectors

Definition 3.3
Two vectors u and v are said to be equal if and only if they have the
same magnitude and the same direction

Example 1 :
w

u
v u = v and w = x

3.4 Addition of Vectors

Definition 3.4
If u and v are vectors, then the addition of u and v can be written as
u + v.

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i) The Triangle Law

If u and v are vectors, we connect the initial point of v with the
terminal point of u, then the sum u + v is the vector from the
initial point of u to the terminal point of v.

Example 2 :

v
u u v

u+v

ii) The Parallelogram Law

In figure below, we start with the same vectors u and v as in
figure above and we draw another copy of v with the same
initial point as u. Completing the parallelogram, we could see
that u  v  v  u . This also give another way to construct the sum
: if we place u and v so they start at the same point, then u + v
lies along the diagonal of the parallelogram with u and v as
sides.

Example 3 :

v
v
u+v
u

iii) The Sum of a Number of Vectors u

The sum of all vectors is given by the single vector joining the
start of the first to the end of last.

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Example 4:
b
a 1. a + b = x
c
x 2. a + b + c = w
w
u
v

Note: Addition of vector is satisfied u + v = v + u (commutative law)

3.5 Subtraction of Vectors

Definition 3.5
If u and v are vectors, then u - v can be written as u  ( v )

Example 5:

v
u

u–v –v

Note: Subtraction of vectors is not satisfied the commutative law, but

their magnitudes are still the same even though the direction is
opposite.

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3.6 Scalar Multiplication of Vectors

Definition 3.6
If v is a vector and  is a scalar, then the scalar multiplication  v
is a vector whose length is |  | times the length of v and whose
direction is the same as v if   0 and is opposite to v if   0 .

Example 6 :

v
2v
-2v

3.7 Parallel Vectors

Definition 3.7
Two vectors u and v are said to be parallel if they are in the same
direction or opposite direction and v is equivalent to  u .
Example 7:

u -u
u  v   u  v

3.8 Components of Vectors in Terms of Unit Vectors

If we place the initial point of a vector r at the origin of a rectangular

coordinate system, then the terminal point of r has coordinate of the
form  x, y , z  . These coordinates are called the components of r and
we write
r  xi  y j  z k

Where, i, j and k are unit vectors in the x, y and z-axes, respectively.

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Unit vectors i, j, k.

i = 1, 0, 0  to be a unit vector in the ox direction (x-axis)

j =  0,1, 0  to be a unit vector in the oy direction (y-axis)
k =  0, 0,1 to be a unit vector in the oz direction (z-axis)

3.8.1 Vectors in Two Dimension (R2)

Two unit vectors along ox and oy direction are denoted by the symbol
i and j respectively.

Example 8 : u  3i  4 j

y
4

j u

x
i 3

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3.8.2 Vectors in Three Dimension (R3)

Three unit vectors along ox, oy and oz direction are denoted by the
symbol i, j and k respectively.

Example 9 : u  i  3 j  5k

z
5

k
u

j 3
y
1
i
x

3.9 Position Vectors

Definition 3.8
If r represents the vector from the origin to the point P(a, b, c) in
R3, then the position vector of P can be defined by

r= OP  (a, b, c) – (0, 0, 0) =  a, b, c 

Example 10
Two forces D and E are acts from the origin point O. If D = 46N,
θD = 0o and E = 17N, θE = 90o. Find the resultant force.
Solution
Position vector
OD  46i and OE  17 j

Hence, the additional force is OD  OE  46i  17 j .

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3.10 Components of Vectors

Definition 3.9
If P and Q are two points in R3 where P(a, b, c) and Q(x, y, z), then
the components vector P and Q can be defined by

PQ  OQ  OP  ( x, y , z )  ( a, b, c)   x  a, y  b, z  c

Example 11
Given P(5, 2, 1) and Q(6, 1, 7) are two points in R3. Find the
components vector of PQ .

Solution
PQ  OQ  OP =  6, 1, 7  –  5, 2, 1  =  1, –1, 6  .

3.11 Magnitude (Length) of Vectors

Definition 3.10
If u is a vector with the components  a, b, c  , then the
magnitude of vector u can be written as

| u | a 2  b2  c 2

Example 12
Find the magnitude of the following vectors:
i) u =  5, 2  =5i+2j
ii) u =  5, 2, 1  =5i+2j+k

Solutions
i) | u | 52  2 2  29
ii) | u | 5  2 1 
2 2 2
30

Definition 3.11
If P and Q are two ©points with coordinate (a, b, c) and (x, y, z),
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respectively, then the length from P to Q can be written as Page 51

| PQ | ( x  a ) 2  ( y  b) 2  ( z  c ) 2
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Example 13
If P(5, 2, 1) and Q(6, 1, 7) in R3. Find the length from P to Q.

Solution
| PQ | (6  5) 2  (1  2) 2  (7  1) 2  12  ( 1) 2  6 2  38

3.12 Unit Vectors

Definition 3.12
 u
If u is a vector, then the unit vector u is defined by u , where
|u |

| u | 1 .

A unit vector is a vector whose length is 1. Normally, the symbol ‘^’

is used to represent the unit vector. In general, if u  0 , then the unit
vector that has the same direction as u is,
 1 u
u u
|u| |u|
1
In order to verify this, let c . Then

u  cu and c is a positive
|u|

scalar, so u has the same direction as u. Also
 1
| u || cu || c || u | | u | 1
|u|

Example 14
Find the unit vector in the direction of the vector u = 3i + 4j + 2k.

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Solutions
|u | 32  4 2  2 2  29
 3 4 2
u i j k
29 29 29

3.13 Direction Angles and Direction Cosines

O y

The direction angles of a vector OP  xi  y j  z k are the angles α, β

and γ that OP makes with the positive x-, y- and z-axes. The cosines
of these direction angles, cos α, cos β and cos γ are called the
direction cosines of the vector OP and defined by

x y z
cos α = | OP |
, cos β = | OP |
, cos γ = | OP |
. [0 ≤ α, β, γ ≤ 1800]

Example 15
Find the direction angles of the vector u = 6i -5j + 8k

Solution
| u | 36  25  64  125  5 5 .
6 5 8
cos α = 5 5
, cos β = 5 5
, cos γ = 5 5

3.14 Operations of Vectors by Components

Definition 3.13
If u =  u1, u2, u3  , v =  v1, v2, v3  and k is a scalar, then
i) u + v =  u1 + v1, u2 + v2, u3 + v3 
ii) u - v =  u1 - v1, u2 - v2, u3 - v3 
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iii) ku =  ku1, ku2, ku3 
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Example 16
Given u =  2, -1, 1  and v =  1, 3, -2  . Find
i) u+v
ii) u–v
iii) v – u
iv) 3u
v) 4v

Solutions
i) u + v =  3, 2, -1 
ii) u – v =  1, -4, 3 
iii) v – u =  -1, 4, -3 
iv) 3u =  6, -3, 3 
v) 4v =  4, 12, -8 

Properties of A Vectors
If a, b, and c are vectors, k and t are scalar, then

i) a+b=b+a
ii) a + (b + c) = (a + b) + c
iii) a+0=0+a=a
iv) a + (-a) = (-a) + a = 0
v) k(a + b) = ka + kb
vi) (k + t)a = ka + ta
vii) k(tb) = (kt)b
viii) 0c = 0
ix) 1a = a
x) -1b = -b

3.15 Product of Two Vectors

Definition 3.14 (The Dot/Scalar Product)

If u = u1i + u2j + u3k and v = v1i + v2j + v3k are vectors in R3, then
the dot product of u and v can be written as

u© ∙Universiti
v = u1 vMalaysia
1 + u2 Perlis
v2 + u3 v3
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Teorem 1
If θ is the angle between the vectors u and v, then

u v
cos θ = | u || v |
;0<θ<π

Example 17

Find the angle between the vectors u = 4i – 5j – k and v = i + 2j + 3k.

Solution
u ∙ v = (4  1)  ( 5  2)  ( 1  3)  9
| u | 4 2  ( 5) 2  ( 1) 2  42
| v | 1  2  3  14
2 2 2

From the theorem 1,

uv 9 9
cos    
| u || v | 42 14 2 147

Therefore,
 9 
  cos 1    111 .79 0 .
 2 147 

Properties of the Dot Product

i) u . v = v . u

ii) u . ( v + w ) = u . v + u . w
iii) ( u + v ) . ( w + z ) = u . w + v . w + u . z + v . z

iv) If k is a scalar, then k(u . v) = (ku) . v = u . (kv)

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vi) i.i = j.j = k.k = 1

vii) If u and v are orthogonal, then u . v = 0

vii) i . j = j . k = k . i = 0

viii) u . u = |u|2
Definition 3.15 (The Cross Product)
If u =  u1, u2, u3  and v =  v1, v2, v3  are vectors, then the
cross product of u and v is the vector

i j k
u  v  u1 u2 u3  (u 2 v 3  u3 v 2 )i  (u1v 3  u3v1 ) j  (u1v 2  u2 v1 )k
v1 v2 v3

Example 18
If u = 3i + 6j + k and v = 4i + 5j – 2k. Find
i) uv
ii) vu

Solutions
i) u x v = -17i + 10j – 9k
ii) v x u = 17i –10j + 9k

Theorem 2
If u =  u1, u2, u3  and v =  v1, v2, v3  are vectors in R3, then
^

canube
x vrepresented
= |u||v| sin θbynthe right-hand rule.
^
Vectors u, v and n
^
where θ is the angle between the vectors u and v and n is a
normal unit vector that perpendicular to both u and v.

^
θ
n
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v
v ^
n
θ n
^

u
uxv vxu

Note that:
^
u x v = |u||v| sin θ n
^
|u x v| = ||u||v| sin θ n |
|u x v| = |u||v| sin θ
= Area of the parallelogram determined by u and v.

Example 19
Find the angle between the vectors u = 4i + 5j – 3k and v = 2i + j.

Solution
i j k
uxv= 4 5 3  3i – 6j – 6k
2 1 0

|u x v| = 3  ( 6)  ( 6)
2 2 2
9
|u| = 5 2 and |v| = 5

uv 9
sin θ = u v = 5 2 5
= 0.5692

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θ= sin 1  0.5692  = 34.70o

Properties of the Cross Product

If u, v, w are vectors and k is a scalar, then

i) uxv=-vxu
ii) u x  v + w = u x v + u x w
iii) u x kv = (ku) x v = k  u x v 
iv) u x 0 = 0 x u = 0
v) u x v = 0 if and only if u // v
vi) |u x v| = |u||v| sin θ
viii) i x i = j x j = k x k = 0
ix) i x j = k ; j x k = i ; k x i = j
x) j x i = -k ; ; k x j = -i ; i x k = -j

3.16 Applications of the Dot Product and Cross Product

i) Projections

Figure below shows representations PQ and PR of two vectors a

and b with the same initial point P. If S is the foot of the perpendicular
from R to the lines containing PQ , then the vector with representation
PS is called the vector projection of b onto a and is denoted by
projab.

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a
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The scalar projection of b onto a (also called the component of b

along a) is defined to be magnitude of the vector projection, which is
the number |b| cos θ, where θ is the angle between a and b. This is
denoted by compab. The equation

a  b | a || b | cos 

shows that the dot product of a and b can be interpreted as the length
of a times the scalar projection of b onto a. Since

ab a
| b | cos    b
|a| |a|

the component of b along a can be computed by taking the dot

product of b with the unit vector in the direction of a.

Theorem 3
a b
Scalar projection of b onto a: comp a b 
|a|
 a b  a a b
Vector projection of b onto a: proj a b     2
a
 | a | | a | | a |

Example 20
Given b = i + j + 2k and a = -2i + 3j + k. Find the scalar projection
and vector projection of b onto a.

Solution
Since | a | ( 2) 2  (3 2 )  12  14 , the scalar projection of b onto a is

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a  b (2)(1)  3(1)  1(2) 3

comp a b   
|a| 14 14

The vector projection is this scalar projection times the unit vector in
the direction of a is
 3  a 3 9 3
proj a b      , , 
 14  | a | 7 14 14

ii) The Area of Triangle and Parallelogram

A C

a
θ
O
b B

Area of triangle OBC = ½ |a| |b| sin θ = ½ |a x b|

Area of parallelogram OBCA = |a| |b| sin θ = |a x b|

Example 21

Find the area of triangle and parallelogram with A(1,-1, 0), B(2, 1, -1) and
C(-1, 1, 2).

Solution
AB  OB  OA   2,1,1  1,1,0  1,2,1
AC  OC  OA   1,1, 2  1, 1,0   2, 2, 2
i j k
AB  AC  1 2 1  6i + 6k =  6, 0, 6 
2 2 2

Area of triangle ABC = ½ | AB  AC |

= ½ |6i + 6j|
= ½ 62  62
=½ 72
= 3 2

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Area of parallelogram with adjacent sides AB and AC is the length of

cross product | AB  AC | = 72 .

iii) The Volume of Parallelepiped and Tetrahedron

Parallelepiped determined by three vectors a , b and c .

The volume of the parallelepiped determined by the vectors a, b and c

is the magnitude of their scalar triple product

V= |a.(bxc)|

Notice that:

i) a . (b x c) = (a x b) . c
a . (b x c) if a  a , a , a ,
1 2 3 b  b1 , b2 , b3 and c  c1 , c2 , c3 so
a1 a2 a3
a . (b x c)= b1 b2 b3
c1 c2 c3

ii) If a . (b x c) = 0, then the all vectors on a same plane.

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A
a
B
a a
b
a
O c C
a a a
1
The volume of the tetrahedron by the vectors a, b and c is 6
of the
1
volume of parallelepiped, that is V = 6
| a . (b x c) |.

iv) Equations of Planes

n=  a, b, c 

P1 = (x1, y1, z1)

S P = (x, y, z)

Let P(x, y, z) a point on the plane S and n is normal vector to the plane
S. If P1(x1, y1, z1) is an arbitrary point in the plane S, then

P1 P .n = 0

 x – x1, y – y1, z – z1  .  a, b, c  = 0

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a(x – x1) + b(y – y1) + c(z – z1) = 0

So that, the equation of the plane is given by

ax + by + cz + k = 0; where k = – ax1 – by1 – cz1

Example 22
Find an equation of the plane through the point P(3,-1,7) with normal
vector n =  4, 2, 5  .

Solution
Let Q(x, y, z) be any point on plane S and through the point P(3,-1,7),
then

PQ .n = 0
 x – 3, y + 1, z – 7  .  4, 2, 5  = 0
4(x – 3) + 2(y + 1) + 5(z – 7) = 0

So that, the equation of the plane through P with normal vector n is

4x + 2y + 5z – 45 = 0.

v) Parametric Equations of A Line in R3

B(x, y, z)
l

va,b,c
A(x1, y1, z1)

A line l in three-dimensional space is determined when we know a

point A(x1, y1, z1) on l and the direction of l. The direction of line is
conveniently described by a vector, so we let v be a vector parallel to
l. If B(x, y, z) be an arbitrary point on l, then

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AB = t . v ; t is a scalar
become
 x – x1, y – y1, z – z1  = t .  a, b, c  =  ta, tb, tc

So that, the parametric equations of a line can be written as

x = x1 + ta
y = y1 + tb
z = z1 + tc
or
 x   x1  a 
 y    y   t b 
   1  
 z   z1   c 

These equations can be described in terms of Cartesian equations

when we eliminate the parameter of t from parametric equations.
Therefore, we obtain

x  x1 y  y1 z  z1
t=   , a , b , c  0.
a b c

Example 23
a) Find a parametric equations of the line that passes through the point
P(1, 2, 3) and is parallel to the vector v =  1, -1, 2  .
b) From the result of (a), state the parametric equations to the Cartesian
equations.

Solutions
a) Let Q (x, y, z) be any point on l, then

PQ = t . v ; t is a scalar
 x – 1, y – 2, z – 3  = t .  1, -1, 2 
So that, the parametric equations of the line is
x = 1+t
y = 2–t
z = 3 + 2t
or

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 x  1 1
 y    2  t   1
     
 z   3  2 

b) From the result of (a) above, the cartesian equation is

x 1 2  y z  3
t= 1

1

2

vi) Distance from a Point to the Plane

P1

b D
n

P0

Let P0(x0, y0, z0) be any point in the given plane and let b be the vector
corresponding to P P , then0 1

b   x  x0 , y  y 0 , z  z 0 
From figure above, we can se that the distance D from P1 to the plane
is equal to the absolute value of the vector projection of b onto the
normal vector n =  a, b, c  . Thus
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nb
D = |W1| =  | n |2 n
 
nb
= n
a ( x  x 0 )  b( y  y 0 )  c ( z  z 0 )
=
a 2  b2  c 2
( ax  by  cz )  ( ax0  by0  cz 0 )
=
a 2  b2  c 2

Since P0(x0, y0, z0) lies in the plane, its coordinates satisfy the equation
of the plane and so we have ax0  by0  cz0  d . Thus, the formula for
D can be written as

ax  by  cz  d
D=
a 2  b2  c2

Example 24
Find the distance between the parallel planes 10 x  2 y  2 z  5 and
5x  y  z  1 .

Solution
If S1 = 10 x  2 y  2 z  5 , then n1 =  10, 2, -2 
If S2 = 5 x  y  z  1 , then n2 =  5, 1, -1 

Choose any point on S1 plane and calculate its distance to the S2 plane.
1
If we put y = z = 0 in the equation of the S1 plane, then x = 2
. So (
1 1
2
, 0, 0) is a point in this plane. The distance between ( 2 , 0, 0) and
the S2 plane is

1
5( )  1(0)  1(0)  1
D= 2 3

5  1  ( 1)
2 2 2 6

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