7.

More on Vectors

We have unfinished business with vector operations; we must look at the dot
product, cross product and triple product of vectors.

The Dot Product

The dot product of two vectors s, t, signified by st, is an ordinary scalar (not
another vector). It is found by multiplying each corresponding element and
adding these together. E.g.

[ ][ ]
s •t= ¿ 2 • ¿ 4 = (2 × 4+ 4 ×3 )=( 8+12 )=( 18 )
¿ 4 ¿3
In the 3D case,

[][ ]
4 ¿8
u • v= 2 • ¿ 2 =( 4 × 8+2 ×2+3 ×2 ) =( 32+ 4 +6 )=42
3 ¿2

The scalar product is used to find the angle between any two vectors. That is,
the angle between them when they are moved so that their tails are on the same
point) Divide the scalar product of the two vectors by the product of their
magnitudes, and take arccosine of the result. That is, for vectors s, t, the angle
between them will be
angle between s and t is cos
−1
(|ss||• tt|)

¿ cos
−1
( [ 24] • [ 43 ]
( √ 2 + 4 )( √ 4
2 4 2
+3 2
) ) =cos
−1
( ( √ 4+16 )( √16+ 9 ) )
2× 4+ 4 × 3

−1
¿ cos
( 8+12
( √ 20 )( √25 ) ) (
cos
−1 20
( 4.472 )( 5 )
=cos
−1 20
22.361 ) ( )
∘
¿ 26.56 5
Visually, we can judge that this is about right; it’s certainly an acute angle.
In three dimensions,
angle between u and v is cos
−1
( )
u• v
|u||v|

( [ ][] )
4 8
2 • 2

( )
−1 3 2 −1 4 × 8+2 ×2+3 ×2
¿ cos =cos
( √ 4 + 2 +3 )( √8 +2 +2 )
2 4 2 2 2 2
( √16 +4 +9 ) ( √ 64+ 4+ 4 )

¿ cos
−1
( (√
32+4 +6
29 )( √72 )
=cos
−1
) 42
(
( 5.3852 )( 8.4853 )
∘
=cos
−1 42
45.6946 ) ( )
¿ 23.198 6
Visually;

If the angle between u and v is , then the dot product uv is also given by |u||v|
cos. This will be handy to know when we tackle geometry with vectors.

Exercise 1. Find the dot product of the following vectors.

[ ][ ] [ ][ ]
−4 −5 7 −3
[][] [ ][ ]
2 2 6 5
1. a) 8 • 8 , b) −6 • 4 , c) 5 • 3 d) 9 • 0
−6 7 10 8
2. Find the angle between each of the above vectors.

Unit Vectors

To find the Cross Product and the Triple Product, we first need to understand
unit vectors.
Recall that rectangular coordinates just measure distances from a central point,
the origin. We have seen that vectors contain the idea of motion in a straight
line from some point, and that if this point is the origin of a set of coordinates,
the vector is a position vector. So why not measure the distances in vectors one
unit long along x, y, and z (or however many axes you have)?

A vector 1 unit long is a unit vector. A unit vector in the x direction is called i
(remember we use italicised letters for vectors), a unit vector in the y direction
is called j, and one in the z direction is called k.

With the unit vectors giving our rectangular coordinates, we can write vectors in
a new way. If a vector is in our usual notation, we can now call it 6i +4j +0k.
Read this as “6 unit vectors along the x direction, 4 along the y direction and
zero along the z direction”. It’s important to put in that k because the cross
product brings in another dimension- we’ll come to that in a minute. Similarly

becomes 6i +4j +9k. This way happens to be convenient for the cross and
triple products.
Exercise 2. Convert the following bracketed vectors to their equivalents in unit-
vector notation.

[] []
−3 4
[] [ ]
3 7
1. a) 9 , b) −6 , c) 4 d) 10
−5 9

Unit vectors in Other Directions

Suppose we require a unit vector in the same direction as u = ? Since a a unit

vector has magnitude zero, whereas u has magnitude

|u|=√ 4 2+ 22+ 32=√ 16+ 4+9=√ 29=5.3852 (3 d.p.),

simply divide u throughout by its magnitude. That is,
 u
unit vector along u is
|u|
4 i+2 j+3 k 4 2 3
¿ = i+ j+ k
5.3852 5.3852 5.3852 5.3852

¿ 0.7428 i+0.3714 j+ 0.5571 k

Exercise 3. Find the unit vector in the same direction as the following.

[] []
−5 3
[ ] [ ]
4 5
1. a) 10 , b) −8 , c) 6 d) 9
−7 10

Components

Because the values in i, j and k make up a given vector, we say that these values
are the components of the vector. For instance, 6i, 4j and 9k are the components

of vector .

Cross Product

The cross product multiplies two vectors to get a third vector. As usual this is a
lot more complicated than multiplying two numbers. The technique is to set the
two vectors into a matrix underneath the unit vectors, and work out the
determinant of the vector.

Remember s = And t = ? Now we have s = 2i +4j +0k, t = 4i +3j +0k.

The cross product of these is

[ ][ ]| |
¿2 ¿4 i j k
¿4 × ¿3 = 2 4 0
¿0 ¿0 4 3 0

¿ i× ( 4 × 0−0× 3 )− j× ( 2× 0−0× 4 ) +k × ( 2 ×3−4 ×4 )

¿ i× ( 0 )− j× ( 0 ) +k × ( 6−16 )
¿ 0 i×−0 j+k × (−10 )
¿ 0 i×−0 j−10 k

[ ]
0
¿ 0
−10
Think about that. We started with two vectors that lay in the xy plane (that only
had i and j components), and ended up with a vector that lay along the z
direction (that had only a k component). The cross product of the two vectors is
at right angles to the plane in which the original two vectors lay; the cross
product operation brings in another dimension.

In the 3D case, take the familiar u and v;

[][ ]| |
4 ¿8 i j k
u × v= 2 × ¿ 2 = 4 2 3
3 ¿2 8 2 2

¿ i× ( 2× 2−3 ×2 )− j × ( 4 ×2−3× 8 ) +k × ( 4 × 2−2 ×8 )

¿ i× ( 4−6 )− j × ( 8−24 )+ k × ( 8−16 )
¿ i× (−2 )− j× (−16 ) +k × (−8 )
¿−2i+16 j−8 k

[]
−2
¿ 16
−8

This new vector -2i +16j -8k is again at right angles to the plane in which the
first couple lies. It’s easier to see if we rotate the axes.

If the angle between u and v is , then the modulus of the vector u  v is |u||v|
sin. So the cross product is also described as a vector of modulus |u||v|sin at
right-angles to the plane of u and v (this will be handy to know when we tackle
geometry with vectors).
Exercise 4. Find the cross product of the following vectors.

[ ][ ] [ ][ ]
−4 −5 7 −3
[][] [ ][]
2 2 6 5
1. a) 8 × 8 , b) −6 × 4 , c) 5 × 3 d) 9 × 0
−6 7 10 8

Triple Product

The triple product is the dot product of a vector with the vector formed by a
cross product. That is, the triple product takes three vectors and obtains a scalar
from them.

Take vectors u, v, and a third we’ll call w,

[]
3
w= 5 .
6

Then the triple product of u, v, and w is w(uv).

[ ] ([ ] [ ])
3 4 ¿8
w • ( u ×v )= 5 • 2 × ¿ 2
6 3 ¿2

[ ][ ]
3 −2
¿ 5 • 16
6 −8

¿ 26 .

Handedness

The axes in the xyz coordinate system are right-handed. That is to

say, the cross product of the unit vectors i  j is a vector at right angles to this
plane and positive along the z direction (in fact it’s the unit vector k).

Visually, anticlockwise motion from a vector u in the xy plane to a vector v in

the xy plane results in a vector moving up the z axis, as though you were
unscrewing a right-handed screw.
The triple product w(uv) is always positive in a right-handed system.

Exercise 5. Find the triple product of the following vectors.

[ ] ([ ] [ ])
−4 −5 −6
[ ] ([ ] [ ])
3 2 5
1. a) 7 • 8 × 6 , b) 5 • 3 × 6
−6 7 5