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Hints CrossProducts

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11 views7 pages

Hints CrossProducts

Uploaded by

Rithika Nagarajan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Math & Physics Hints & Tips:

Vector (Cross) Products

Dr. J. Gordon Leishman

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University


[email protected]

Dr. J. Gordon Leishman (ERAU) AE201 1/7


Vector Fields

We can write vectors in terms of their scalar components, i.e.,


~ = Ax ~i + Ay ~j + Az ~k = (Ax , Ay , Az )
A

Take another vector, i.e.,


~ = Bx ~i + By ~j + Bz ~k = (Bx , By , Bz )
B

Dr. J. Gordon Leishman (ERAU) AE201 2/7


Vector (Cross) Products – 1

~×B
The vector(cross) product A ~ is given by

~i ~j ~k
~×B
A ~= Ax Ay Az
Bx By Bz

Expanding this in terms of the third-order determinant we get


~×B
A ~ = (Ay Bz − By Az ) ~i − (Ax Bz − Bx Az ) ~j + (Ax By − Bx Ay ) ~k

or
~×B
A ~ = (Ay Bz − By Az ) ~i + (Bx Az − Ax Bz ) ~j + (Ax By − Bx Ay ) ~k

A cross-product gives a vector as a result of the operation.

Dr. J. Gordon Leishman (ERAU) AE201 3/7


Vector (Cross) Products – 2

Remember the physical meaning of cross-product, i.e., a vector that is


perpendicular to the other two vectors.
Use the right-hand rule to get the direction correct.

~×B
The cross product is anti-commutative in that A ~ = −(B
~ × A)
~

Dr. J. Gordon Leishman (ERAU) AE201 4/7


Vector (Cross) Products – 3

One physical interpretation of the cross product gives a vector normal


to the other two

Another physical interpretation is an area of a parallelogram


~a × ~b = |~a||~b|| sin θ|

Dr. J. Gordon Leishman (ERAU) AE201 5/7


Vector (Cross) Products – 3
Remember that a dot product is the component of one vector in the
direction of another.
~⊥ | = V
|V ~ · n~ = u nx + v ny + w nz

~⊥ = |V
V ~⊥ |~
n

~k ?
Question: What is V
~k = V
Answer 1: V ~ −V ~⊥
 
~k = −~
Answer 2: V ~
n × n~ × V

Dr. J. Gordon Leishman (ERAU) AE201 6/7


Vector (Cross) Products – Summary

Vector products come up in engineering problem solving.


Remember that a vector (cross) product result in a vector.
Remember also the physical interpretation.

Dr. J. Gordon Leishman (ERAU) AE201 7/7

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