10 VECTOR ALGEBRA

KEY CONCEPT INVOLVED

1. Vector – A vector is a quantity having both magnitude and direction, such as displacement, velocity,
force and acceleration. 
AB is a directed line segment. It is a vector AB and its direction is from A to B.
A  B
Initial Points – The point A where from the vector AB starts is known as initial point.
Terminal Point – The point B, where it ends is said to be the terminal point.
Magnitude – The distance between initial point and terminal point of a vector is the magnitude or length
 
of the vector AB . It is denoted by | AB | or AB.

2. Position Vector – Consider a point p (x, y, z) in space. The vector OP with initial point, origin O and
terminal point P, is called the position vector of P.
Z
P (x, y, z)

Y
0

X
3. Types of Vectors
(i) Zero Vector Or Null Vector – A vector whose initial and terminal points coincide is known as zero

vector ( O ).
(ii) Unit Vector – A vector whose magnitude is unity is said to be unit vector. It is denoted as â so that
| aˆ | = 1.
(iii) Co-initial Vectors – Two or more vectors having the same initial point are called co-initialvectors.
(iv) Collinear Vectors – If two or more vectors are parallel to the same line, such vectors are known as
collinear vectors.
 
(v) Equal Vectors – If two vectors a and b have the same magnitude and direction regardless of the
 
positions of their initial points, such vectors are said to be equal i.e., a = b .

(vi) Negative of a vector – A vector whose magnitude is same as that of a given
 vector
AB , but the
direction is opposite to that of it, is known as negative of vector AB i.e., BA = – AB
4. Sum of Vectors  
 
(i) Sum of vectors a and b let the vectors a and b be so positioned that initial point of one coincides
     
with terminal point of the other. If a = AB , b = BC . Then the vector a + b is represented by the third
  
side of  ABC. i.e., AB + BC = AC ...(i)
 C


b

a+ 
b

A  B
a
This is known
 as 
the triangle law of vector addition.
Further AC = – CA
     
AB  BC   CA  AB  BC  CA = 0
when sidesof a triangle
 ABC are taken in order i.e. initial and terminal points coincides. Then
AB  BC  CA = 0
 
(ii) Parallelogram law of vector addition – If the two vectors a and b are represented by the two adjacent
 
sides OA and OB of a parallelogram OACB, then their sum a + b is represented in magnitude
  
and direction by the diagonal OC of parallelogram through their common point O i.e., OA  OB  OC
B C



b +b
a

O  A
a

5. Multiplication of Vector by a Scalar – Let a be the given vector and  be a scalar, then product of  and
 
a  a
 
(i) when  is +ve, then a and  a are in the same direction.
   
(ii) when is –ve. then a and  a are in the opposite direction. Also  a   a .
6. Components of Vector – Let us take the points A (1, 0, 0), B (0, 1, 0) and C (0, 0, 1) on the coordinate axes
     
OX, OY and OZ respectively. Now, | OA | = 1, | OB | = 1 and | OC | = 1, Vectors OA , OB and OC each

having magnitude 1 is known as unit vector. These are denoted by ˆi, ˆj and k̂ .
Z

k C (0, 0, 1)

j
0 Y
B
i (0, 1, 0)
A (1, 0, 0)

 X
Consider the vector OP , where P is the point (x, y, z). Now OQ, OR, OS are the projections of OP on
coordinates axes.
  
 O Q = x, O R = y, O S = z  OQ  xi, ˆ OR  yjˆ , OS  zkˆ
 Z

S
Zk
P (x, y, z)

r
yj
R Y

Q xi

X
  
 ˆ  yj,
OP  xi, ˆ  zkˆ , | OP |  x 2  y 2  z 2  | r |

x, y, z are called the scalar components and x ˆi , yˆj , zkˆ are called the vector components of vector OP .
7. Vector joining two points – Let P1(x1, y1, z1) and P2(x2, y2 z2) be the two points. Then vector joining the
   
points P1 and P2 is P1P2 . Join P1, P2 with O. Now OP 2  OP1  P1P2 (by triangle law)
Z P2 (x2, y2, z2)
P1(x1, y1, z1)

O Y

X
  
 P1P2  OP 2  OP1
= (x 2 ˆi  y 2 ˆj  z 2 k)
ˆ  (x ˆi  y ˆj  z k)
1 1 1
ˆ  (x  x ) ˆi  (y  y ) ˆj  (z  z ) kˆ
2 1 2 1 2 1
 2 2 2
P1P2  (x 2  x1 )  (y2  y1 )  (z 2  z1 )
8. Section Formula
PR m
(i) A line segment PQ is divided by a point R in the ratio m : n internally i.e., 
RQ n

m : n
 
P(a) R (
r) Q(b)
  
If a and b are the position vectors of P and Q then the position vector r of R is given by
 
 mb  na
r
mn
 
 ab
If R be the mid-point of PQ, then r 
2
 
(ii) when R divides PQ externally, i.e., | a  b | nˆ


P (
a) Q (b) R (
r)
  
 mb  na
Then r 
mn

9. Projection of vector along a directed line – Let the vector AB makes an angle  with directed line  .
  
Projection of AB on  = AB cos   AC  p.
B


A  C
P
 
The vector p is called the projection vector. Its magnitudes is b , which is known as projection of vector
  
AB . The angle  between AB and AC is given by
   
AB  AC  AB  AC
cos     , Now projection AC = | AB | cos   
| AB || AC | | AC |

  AC  
   p  
 AB     , If 
AB
 
 a, then AC  a      a  pˆ
 | AC |  |p|

    b  
Thus, the projection of a on b = a      a  bˆ
|b|

10. Scalar Product of Two Vectors (Dot Product) – Scalar Product of two vectors a and b is defined as
   
a  b  | a | | b | cos 

Where  is the angle between a and b (0 )
       
(i) when  = 0, then a  b  a b = ab Also a  a  a a  a.a  a 2

 iˆ  iˆ  ˆj  ˆj  kˆ  kˆ  1
     
(ii) when   , then a  b  | a | | b | cos  0
2 2
ˆi  ˆj  ˆj  kˆ  kˆ  ˆi  0

11. Vector Product of two Vectors (Cross Product) – The vector product of two non-zero vectors a and b ,
 
denoted by a  b is defined as
     
a  b = | a | | b | sin  nˆ , where  is the angle between a and b , 0     .
   
Unit vector n̂ is perpendicular to both vectors a and b such that a  b and n̂ form a right handed
orthogonal system.    
(i) If  = 0, then a  b = 0, a  a  0
and  ˆi  iˆ  ˆj  ˆj  kˆ  kˆ  0
   
(ii) If  =  / 2 , then a  b = | a  b | nˆ
ˆi  ˆj  k,
ˆ ˆj  kˆ  ˆi, kˆ  ˆi  ˆj
Also, ˆj  ˆi  k, ˆ kˆ  ˆj  ˆi and ˆi  kˆ  ˆj
 CONNECTING CONCEPTS

1.  Cosines – Let OX, OY, OZ be the positive coordinate axes, P (x, y, z) by any point in the space.
Direction
Let OP makes angles , ,  with coordinate, axes OX, OY, OZ. The angle , ,  are known as direction
angles, cosine of these angles i.e.,
Z

C
z z)
 P (x, y,
0  Y
x  y B
A

X
cos , cos , cos  are called direction cosines of line OP. these direction cosines are denoted by  , m, n
i.e.,  = cos , m = cos , n = cos 
2. Relation Between, l, m, n and Direction Ratios –

The perpendiculars PA, PB, PC are drawn on coordinate axes OX, OY, OZ reprectively. Let | OP | = r
x y
In  OAP,  A = 90°, cos  =   ,  x =  r , In  OBP..  B = 90°, cos  =  m  y = mr
r r
z
In  OCP,  C = 90°, cos  =  n ,  z = nr
r
Thus the coordinates of P may b expressed as (  r, mr, nr)
Also, OP2 = x2 + y2 + z2, r2 = (lr)2 + (mr)2 + (nr)2   2 + m2 + n2 = 1
Set of any there numbers, which are proportional to direction cosines are called direction ratio of the
vactor. Direction ratio are denoted by a, b and c.
The numbers  r mr and nr, proportional to the direction cosines, hence, they are also direction ratios of

vector OP .
3. Properties of Vector Addition –
     
1. For two vectors a, b the sum is commutative i.e., a  b  b  a
  
2. For three vectors a, b and c , the sum of vectors is associative i.e.,
     
(a + b) + c = a + (b + c)
       
4. Additive Inverse of Vector a – If there exists vector – a such that a + (– a) = a – a = 0 then – a is called

the additure inverse of a
 
5. Some Properties – Let a  a1 ˆi  a 2 ˆj  a 3 kˆ and b  b1 ˆi  b 2 ˆj  b3 kˆ
 
(i) a  b  (a1 ˆi  a 2 ˆj  a 3 k)
ˆ  ( b ˆi  b ˆj  b k)
1 2 3
ˆ = (a1 + b1) î + (a2 + b2) ĵ + (a3 + b3) k̂
 
(ii) a  b or (a1 ˆi  a 2 ˆj  a 3 k)
ˆ  ( b ˆi  b ˆj  b k)
1 2 3
ˆ  a1 = b1, a2 = b2, a3 = b3

(iii) a   (a1 ˆi  a 2 ˆj  a 3 k) ˆ = (a ) ˆi  (a ) ˆj  (a ) kˆ
1 2 3
   
(iv) a and b are parallel, if and only if there exists a non zero scalar  such that b  a
 i.e., b1 ˆi + b 2 ˆj + b3 kˆ =  (a1 ˆi + a 2 ˆj + a 3 k)
ˆ = (a ) ˆi  (a ) ˆj  (a ) kˆ
1 2 3

b1 b2 b
 b1 = a1, , b2 = a2, b3 = a3    3 
a1 a 2 a3

6. Properties of scalar product of two vectors (Dot Product)

 
ab
(i) cos    
|a ||b|
 
If a  a1 ˆi  a 2 ˆj  a 3 kˆ and b  b1 ˆi  b2 ˆj  b3 kˆ
  
Then, a  b  (a1 ˆi  a 2 ˆj  a 3 k)
ˆ  (b ˆi  b ˆj  b k) ˆ , a  b = a b + a b + a b
1 2 3 1 1 2 2 3 3
 
 a b a1b1  a 2 b2  a 3 b3
    
| a |  a12  a 22  a 32 , | b |  b12  b 22  b 32  cos | a || b | a12  a 22  a 32  b12  b22  b32
    
(ii) a  b is commutative i.e., a  b  b  a
     
(iii) If  is a scalar, then ( a)  b   (a  b)  a  ( b)

7. Properties of Vector Product of two Vectors (Cross Product) –

   
(i) (a) If a = 0 or b = 0, then a × b = 0
   
(b) If a  b, then a  b = 0
 
(ii) a  b is not commutative
       
i.e. a  b  b  a , but a  b  b  a
   
(iii) If a and b represent adjacent sides of a parallelogram, then its area | a  b |
  1  
(iv) If a, b represent the adjacent sides of a triangle, then its area = | a  b |
2
      
(v) Distributive property a  (b  c)  a  b  a  c
     
(a) If  be a scalar, then  (a  b)  ( a)  b  a  ( b)
 
(b) If a  a1ˆi  a 2 ˆj  a 3 k,
ˆ and b  b ˆi  b ˆj  b kˆ
1 2 3

ˆi ˆj kˆ
 
Then, a  b  a1 a 2 a 3
b1 b 2 b3

 
 
8 . If 1 1  are the direction angles of the vector a  a1ˆi  a 2 ˆj  a 3 kˆ . Then direction cosines of a are
given as
a1 a2 a3
cos  =  , cos  =  , cos  = 
a a a
  
9. Scalar Product of Two Vectors (Dot Product) – Scalar Product of two vectors a and b is defined as
   
a  b  a b cos 
   
where  is the angle between a and b  0    
 2
     
(i) When  = 0, then a  b  a b . Also a  a aa = a2
 ˆi  ˆi  ˆj  ˆj  kˆ  kˆ  1
     
(ii) When  = , a  b  a b cos  0
2 2

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