Calculus 3

Lia Vas

Review of vectors. The dot and cross products

Review of vectors in two and three dimensions. A two-dimensional vector is an ordered
pair ~a = ha1 , a2 i of real numbers. The coordinate representation of the vector q~
a corresponds to the
arrow from the origin (0, 0) to the point (a1 , a2 ). Thus, the length of ~a is |~a| = a21 + a22 . Analogously,
we have the following.

A three-dimensional vector is an ordered

triple
~a = ha1 , a2 , a3 i
of real numbers. The coordinate representation
of the vector ~a corresponds to the arrow from the
origin (0, 0, 0) to the point (a1 , a2 , a3 ).
The length of ~a is
q
|~a| = a21 + a22 + a23 .

Using the coordinate representation the vector addition and scalar multiplication can be realized
as follows.

Vector Addition - by coordinates ha1 , a2 , a3 i + hb1 , b2 , b3 i = ha1 + b1 , a2 + b2 , a3 + b3 i

Scalar multiplication - by coordinates kha1 , a2 , a3 i = hka1 , ka2 , ka3 i

This corresponds to the geometrical representation illustrated in the figure below.

Using its coordinates, a vector ~a = ha1 , a2 i in

xy-plane can be represented as a linear combina-
tion of vectors ~i = h1, 0i and ~j = h0, 1i as follows.
~a = a1~i + a2~j
The coordinates of a vector and geometrical
representation have analogous relation in three
dimensional space.

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 If ~i = h1, 0, 0i, ~j = h0, 1, 0i, and ~k = h0, 0, 1i and a vector ~a can be represented as ~a = ha1 , a2 , a3 i,
then
~a = a1~i + a2~j + a3~k.
In the next section, it will be relevant to determine the coordinates of the vector from one point
to the other. Let P = (a1 , a2 , a3 ) and Q = (b1 , b2 , b3 ), be two points in space. If O denotes the origin
−→ −→
(0, 0, 0), then the vector OP can be represented as ha1 , a2 , a3 i, and the vector OQ as hb1 , b2 , b3 i.
−→ −→ −→
Since OP + P Q = OQ we have that
−→ −→ −→
P Q = OQ − OP = hb1 , b2 , b3 i − ha1 , a2 , a3 i = hb1 − a1 , b2 − a2 , b3 − a3 i.

In some cases, we may need to find the vector

with same direction and sense as a nonzero vec-
tor ~a but of length 1. Such vector is called the
normalization of ~a.

The normalization of ~a is
the vector of length 1 in the direction of ~a,
â = |~~aa| .

Practice problems.

1. Let P be the point (2, −1) and Q be the point (1, 3). Determine and sketch the vector P~Q.

2. Let ~a = h2, −1i and ~b = h1, 3i. Sketch ~a + ~b, ~a − ~b, 2~a, 2~a − 3~b.

3. Let ~a = h3, 4, 0i and ~b = h−1, 4, 2i. Determine |~a|, 2~a + 3~b, 3~a − 2~b.

4. Let ~a = ~i + 4~j − 8~k and ~b = −2~i + ~j + 2~k. Determine |~a|, ~a + ~b, 2~a − 3~b.

5. Find the normalization of the vector ~a = ~i + 4~j + 8~k.

6. Find the normalization of the vector ~a = h3, 4, 0i.

Solutions. 1. P~Q = h−1, 4i 3. |~a| = 5, 2~a + 3~b = h3, 20, 6i, 3~a − 2~b = h11, 4,√−4i
~ ~ 2 2
√ 4. |~a| = 9, ~a +1 b =4h−1,85, −6i, 2~a − 3b = h8, 5, −22i 5. √ The length of ~a√is |~a| = 1 + 4 3+ 48 =
81 = 9 so â = 9~i + 9~j + 9 ~k 6. The length of ~a is |~a| = 32 + 42 + 02 = 25 = 5 so â = h 5 , 5 , 0i.

The Dot Product

If one is to define a meaningful product of two vectors, ~a = ha1 , a2 , a3 i and ~b = hb1 , b2 , b3 i,

the first idea that comes to mind would probably be to consider coordinate-wise multiplication
ha1 b1 , a2 b2 , a3 b3 i. However, since this type of product is geometrically not very meaningful nor appli-
cable, one consider two other types of multiplication, the dot and the cross product.

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 The dot product of vectors ~a = ha1 , a2 , a3 i and ~b = hb1 , b2 , b3 i is defined to be the scalar obtained
by adding the coordinates of our first attempt to define the product, ha1 b1 , a2 b2 , a3 b3 i. The notation
used for such product is ~a · ~b. Thus

~a · ~b = a1 b1 + a2 b2 + a3 b3 .

This product can be used to determine the angle between the vectors and, in particular, to test
whether two vectors are perpendicular to each other. If θ is the angle between two nonzero vectors
~a and ~b, then

~a · ~b = |~a||~b| cos θ

As a consequence, ~a and ~b are perpendicular

(or orthogonal) exactly when cos θ = 0 which, in
turn, happens exactly when ~a · ~b = 0. Thus,

~a and ~b are perpendicular if and only if ~a·~b = 0.

In case when ~a = ~b, θ = 0 and cos θ = 1, and the formula ~a · ~b = |~a||~b| cos θ becomes

~a · ~a = |~a|2

which relates the dot product and the length of a vector ~a.
Projection of one vector to another. In many physics applications, it is relevant to determine
the coordinates of a projection of one vector onto the other.
Let proj~b~a denote the projection of ~a onto ~b for given nonzero vectors ~a and ~b. The projection
of ~a onto ~b has the same direction and sense as vector ~b. The length of proj~b~a satisfies

|proj~b~a| = |a| cos θ.

Thus, proj~b~a can be obtained by multiplying its
length with the normalization of ~b.

~a · ~b ~b
proj~b~a = |proj~b~a| b̂ = |~a| cos θ b̂ = |~a| ⇒
|~a||~b| |~b|

~a · ~b ~
proj~b~a = b.
|~b|2
Practice problems.
1. Find the dot product of the vectors ~a = h1, 3, −4i and ~b = h−2, 3, 1i.

2. Find the angle between the vectors ~a = h3, 4i and ~b = h5, 12i.

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 3. Find the angle between the vectors ~a = h3, −1, 2i and ~b = h2, 4, −1i.

4. Find the projection of ~a onto ~b if ~a = h1, −1, 0i and ~b = h1, 0, 1i.

Solutions. 1. ~a · ~b = −2 + 9 − 4 = 3. 2. If θ denotes the angle between the vectors, then

~a·~b 15+48 63 −1
cos θ = |~a||~b| = (5)(13) = 65 = 969. θ = cos (.969) = .249 radians or 14.25 degrees.
~a·~b
3. cos θ = |~a||~b|
= |~a0||~b| = 0. So, θ = 90 degrees and the vectors are perpendicular.
~
4. proj~b~a = |~a~b|·b2 ~b = (√12)2 h1, 0, 1i = 21 h1, 0, 1i = h 12 , 0, 21 i.

The Cross Product

As opposed to the dot product which results in a scalar, the cross product of two vectors is again
a vector. If ~a and ~b are two vectors, their cross product is denoted by ~a × ~b.
The vector ~a × ~b is perpendicular to the plane determined by ~a and ~b. This determines the
direction of ~a × ~b. The sense of ~a × ~b is determined by the right hand rule: if ~a and is the thumb
and ~b the middle finger, the index finger has the same sense as ~a × ~b. Using the right hand rule, you
can see that the cross product is not not commutative, ~a × ~b 6= ~b × ~a in general, and that
~b × ~a = −~a × ~b.

The length of ~a × ~b is the same as the area of the parallelogram determined by ~a and ~b. If
θ is the angle between ~a and ~b, then

|~a × ~b| = |~a||~b| sin θ.

The cross product of ~a = ha1 , a2 , a3 i and ~b = hb1 , b2 , b3 i can be computed using the coordinates
as follows.
 ~i ~j ~k 
 

~a × ~b = ha2 b3 − a3 b2 , a3 b1 − a1 b3 , a1 b2 − a2 b1 i =  a1 a2 a3 
 
 b1 b2 b3 

Since |~a ×~b| = |~a||~b| sin θ, ~a and ~b are parallel exactly when sin θ = 0 which happens exactly when
~a × ~b = ~0. Thus,
~a and ~b are parallel if and only if ~a × ~b = ~0.

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Another way to check if the two vectors are parallel is to check if one is a scalar multiple of the other
(i.e. if ~a = k~b for some k). In this case, for ~b 6= ~0, the coordinates are such that ab11 = ab22 = ab33 .

Practice Problems.

1. Let ~a = h1, 2, 0i and ~b = h0, 3, 1i. Find ~a × ~b.

2. Do the same for ~a = 2~i + ~j − ~k and ~b = ~j + 2~k.

3. Let ~a = h−5, 3, 7i and ~b = h6, −8, 2i. Determine if the vectors are parallel, perpendicular or
neither.

4. Do the same for ~a = −~i + 2~j + 5~k and ~b = 3~i + 4~j − ~k.

5. Find a vector perpendicular to the plane through the points P (1, 0, 0), Q(0, 2, 0) and R(0, 0, 3)
and find the area of the triangle P QR.

6. Do the same for P (0, 0, 0), Q(1, −1, 1) and R(4, 3, 7).

Solutions. 1. h2, −1, 3i 2. 3~i − 4~j + 2~k

3. ~a ·~b = −40 6= 0 so the vectors are not perpendicular. Also, the coordinates are not proportional
−5 3
( 6 6= −8 6= 72 ) so the vectors are not parallel either. Alternatively, find that the cross product is
→
− →
−
a × b = h62, 52, 22i = 6 h0, 0, 0i so the vectors are not parallel.
~
4. ~a · b = 0, thus the vectors are perpendicular.
5. Since vectors P~Q and P~R are in the plane, their cross product P~Q × P~R is perpendicular to
the plane. Calculate P~Q = h−1, 2, 0i and P~R = h−1, 0, 3i, P~Q × P~R = h6, 3, 2i. The area of the
triangle determined by P, Q, and R is half of the area of the parallelogram determined √ by the vectors
P~Q and P~R which is the magnitude of P~Q × P~R. Thus the triangle area is 21 36 + 9 + 4 = 72 .
6. Similarly to previous problem, √ find a vector perpendicular to the plane to be h−10, −3, 7i and
the area of the triangle to be 158/2 = 6.28.