UFAZ-French Azerbaijani University

Basic Mathematics

Introduction to Vector Space

Mathematics Department
Contents
1 Vectors 1
1.1 Vectors from a geometric viewpoint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Addition and Subtraction of Vectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.1 The Sum of Vectors: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.2 The Difference of Vectors: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2.3 Scalar Multiple: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Vector Algebra Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3.1 Properties of Vector Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 Unit Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 Scalar (Dot) Product of two vectors 5

2.1 Definition of the Scalar (dot) product. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2 Algebraic Properties of the Scalar (dot) product. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.3 Angle between vectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.4 Perpendicular (Orthogonal) and parallel Vectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.5 Vector Projection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3 Cross Product of two vectors 9

3.1 Determinants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.2 Cross Product. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.3 Properties of the Cross Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.4 Geometric properties of the Cross Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1 Vectors
1.1 Vectors from a geometric viewpoint.
Vectors can be represented geometrically by arrows in two or three dimensional spaces as
follows

The direction of the arrow specifies the direction of the vector, and length of arrow
describes its magnitude. The first point of the arrow is called the initial point of the
vector. The end point of the arrow is called terminal point.

We denote vectors in lower case boldface type, such as v or or non-bold italic type
−→
accented by a right arrow such as ~v or as AB where A is the initial point B is the terminal
point.

If the initial point of a vector is at the origin, the vector is said to be in standard
position. If the terminal point of a vector has coordinates (x, y, z, ) in standard position,
we call these coordinates the components of ~v and ~v = (x, y, z) is called the component
form of the vector ~v .

The length (magnitude) of a vector is also called its modulus or its norm and it is
written as |~v |.
Using Pythagoras’ theorem, we can show that the magnitude of a vector ~v = (x, y, z) in
the standard position is
p
|~v | = x2 + y 2 + y 2

A(x, y, z)
~v
O
y

1
 Two vectors ~u and ~v are equal (equivalent) if they have the same length (magnitude) and
the same direction; we write ~u = ~v .

~u ~v

The vectors are said to be opposite if they have equal modulus but opposite directions;

it is written by ~u = −~v .

~u ~v

Two vectors are called collinear, if they lie on the same line or parallel lines.

If the initial and terminal points of a vector coincide, the vector has length zero; we call
this the zero vector and denote it by ~0.
The zero vector does not have a specific direction, so we will agree that it can be assigned
any convenient direction in a specific problem.

1.2 Addition and Subtraction of Vectors.

1.2.1 The Sum of Vectors:
If ~u and ~v are vectors, the sum ~u + ~v is the vector from the initial point of ~u to the terminal
point of ~v , when the vectors are positioned so that the initial point of ~v is the terminal point
of ~u, as follows.

~u
~v
~u + ~v

Figure 1: Triangular Rule

Equivalently, ~u + ~v is also the diagonal of the parallelogram whose sides are ~u and ~v .

2
 ~u

~u + ~v
~v

Figure 2: Parallelogram rule

1.2.2 The Difference of Vectors:

~ = ~u − ~v is a vector such that ~u = ~v + w.
The vector w ~ It is defined geometrically as follows

~v ~v
~ = ~u − ~v
w ~ = ~u − ~v
w
~u ~u

1.2.3 Scalar Multiple:

If k is a positive number, k~v is a vector of magnitude k|~v | and in the same direction as ~v . If
k is negative, k~v has magnitude |k| · |~v | and is in the opposite direction ~v .

k~v
k<0
~v

k~v
k>0

1.3 Vector Algebra Operations

Theorem 1.1. If ~u = (u1 , u2 , u3 ) and ~v = (v1 , v2 , v3 ) and k is any real number, then

Addition: ~u + ~v = (u1 + v1 , u2 + v2 , u3 + v3 )

Scalar multiplication: k~u = (ku1 , ku2 , ku3 )

3
 −→
Theorem 1.2. If the initial point of the vector is not at the origin, that is if AB is a vector
with initial point A(x1 , y1 , z1 ) and terminal point B(x2 , y2 , z2 ), then
−→
AB = (x2 − x1 , y2 − y1 , z2 − z1 ) and
−→ p
|AB| = (x2 − x1 )2 + (y2 − y1 )2 + (z2 − z1 )2

Note: |k~v | = |k||~v |, k is any number, since

p q
|k~v | = (kv1 )2 + (kv2 )2 + (kv3 )2 = |k| v12 + v22 + v32 = |k||~v |

1.3.1 Properties of Vector Operations

Theorem 1.3. Let ~u, ~v , w
~ be vectors and k, l be scalars. Then

1. ~u + ~v = ~v + ~u

2. (~u + ~v ) + w
~ = ~u + (~v + w)
~

3. ~u + ~0 = ~u

4. ~u + (−~u) = ~0

5. 0~u = ~0

6. 1~u = ~u

7. k(l~u) = (kl)~u

8. k(~u + ~v ) = (k~u + k~v )

9. (k + l)~u = k~u + l~u

These properties are readily verified using the definitions of vector addition and multi-
plication by a scalar.

1.4 Unit Vectors

A vector of length 1 is called a unit vector. In two dimensional space, a vector ~i = (1, 0)
and ~j = (0, 1) are unit vectors along the x-axis and y-axis, and they are called the base
vectors of the 2-dimnensional space.

In three dimensional space, the unit vectors along the axis are ~i = (1, 0, 0), ~j = (0, 1, 0)
and ~k = (0, 0, 1). The vectors ~i, ~j and ~k are called the base vectors of the 3-dimnensional
space.

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 It follows immediately that each vector in 3-dimensional space can be expressed uniquely
in terms of ~i,~j and ~k as follows:

~u = (x, y, z) = (x, 0, 0) + (0, y, 0) + (0, 0, z) = x(1, 0, 0) + y(0, 1, 0) + (0, 0, 1) = x~i + y~j + z~k
−→
So, for example, |AB| = (3, −3, 9) = 3~i − 3~j − 9~k.
Unit vectors can be found in any direction not only in the direction of the axis. The unit
vector ~v in the same direction ~u is
1
v= ~u
|~u|
Since  1  1
|~v | =  ~u = |~u| = 1
 
|~u| |~u|

2 Scalar (Dot) Product of two vectors

2.1 Definition of the Scalar (dot) product.
Definition 2.1. If ~u = (u1 , u2 ) and ~v = (v1 , v2 ) are vectors in two dimensional space, then
the dot product of ~u and ~v is written by ~u · ~v and is defined as

~u · ~v = u1 v1 + u2 v2

Similarly if ~u = (u1 , u2 , u3 ) and ~v = (v1 , v2 , v3 ) are vectors in three dimensional space,

then dot product of ~u and ~v is defined

~u · ~v = u1 v1 + u2 v2 + u3 v3

Example 2.1. If ~u = (2, −6) and ~v = (5, 2), then ~u · ~v = 2 · 5 + (−6) · 2 = 10 − 12 = −2

2.2 Algebraic Properties of the Scalar (dot) product.

The following theorem provides some of the basic algebraic properties of the dot product.
Theorem 2.1. If ~u, ~v and w
~ are vectors in two or three dimensional spaces and k is a
scalar, then,
(a) ~u · ~v = ~v · ~u
(b) ~u · (~v + w)
~ = ~u~v + ~uw
~
(c) k(~u · ~v ) = (k~u)~v = ~u(k~v )
√
(d) ~v · ~v = |~v |2 or |~v | = ~v · ~v
(e) ~0 · ~v = 0

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2.3 Angle between vectors.
Suppose ~u and ~v are nonzero vectors in two or three dimensional space that are positioned
so their initial points coincide.
We define the angle between ~u and ~v to be the angle θ determined by the vectors that
satisfies the condition 0 ≤ θ ≤ π.

~v
~u ~u ~u
θ θ θ
θ
~v ~v ~u ~v

Theorem 2.2. If ~u and ~v are nonzero vectors in two dimensional space or three dimensional
space, and if θ is the angle between them, then

~u · ~v
cos θ =
|~u||~v |
Proof. Suppose that the vectors ~u, ~v and ~v −~u are positioned to form three sides of a triangle,
as shown here.

~v − ~u
~u
θ
~v

It follows from the law of cosines that

|~v − ~u|2 = |~v |2 + |~u|2 − 2|~v ||~u| cos θ

Using the properties of the dot product, we can write

|~v −~u|2 = (~v −~u) · (~v −~u) = (~v −~u) ·~v − (~v −~u) ·~u = ~v ·~v −~u ·~v −~v ·~u +~u ·~u = |~v |2 − 2~v ·~u + |~u|2

Then,
|~v |2 + |~u|2 − 2|~v ||~u| cos θ = |~v |2 − 2~v · ~u + |~u|2
Which we can simplify and rewrite as

~v · ~u = |~v ||~u| cos θ

6
Finally,
~u · ~v
cos θ =
|~u||~v |

Example 2.2. Find the angle between the vector ~u = ~i − 2~j + 2~k and ~v = −3~i + 6~j + 2~k

Solution.
~u · ~v 1 · (−3) + (−2) · 6 + 2 · 2 −11 11
cos θ = =p p = =−
|~u||~v | 2 2 2 2
1 + (−2) + 2 · (−3) + 6 + 2 2 2 2·7 21

Thus,  11 
θ = cos−1 − = 2.12 rad
21

2.4 Perpendicular (Orthogonal) and parallel Vectors.

Two nonzero vectors ~u and ~v are perpendicular or orthogonal if the angle between them
is π2 .
For such vectors, we have ~u · ~v = 0, because cos π2 = 0. The converse is also true. If ~u
and ~v are nonzero vectors with ~u · ~v = |~u||~v | cos θ = 0, then cos θ = 0 and θ = cos−1 (0) = π2 .
If two vectors ~u and ~v are parallel (~u//~v ) , then angle between these vectors is 0 or π. In
this case scalar product is 1 or -1. If two vectors have same direction scalar product of them
is 1. If two vectors in opposite direction then scalar product of them is -1.

2.5 Vector Projection.

Let us consider the following figure.

~u
~u
~v
proj~v ~u ~v proj~v ~u

The vector projection of ~u onto a nonzero vector ~v is the vector determined by dropping
a perpendicular from endpoints of vector ~u to the line containing ~v . The notation for this
vector is
proj~v ~u (the vector projection of ~u onto ~v )

1. If the angle θ between ~u and ~v is acute, proj~v ~u has length |~u| cos θ and direction ~v /|~v |.

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 2. If θ is obtuse, cos θ < 0 and , proj~v ~u has length −|~u| cos θ has length and direction
−~v /|~v |.

In both cases,

~v  |~u||~v |  ~v  ~u · ~v  ~v  ~u · ~v 
proj~v ~u = (|~u| cos θ) · = cos θ · = · = · ~v
|~v | |~v | |~v | |~v | |~v | |~v |2

The number |~u| cos θ is called the scalar component of ~u in the direction of ~v (or
of ~u onto ~v ).
To summarize,
The vector projection of ~u onto ~v is the vector
 ~u · ~v 
proj~v ~u = · ~v
|~v |2

The scalar component of ~u in the direction of ~v is the scalar

~u · ~v
|~u| cos θ =
|~v |

Note that both the vector projection of ~u onto ~v and the scalar component of ~u onto ~v
depend only on the direction of the vector ~v and not its length (because we dot |~u| cos θ with
~v
|~v |
which is the direction of ~v ).

Example 2.3. Find the vector projection of ~u = 6~i + 3~j + 2~k onto ~v = ~i − 2~j − 2~k and the
scalar component of ~u in the direction of ~v .

Solution.
 ~u · ~v  6−6−4 ~ 4 9~ 8~
proj~v ~u = · ~v = · (i − 2~j − 2~k) = − ~i + j+ k
|~v |2 1+4+4 9 9 9

~u · ~v 6−6−4 4
|~u| cos θ = = √ = −√
|~v | 9 9

8
3 Cross Product of two vectors
3.1 Determinants
Definition 3.1. Determinant is a function that assigns numerical values to square arrays
of numbers.
Definition 3.2. If a1 , a2 , b1 , and b2 are real numbers, then we define a 2 × 2 determinant
by,

a1 a2
= a1 b2 − a2 b1
b1 b2

Example 3.1.  
3 −2
4 1  = 3 · 1 − (−2) · 4 = 3 − (−8) = 11
 

Definition 3.3. A 3 × 3 determinant is defined in terms of 2 × 2 determinants by

 
a1 a2 a3       
   b2 b3   b1 b3   b1 b2 
c2 c3  − a2 c1 c3  + a3 c1 c2 
 b 1 b 2 b 3  = a1       (3.1)
 
 c1 c2 c3 

2 × 2 determinants on the right side arise by deleting the first row and an appropriate
column the left side. The pattern is as follows:

a1 a2 a3 a1 a2 a3 a1 a2 a3 a1 a2 a3
b1 b2 b3 = a1 b1 b2 b3 −a2 b1 b2 b3 +a3 b1 b2 b3
c1 c2 c3 c1 c2 c3 c1 c2 c3 c1 c2 c3

Example 3.2.
 
1 −2 0       
2 2 −4 = 1  2 −4 − (−2) 2 −4 + 0 2 2 
       
  −4 −1 3 −1 3 −4
3 −4 −1
= 1 · (−18) + 2 · 10 + 0 · (−14) = 2
Theorem 3.1.

a) If two rows of a determinant are the same, then the value of the determinant is 0.
b) Interchanging two rows in the array of a determinant multiplies its value by −1

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3.2 Cross Product.
We define The cross product in three dimensional space.
Definition 3.4. If ~u = (u1 , u2 , u3 ) and ~v = (v1 , v2 , v3 ) are vectors in three dimensional space,
then the cross product ~u × ~v is the vector defined by
     
u2 u3  u1 u3  u1 u2 
~u × ~v =  ~i −  ~  ~
v2 v3   v1 v3  j +  v1 v2  k (3.2)

Or equivalently,

~u × ~v = (u2 v3 − u3 v2 )~i − (u1 v3 − u3 v1 )~j + (u1 v2 − u2 v1 )~k

The right side of (3.2) has the same form as the right side of (3.1) Thus we can write
informally (3.2) as
 ~i ~j ~k 
 
 
~u × ~v = b1 b2 b3  (3.3)
 c1 c2 c3 
However, this is just a mnemonic device and not a true determinant since the entries in
a determinant are numbers, not vectors.

3.3 Properties of the Cross Product

The main algebraic properties of the cross product are listed in the next theorem.
Theorem 3.2. If ~u, ~v and w
~ are any vectors in three dimensional space and k is any scalar,
then:

1. ~u × ~v = −~v × ~u

2. ~u × (~v + w)
~ = (~u × ~v ) + (~u × w)
~

3. (~u + ~v ) × w
~ = (~u × w)
~ + (~v × w)
~

4. k(~u × ~v ) = (k~u) × ~v = ~u × (k~v )

5. ~u × ~0 = ~0 × ~u = ~0

6. ~u × ~u = ~0

Example 3.3. Let ~u = (1, 3 − 2) and ~v = (2, 0, 1). Find

1. ~u × ~v

2. ~v × ~u

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Solution.
     
3 −2 1 −2 1 3 
1. ~u × ~v =  ~i −  ~  ~ ~ ~ ~
0 1 2 1  j + 2 0 k = 3i − 5j − 6k.

2. ~v × ~u = −~u × ~v = −(3~i − 5~j − 6~k) = −3~i + 5~j + 6~k.

Note: Using the definition of the cross product we can easily prove that, nonzero vectors
~u and ~v are parallel if and only if ~u × ~v = 0.

It is easy to obtain, that for basis vectors

~i × ~j = ~k ~j × ~k = ~i ~k × ~i = ~j
~j × ~i = −~k ~k × ~j = −~i ~i × ~k = −~j

~k ~j

~i

Figure 3: Diagram for recalling these products

For example:
     
0 0  1 0  1 0 
~i × ~j =  ~  ~   ~
1 0  i − 0 0  j + 0 1  = k

3.4 Geometric properties of the Cross Product

Theorem 3.3. If ~u and ~v are vectors in three dimensional space, then
1. ~u · (~u × ~v ) = 0 (~u × ~v is orthogonal to ~u)
2. ~v · (~u × ~v ) = 0 (~u × ~v is orthogonal to ~v )
Proof. a) Let ~u = (u1 , u2 , u3 ) and ~v = (v1 , v2 , v3 ). Using the definition of the cross product

~u × ~v = (u2 v3 − u3 v2 , u3 v1 − u1 v3 , u1 v2 − u2 v1 )

so that

~u · (~u × ~v ) = u1 (u2 v3 − u3 v2 ) + u2 (u3 v1 − u1 v3 ) + u3 (u1 v2 − u2 v1 ) = 0

11
 Example 3.4. Find the vector that is orthogonal to both of the vectors ~u = (2, −1, 3) and
~v = (1, 4, −2).
Solution. According to the theorem 3.3, the vector ~u × ~v will be orthogonal to both ~u and ~v .
Then,

     
−1 3  2 3  2 −1
~u × ~v =  ~i −  ~  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
4 −2 1 −2 j + 1 4  k = −14i − (−7)j + 7k = −14i + 7j + 7k

It can be proved that if ~u and ~v are nonzero and nonparallel vectors, the direction of
~u × ~v relative to ~u and ~v is determined by a right-hand rule. That is the fingers of the
right hand are cupped so they curl from ~u toward ~v in the direction of rotation that takes ~u
into ~v in less than 1800 , then the thumb will point in the direction of ~u × ~v

~u × ~v

~u

~v

Figure 4: A Right-Hand rule

The next theorem lists some more important geometric properties of the cross product.
Theorem 3.4. Let ~u and ~v are nonzero vectors in three dimensional space, and let θ be
the angle between these vectors when they are positioned so their initial points are coincide.
Then,

1. |~u × ~v | = |~u||~v | sin θ

2. The area A of the parallelogram that has ~u and ~v as adjacent sides is

A = |~u × ~v |

3. The area A of the triangle that has ~u and ~v as adjacent sides is

1
A = |~u × ~v |
2
12
Proof. a)
p
|~u × ~v | = (u2 v3 − u3 v2 )2 + (u1 v3 − u3 v1 )2 + (u1 v2 + u2 v1 )2
q
= (u21 + u22 + u23 )(v12 + v22 + v32 ) − (u1 v1 + u2 v2 + u3 v3 )2
s
p (~u · ~v )
= |~u|2 |~v |2 − (~u · ~v )2 = |~u||~v | 1 − 2 2
|~u| |~v |
√
= |~u||~v | 1 − cos2 θ = |~u||~v | sin θ

b) Referring accompanying figure, the parallelogram that has ~u and ~v as adjacent sides,
then its area A is
A = (base)(altitude) = |~u||~v | sin θ = |~u × ~v |

~v
|~v |
|~v | sin θ
θ
|~u| ~u

Figure 5: Parallelogram

c) The proof of c) is similar to b).

Scalar triple product (Mixed product)

The scalar triple product is defined as the dot product of one of the vectors with the
cross product of the other two
Geometrical interpretation.
~ in R3 represent adjacent sides of a parallelepiped P with ~u, ~v , w
Let the vectors ~u, ~v , w ~
forming a right-handed system.
Recall that volume V of a parallelepiped P is the area of the base parallelogram times
the height h.
V =A·h
Using cross product A = |w
~ × ~v | = |w|
~ |~v | sin ϕ

h = |~u| cos θ

Therefore V = |w|
~ |~v | sin ϕ |~u| cos θ = |~u| · |w
~ × ~v | cos θ = |~u (~v × w)|
~ Geometrically, the

13
 Figure 6: Mixed product

scalar triple product ~u · (~v × w)~ is the volume of the parallelepiped defined by the three
vectors given.
~ form a left-handed system ~u · (~v × w)
If ~u, ~v , w ~ = −V . So taking the absolute value of
the scalar triple product for any order of the adjacent sides will always give the volume.
Theorem. If vectors ~u, ~v , w ~ in R3 represent any three adjacent sides of a parallelepiped,
then the volume of the parallelepiped is

V = |~u · (~v × w)|

~ .

Properties

1. ~u · (~v × w)
~ = ~v · (w
~ × ~u) = w
~ · (~u × ~v )

2. u (~v × w)
~ = (~u × ~v ) · w
~

3. ~u (~v × w)
~ = −~u (w
~ × ~v )

4. if any two vectors in the scalar triple product are equal, then its value is zero

~u · (~u × ~v ) = ~u · (~v × ~u) = ~u · (~v × ~v ) = 0

Computing the scalar triple product

~ = (w1 , w2 , w3 ) in R3 :
Theorem. For any vectors ~u (u1 , u2 , u3 ), ~v (v1 , v2 , v3 ), w
 
 u1 u2 u3 
 
~u · (~v × w)
~ =  v1 v2 v3 
 w1 w2 w3 

14
 Example 1. Find the volume of the parallelepiped with adjacent sides ~u (2, 1, 3),
~ (1, 1, −2)
~v (−1, 3, 2), w
Solution:  
 2 1 3 
 
~ =  −1 3 2  = −28. So volume V = |−28| = 28.
~u · (~v × w)
 1 1 −2 

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