Engineering Mathematics I Lecture 9: Vector Differential Prof. Dr.

Emad Al-Hemiary
Second Year, First Semester Calculus
2022-2023

Definitions
𝑺𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒓: 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 (𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒)
𝐸𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠: 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒, 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ, 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑, …
Quantity =
𝑽𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓: 𝐷𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑤)
{ 𝐸𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠: 𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒, 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑, …

A vector in the plane is a directed line segment. The directed B

line segment has initial point A and terminal point B; its
length is denoted by |𝐴𝐵 |. Two vectors are equal if they have A
the same length and direction. Plane

Vectors in Space
If 𝑎⃑ is a three-dimensional vector equal to the vector with initial point at the origin and terminal
point (𝑎1 , 𝑎2 , 𝑎3 ), then the component form of 𝑎⃑ is:
𝑎⃑ = 𝑎1 , 𝑎2 , 𝑎3
or can be written as: 𝑧

⃑⃑
𝑎⃑ = 𝑎1 𝑖⃑ + 𝑎2 𝑗⃑ + 𝑎3 𝑘
(𝑎1 , 𝑎2 , 𝑎3 )
⃑⃑ are the symbolic representation of 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑧
Note that 𝑖⃑, 𝑗⃑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑘 𝑎⃑
respectively. 𝑎3

The magnitude or length of the vector 𝑎⃑ is: 𝑦

𝑎2 𝑎1
𝑥
|𝑎⃑| = √𝑎12 + 𝑎22 + 𝑎32 (9.1)
𝑧
The magnitude or length of the vector 𝑣⃑ is:
(𝑏1 , 𝑏2 , 𝑏3 )
|𝑣⃑| = √𝑣12 + 𝑣22 + 𝑣32 (𝑎1 , 𝑎2 , 𝑎3 ) 𝑣⃑

= √(𝑏1 − 𝑎1 )2 + (𝑏2 − 𝑎2 )2 + (𝑏3 − 𝑎3 )2 (9.2)

𝑦

𝑥
Properties of Vectors:
• Addition: 𝑎⃑ + 𝑏⃑⃑ = 𝑎1 + 𝑏1 , 𝑎2 + 𝑏2 , 𝑎3 + 𝑏3
• Commutativity: 𝑎⃑ + 𝑏⃑⃑ = 𝑏⃑⃑ + 𝑎⃑
• Scalar multiplication: 𝑘𝑎⃑ = 𝑘𝑎1 , 𝑘𝑎2 , 𝑘𝑎3
• Associativity: (𝑢 ⃑⃑ + 𝑣⃑) + 𝑤 ⃑⃑ + (𝑣⃑ + 𝑤
⃑⃑⃑ = 𝑢 ⃑⃑⃑)
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 Engineering Mathematics I Lecture 9: Vector Differential Prof. Dr. Emad Al-Hemiary
Second Year, First Semester Calculus
2022-2023

• Zero vector: 𝑎⃑ + ⃑0⃑ = ⃑0⃑ + 𝑎⃑ = 𝑎⃑ ⃑0⃑: 𝑍𝑒𝑟𝑜 𝑣𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟

• 𝑎⃑ + (−𝑎⃑) = ⃑0⃑
• 𝑐(𝑎⃑ + 𝑏⃑⃑ ) = 𝑐𝑎⃑ + 𝑐𝑏⃑⃑ 𝑐: 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑟

Example 9.1: A vector with initial point 𝑃: (4,0,2) and terminal point 𝑄: (6, −1,2). Find its
components and length.
Solution:
Let 𝑎⃑ = 𝑎1 , 𝑎2 , 𝑎3
𝑎1 = 6 − 4 = 2, 𝑎2 = −1 − 0 = −1, 𝑎3 = 2 − 2 = 0
𝑎⃑ = 2, −1,0

𝐿𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑎⃑ = |𝑎| = √22 + (−1)2 + 02 = √5

The Dot (Inner) Product

Give two vectors 𝑎⃑ = (𝑎1 , 𝑎2 , 𝑎3 ) and 𝑏⃑⃑ = (𝑏1 , 𝑏2 , 𝑏3 ), the dot product is a scalar value between
𝑎⃑ and 𝑏⃑⃑ is based on the projection of one vector onto another.

𝑎⃑ ⋅ 𝑏⃑⃑ = |𝑎||𝑏| cos 𝜃 (9.3)

𝑎⃑ ⋅ 𝑏⃑⃑ = 𝑎1 𝑏1 + 𝑎2 𝑏2 + 𝑎3 𝑏3 (9.4)
Where, ∙ is the dot operator. projection of 𝑎⃑ on 𝑏⃑⃑

As shown in the figure aside, the angle 𝜃 between two vectors

𝑎⃑ 𝑏⃑⃑
𝑎⃑ and 𝑏⃑⃑ is found from the dot product in (9.1) as:

𝑎⃑ ⋅ 𝑏⃑⃑ 𝜃
𝜃 = cos−1 ( ) (9.5)
|𝑎||𝑏|

𝑎⃑ 𝑎⃑
𝑎⃑
𝑏⃑⃑
𝑏⃑⃑
𝜃 𝜃 𝜃
𝑏⃑⃑ 𝑎⃑ 𝑏⃑⃑

𝜋 𝜋 𝜃=0
𝜋 𝜃=± <𝜃<𝜋
0<𝜃< 2 2 𝑎⃑ ⋅ 𝑏⃑⃑ = |𝑎||𝑏|
2
𝑎⃑ ⋅ 𝑏⃑⃑ = 0
𝑎⃑ ⋅ 𝑏⃑⃑ > 0 𝑎⃑ ⋅ 𝑏⃑⃑ < 0
𝑎⃑ and 𝑏⃑⃑ are orthogonal 2
 Engineering Mathematics I Lecture 9: Vector Differential Prof. Dr. Emad Al-Hemiary
Second Year, First Semester Calculus
2022-2023

Example 9.2: Find the dot product, length, and the angle between the vectors 𝑎⃑ = 1,2,0 and 𝑏⃑⃑ =
3, −2,1
Solution:
From Eq. 9.4:

𝑎⃑ ⋅ 𝑏⃑⃑ = (1)(3) + (2)(−2) + (0)(1) = −1

From Eq. (9.1):

𝐿𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑎⃑ = |𝑎⃑| = √12 + 22 + 02 = √5

𝐿𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑏⃑⃑ = |𝑏⃑⃑| = √32 + (−2)2 + 12 = √14

From Eq. (9.4):

𝑎⃑ ⋅ 𝑏⃑⃑ −1 −1
𝜃 = cos −1 ( ) = cos−1 ( ) = cos −1 ( ) = cos −1(−0.1195) = 96.860
|𝑎⃑||𝑏⃑⃑| √5√14 √5√14

Properties of Dot Product:

• Linearity: (𝑘1 𝑎⃑ + 𝑘2 𝑏⃑⃑) ∙ 𝑐⃑ = 𝑘1 𝑎⃑ ∙ 𝑐⃑ + 𝑘2 𝑏⃑⃑ ∙ 𝑐⃑
• Symmetry: 𝑎⃑ ⋅ 𝑏⃑⃑ = 𝑏⃑⃑ ⋅ 𝑎⃑
• 𝑎⃑ ⋅ 𝑎⃑ ≥ 0
• 𝑎⃑ ⋅ 𝑎⃑ = 0 if and only if 𝑎⃑ = 0
• Distributivity: (𝑎⃑ + 𝑏⃑⃑ ) ∙ 𝑐⃑ = 𝑎⃑ ∙ 𝑐⃑ + 𝑏⃑⃑ ∙ 𝑐⃑
• Cauchy-Shwarz inequality: |𝑎⃑ ∙ 𝑏⃑⃑| ≦ |𝑎⃑||𝑏⃑⃑| cos 𝜃 ≤ 1
• Triangle inequality: |𝑎⃑ + 𝑏⃑⃑| ≦ |𝑎⃑| + |𝑏⃑⃑|
2 2 2
• Parallelogram equality: |𝑎⃑ + 𝑏⃑⃑| + |𝑎⃑ − 𝑏⃑⃑| = 2 (|𝑎⃑|2 + |𝑏⃑⃑| )

The Cross (Vector) Product

The cross product is a vector describing how a plane is
tilting. This is accomplished by multiplying two vectors in
the plane together to get a third vector perpendicular to the
plane. The direction of this third vector tells us the
“inclination” of the plane.

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 Engineering Mathematics I Lecture 9: Vector Differential Prof. Dr. Emad Al-Hemiary
Second Year, First Semester Calculus
2022-2023

⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑ = (|𝑢
𝑢 ⃑⃑||𝑣⃑| sin 𝜃)𝑛⃑⃑ (9.5)
Where, × is the cross operator.

In a similar way:
⃑⃑ = (|𝑣⃑||𝑢
𝑣⃑ × 𝑢 ⃑⃑| sin 𝜃)(−𝑛⃑⃑)
The cross product can be found using matrix determinant:

𝑖⃑ 𝑗⃑ ⃑⃑
𝑘
𝑢
⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑ = |𝑢1 𝑢2 𝑢3 | (9.6)
𝑣1 𝑣2 𝑣3
𝑢2 𝑢3 𝑢1 𝑢3 𝑢1 𝑢2
𝑢
⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑ = |𝑣 ⃑⃑
2 𝑣3 | 𝑖⃑ − |𝑣1 𝑣3 | 𝑗⃑ + |𝑣1 𝑣2 | 𝑘
= (𝑢2 𝑣3 − 𝑢3 𝑣2 )𝑖⃑ − (𝑢1 𝑣3 − 𝑢3 𝑣1 )𝑗⃑
+ (𝑢1 𝑣2 − 𝑢2 𝑣1 )𝑘 ⃑⃑

The magnitude of the vector 𝑢

⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑ is the area of the
parallelogram:
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚 = |𝑢
⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑| = |𝑢
⃑⃑||𝑣⃑| sin 𝜃 (9.7)

Example 9.3: Given 𝑢

⃑⃑ = (1,1,0), 𝑣⃑ = (3,0,0) find the cross product
𝑢
⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑
𝑧
Solution:

𝑖⃑ 𝑗⃑ 𝑘 ⃑⃑ 𝑖⃑ 𝑗⃑ 𝑘 ⃑⃑
1 0 1 0 1 1 ⃑⃑
𝑢
⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑ = |𝑢1 𝑢2 𝑢3 | = |1 1 0| = | | 𝑖⃑ − | | 𝑗⃑ + | |𝑘
0 0 3 0 3 0 𝑢
⃑⃑ 𝑦
𝑣1 𝑣2 𝑣3 3 0 0 𝑣⃑ (1,1,0)

= 0𝑖⃑ + 0𝑗⃑ − 3𝑘⃑⃑ = −3𝑘 ⃑⃑ = (0,0,3) (3,0,0)

𝑥 𝑢
⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑
(0,0, −3)

Properties of Cross Product:

• ⃑⃑ , 𝑗⃑ × 𝑘
𝑖⃑ × 𝑗⃑ = 𝑘 ⃑⃑ = 𝑖⃑, 𝑘
⃑⃑ × 𝑖⃑ = 𝑗⃑
• 𝑗⃑ × 𝑖⃑ = −𝑘 ⃑⃑ , 𝑘
⃑⃑ × 𝑗⃑ = −𝑖⃑, 𝑖⃑ × 𝑘 ⃑⃑ = −𝑗⃑
• 𝑚𝑢 ⃑⃑ × 𝑚𝑣⃑ = 𝑚(𝑢 ⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑) 𝑚: 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑟
⃑⃑⃑ × (𝑢
𝑤 ⃑⃑ + 𝑣⃑) = 𝑤⃑⃑⃑ × 𝑢
⃑⃑ + 𝑤
⃑⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑
• Distributivity: {
(𝑢⃑⃑ + 𝑣⃑) × 𝑤 ⃑⃑⃑ = 𝑢
⃑⃑ × 𝑤
⃑⃑⃑ + 𝑣⃑ × 𝑤
⃑⃑⃑
• Not commutative: 𝑢 ⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑ = −(𝑢 ⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑)
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 Engineering Mathematics I Lecture 9: Vector Differential Prof. Dr. Emad Al-Hemiary
Second Year, First Semester Calculus
2022-2023

• Not associative: 𝑤
⃑⃑⃑ × (𝑢
⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑) ≠ (𝑤
⃑⃑⃑ × 𝑢
⃑⃑) × 𝑣⃑

Triple Scalar or Box Product

The product (𝑢 ⃑⃑⃑ is called triple

⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑) ∙ 𝑤
scalar product of 𝑢 ⃑⃑, 𝑣⃑, and 𝑤 ⃑⃑⃑ in that
order.
𝑢1 𝑢2 𝑢3
(𝑢 ⃑⃑⃑ = | 𝑣1
⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑) ∙ 𝑤 𝑣2 𝑣3 | (9.8)
𝑤1 𝑤2 𝑤3
From which we can calculate the volume
of the parallelepiped:
|(𝑢 ⃑⃑⃑| = |𝑢
⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑) ∙ 𝑤 ⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑||𝑤
⃑⃑⃑||cos 𝜃| (9.9)

Example 9.4: Find the volume of the box (parallelepiped) determined by: 𝑢 ⃑⃑ , 𝑣⃑ =
⃑⃑ = 𝑖⃑ + 2𝑗⃑ − 𝑘
⃑⃑ , and 𝑤
−2𝑖⃑ + 3𝑘 ⃑⃑
⃑⃑⃑ = 7𝑗⃑ − 4𝑘
Solution:
Using the rule for calculating determinants (Eq. 9.8):
𝑢1 𝑢2 𝑢3 1 2 −1
0 3 −2 3 −2 0
(𝑢 ⃑⃑⃑ = | 𝑣1 𝑣2 𝑣3 | = |−2 0 3 | = (1) |
⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑) ∙ 𝑤 | − (2) | | + (−1) | |
𝑤1 𝑤2 𝑤3 7 −4 0 −4 0 7
0 7 −4
= (1)(−21) − (2)(8) + (−1)(−14) = −21 − 16 + 14 = −23
∴ 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑠 |(𝑢
⃑⃑ × 𝑣⃑) ∙ 𝑤
⃑⃑⃑| = 23