F6 Mathematics T 1/5

Revision Notes on Chapter 6 : Vectors (Term 1)

Name : ______________________________ Date : __________________
6.1 : VECTORS IN 2 & 3-D
(A) : Unit Vectors & Position Vectors
 x

A( x, y , z )  r  OA  xi  yj  zk   y 
    z
1). Position vector of a point  

OA  r  x 2  y 2  z 2
2). Length of  
 OA r
OA (with length of 1 unit)    
OA r
3). Unit vector in the direction of 
(B) : Algebraic Properties of Vectors
 x2  x1 
  
AB  OB  OA   y2  y1 
z z 
1). If point A  ( x1 , y1 , z1 ) and B  ( x2 , y2 , z2 ) ,  2 1

 x1  x2    y1  y2    z1  z2 
2 2 2
B ( x2 , y 2 , z 2 ) =
2). Distance between point A( x1 , y1 , z1 ) and
A λ C μ B
  a   b
OC   
3).   a b
 

O
4). At x-axis, y = 0, z = 0 ; At y-axis, x = 0, z = 0 ; At z-axis, x = 0, y = 0
(C) : Scalar Product ( Dot Product ) of 2 Vectors
a.b
 cos    
a.b  a b cos  a b
1).     ;  
a Ө b
+ve or –ve scalar  
 a1   b1 
a.b   a2  .  b2   a1b1  a2b2  a3b3
    
2).  a3   b3 
i .i  j. j  k .k  1 ; i . j  j.k  k .i  0 ; if a .b  0  a  b and vice versa
           
3).

4). a.b  b.a

   
5). a.(b  c)  a.b  a.c
      
 b 1
a . k b  k ( a . b ) , for example : a . b  a .   (a.b)
       b b  
6). If k is a constant, then  

(D) : Vector Product ( Cross Product ) of 2 Vectors a b 2/5

 
a  b = ( a b sin  ) nˆ b
1).      
The direction can be determined by Right-hand-rule. a
Ө 
i j k
  
a  b  a1 a2 a3  (a2b3  a3b2 ) i  ( a1b3  a3b1 ) j  (a1b2  a2b1 )k
    
b1 b2 b3
2).
z
3).
 i  j  j  k  k  0 ;
i k
i
 j  k  , j  k  i , k  i  j ; 
j j
 i  - k , k  j  - i , i  k   - j  y
         i

If a  b  0 , then a // b and vice versa x x
   
4). a  b  - b  a
   
5). a  (b  c)  a  b  a  c
      
6). If k is a constant, then a  k b  k ( a  b )
1  
 AB  AC
7). Area of triangle ABC 2
 
 AB  AD
8). Area of parallelogram ABCD
(E) : Application of Dot & Cross Product of Vectors
1). Volume of a cuboid
 a b c
  
 ( a b sin 90) c
  
a  b c cos 0
c
 a  b (    ) 
  a  b b
  
 a  b.c
   a
2). Projections : 
C


AC 
AC  bˆ


 A E D
 b
AC . bˆ 


6.2 : Vector Geometry 3/5

b  ai  bj  ck
(A) : Line (a point A ( x1 , y1 , z1 ) on the line and a direction vector     are needed)
r  a  t b ( for example : r  ( 3i  2 j  k )  t ( 3i - j  8k ) )
1). Vector Equation of a line, l :          
 x   x1   a 
 y      t  b 
   y1 
 z   z   c 
   1   
Vector from the origin Position vector Direction
 vector
of the
line
pointing to the line of a point on the line (e.g. AB  OB - OA , simplified by factorization,
where t is just a constant )
2). Cartesian Equation of a line :
x - x1 y - y1 z - z1 x 1 y 2 z 3
  ( for example :   )
a b c 1 1 3
Must know :
i ). interchange both vector & Cartesian equations of a line.
ii ). given 2 points, form equation.
iii). show a given point is on a given line.
iv). direction vector of x-axis or parallel to x-axis = i ,
j
direction vector of y-axis or parallel to y-axis =  ,
direction vector of z-axis or parallel to z-axis = k

p  AC  bˆ
3).Shortest distance (perpendicular distance) from a point C to a line = 
Must know :

p  AC  bˆ
i ). given 1 point & 1 line, find p. (hint: using  )
 b b
p  AC . nˆ , where nˆ  1  2
  b1  b2
ii ). given 2 skewed lines, find p. (hint: using   )

p  AC  bˆ
iii). given 2 parallel lines, find p. (hint: using  )
iv). always use modulus sign when finding distance using dot product of vectors.

n  ai  bj  ck
(B) : Plane (a point A ( x1 , y1 , z1 ) on the plane and a normal vector     are needed)
r . n  d ( for example : r . ( 2 i - 2 j  k )  - 3 )
1). Vector Equation of a plane,  :      
 x   a 
 y  .  b   x1a  y1b  z1c
   
 z   c 
   
 Vector from the origin Normal vector to unique scalar for a specific plane
Pointing to the plane the plane

2). Cartesian Equation of a plane :


ax  by  cz  d where d  OA . n


4
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Must know :
i ). interchange both vector & Cartesian equations of a plane.
ii ). given 1 point on a plane & the normal vector, find the equation of plane.
iii). find the intersection point between a plane and x, y or z axis.
(e.g. for x-axis, y=0,z=0; substitute these into the plane’s Cartesian eq. to find x, i.e. (x,0,0))
iv). given 3 points on a plane,find the equation of the plane.
v ). given 2 points on a plane & a vector on the plane or a parallel line equation, find the equation of the
plane.
vi). given 1 point on a plane & 1 line equation on the plane, find the equation of plane.
vii).show a given point is on a given plane.
viii).show a given line is on a given plane.(hint: substitute the r of the line into the r of the plane and if the
dot product is equal to the value of d, then the line is on the plane)
ix). given 1 point, A above
 plane & 1 plane, find the perpendicular intersecting point, B from A to the plane.
(hint: find OB  OA  t n , then substitute the co-ordinates of B into the plane equation to find t)
x ). Given a line, l1 on a plane,  1 which is perpendicular to another plane  2 , find  1 .
(hint: n 1 of  1  n 2  b1 & obtain a point from l1)
p  r . nˆ
3). Shortest distance (perpendicular distance) from the origin to a plane =  

ax1  by1  cz1  d


4). Shortest distance from a point ( x1 , y1 , z1 ) to the plane ( ax  by  cz  d  0 ) a 2  b2  c2

(note: this formula is derived from p  p2  p1 and can be used directly)

(C) : Angles (All formulae in this part are derived using the dot product of 2 vectors) b

(if cos  is –ve, find also the acute angle of  )

1). Angle between 2 lines =  , (can be acute or obtuse), where

b .b
cos   1 2
b1 b2 n
 
2). Angle between a line & a plane =  , where b


 b.n
cos   sin  and sin     plane
b n 
 
3). Angle between 2 planes =  , where n2
n1 . n2  n1
cos     
n1 n2
  plane 1
 plane 2

5/5

(D) : Intersection
 a   b1 r  a  b2 ,
1). To find the intersecting point between lines l1: r1  1  & l2 : 2  2 
a1   b1 a2  b2
Steps: i ). Start with   =  
i ,j,k
ii ). Then equating the 3 coefficient of    respectively to find the values of  and  .
(note: the values of  and  must satisfy the 3 equations or otherwise the 2 lines not
intersecting)
iii). Substitute the values of  and  back into l1 or l2 to find the intersecting point.

2). To find the intersecting point between a line l, r  a  tb and a plane  , r . n  d ,
Steps: i ). Substitute the r of the line into the r of the plane to find the value of t.
ii ). Substitute the value of t back into the line equation to find the intersecting point.

3). To find the intersecting line between the plane  1 and  2 ,

Steps: i ). The direction vector of the intersecting line = n1  n 2
ii ). Find a point on the intersecting line by using Cartesian equations of  1 and  2 :
a). eliminate the variable z to obtain 1 equation with only x and y variables.
b). let x = any number which will cause y to be an integer.
c). substitute the values of x and y into one of the planes’ Cartesian equation to find z value.
d). write the intersecting line equation as r  a  tb

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