Proofs of vectors

⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ = 𝑏⃗ . If C divides the line 𝐴𝐵 in the ratio 1: 2 and 𝐷 divides the line
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ = 𝑎 and 𝑂𝐵
1. In the triangle 𝑂𝐴𝐵, 𝑂𝐴
𝑂𝐵 in the ratio 1: 2, find ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝐷𝐶 and hence show that 𝐷𝐶 is parallel to 𝑂𝐴.

𝑂 𝐵
𝐷

⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ = 𝑏⃗ ,find
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ = 𝑎 and 𝑂𝐵
2. In the figure opposite, 𝑋 and 𝑌 are the midpoints of 𝑂𝐴 and 𝑂𝐵 respectively. If 𝑂𝐴
the position vector of the point 𝑍, the intersection of 𝑋𝐵 and 𝑌𝐴.

𝑋
𝑍

𝑂 𝐵
𝑌

3. From an origin 𝑂 the points 𝐴, 𝐵 and 𝐶 have position vectors 𝑎, 𝑏⃗ and 2𝑏⃗ respectively. The points
𝑂, 𝐴 and 𝐵 are not collinear. The midpoint of 𝐴𝐵 is 𝑀, and the point of trisection of 𝐴𝐶 nearer to 𝐴 is 𝑇.
Draw a diagram to show 𝑂, 𝐴, 𝐵, 𝐶, 𝑀, 𝑇. Find, in terms of 𝑎 and 𝑏⃗, the position vectors of 𝑀 and 𝑇. Use
your results to prove that 𝑂, 𝑀 and 𝑇 are collinear, and find the ratio in which 𝑀 divides 𝑂𝑇.

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4. The vertices 𝐴, 𝐵 and 𝐶 of a triangle have position vectors 𝑎, 𝑏⃗, 𝑐 respectively relative to an origin 𝑂. The
point 𝑃 is on 𝐵𝐶 such that 𝐵𝑃: 𝑃𝐶 = 3: 1; the point 𝑄 is on 𝐶𝐴 such that 𝐶𝑄: 𝑄𝐴 = 2: 3; the point 𝑅 is on
𝐵𝐴 produced such that 𝐵𝑅: 𝐴𝑅 = 2: 1. The position vectors of 𝑃, 𝑄 and 𝑅 are 𝑝 , 𝑞 and 𝑟 respectively. Show
that 𝑞 can be expressed in terms of 𝑝 and 𝑟 and hence, or otherwise, show that 𝑃, 𝑄 and 𝑅 are collinear. State
the ratio of the lengths of the line segments 𝑃𝑄 and 𝑄𝑅.

5. The points 𝐴, 𝐵 and 𝐶 have position vectors 𝑎, 𝑏⃗, 𝑐 respectively referred to an origin 𝑂.
(a) Given that the point 𝑋 lies on 𝐴𝐵 produced so that 𝐴𝐵: 𝐵𝑋 = 2: 1, find 𝑥 , the position vector of 𝑋, in
terms of 𝑎 and 𝑏⃗.
(b) If 𝑌 lies on 𝐵𝐶, between 𝐵 and 𝐶 so that 𝐵𝑌: 𝑌𝐶 = 1: 3, find 𝑦, the position vector of 𝑌, in terms of 𝑏⃗
and 𝑐 .
(c) Given that 𝑍 is the midpoint of 𝐴𝐶, show that 𝑋, 𝑌 and 𝑍 are collinear.
(d) Calculate 𝑋𝑌: 𝑌𝑍.

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6. The position vectors of three points 𝐴, 𝐵 and 𝐶 relative to an origin 𝑂 are 𝑝, 3𝑞 – 𝑝, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 9𝑞 – 5𝑝
respectively. Show that the points 𝐴, 𝐵 and 𝐶 lie on the same straight line, and state the ratio 𝐴𝐵: 𝐵𝐶. Given
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⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ = 𝐷𝐸
that 𝑂𝐵𝐶𝐷 is a parallelogram and that E is the point such that 𝐷𝐵 ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ , find the position vectors of 𝐷 and
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𝐸 relative to O.

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Unit test (vectors)
1. Find the sum of the vectors 𝟐𝒊 + 𝒋 − 𝒌, 𝒊 + 𝟑𝒋 + 𝒌, 𝟑𝒊 + 𝟐𝒋.

2. Find the magnitude of the vector 𝒂 = 𝟑𝒊 − 𝟐𝒋 + 𝟔𝒌 .

3. If (𝑎 + 2)𝒊 + (𝑏 − 1)𝒋 𝑎𝑛𝑑 (𝑏 − 1)𝒊 − 𝑎𝒋 are equal vectors, find the values of 𝑎 and 𝑏.

4. If 𝜆𝒊 − 4𝒋 is parallel to 2𝒊 − 6𝒋, find the value of 𝜆.

5. Find the unit vector in the direction of 2𝒊 − 𝒋 + 2𝒌.

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6. Find the vector with magnitude three and parallel to 6𝒊 − 3𝒋 + 2𝒌 .

⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ = 4𝒊 + 14𝒋 − 5𝒌, 𝑂𝐵

7. If 𝑂𝐴 ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ = 𝒊 + 2𝒋 + 7𝒌, and 𝑂𝐶
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ = 2𝒊 + 6𝒋 + 37𝒌, show that the vectors𝐵𝐶
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ , 𝐶𝐴
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
are parallel. Hence deduce that the points 𝐴, 𝐵 and 𝐶 are collinear.

8. Show that 3𝒊 + 7𝒋 + 2𝒌 is perpendicular to 5𝒊 − 𝒋 − 4𝒌.

9. The points 𝐴, 𝐵 and 𝐶 have coordinates (2, 1, – 1), (1, −7, 3) and (– 2, 5, 1) respectively. Find the area of
the triangle 𝐴𝐵𝐶.

10. If 𝐿, 𝑀, 𝑁 and 𝑃 are the midpoints of 𝐴𝐷, 𝐵𝐷, 𝐵𝐶 and 𝐴𝐶 respectively, show that ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ .
𝐿𝑀 is parallel to𝑁𝑃

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11. The position vectors of points 𝑃 and 𝑅 are 2𝒊 − 3𝒋 + 7𝒌 and 4𝒊 + 5𝒋 + 3𝒌 respectively. Given that 𝑅
divides 𝑃𝑄 in the ratio 2: 1, find the position vector of 𝑄 if
(a) 𝑅 divides 𝑃𝑄 internally

(b) 𝑅 divides 𝑃𝑄 externally.

⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ = 𝒊 + 𝒋, 𝑂𝐵
12. Given that 𝑂𝐴 ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ = 5𝒊 + 7𝒋, find the position vectors of the other two vertices of the square of
which A and B are one pair of opposite vertices.

13. Given that 𝑝 = 𝑡 2 𝒊 + (2𝑡 + 1)𝒋 + 𝒌 and 𝑞 = (𝑡 − 1)𝑖 + 3𝑡𝑗 − (𝑡 2 + 3𝑡)𝑘 where 𝑡 is a scalar variable,
determine:
(a) the values of 𝑡 for which 𝒑 and 𝒒 are perpendicular.
(b) the angle between the vectors 𝒑 and 𝒒 when 𝑡 = 1, giving your answer to the nearest 0.1°.

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14. The point 𝑃 has position vector (1 + µ)𝒊 + (3 − 2µ)𝒋 + (4 + 2µ)𝒌 where µ is a variable
parameter. The point 𝑄 has position vector 4𝒊 + 2𝒋 + 3𝒌.
(a) The points P0 and 𝑃1 are the positions of 𝑃 when µ = 0 and µ = 1 respectively. Calculate the size of
angle 𝑃0 𝑄𝑃1 , giving your answer to the nearest degree.
(b) Show that 𝑃𝑄2 = (3𝜇 − 1)2 + 10 and hence, or otherwise, find the position vector of 𝑃 when it is closest
to 𝑄.

15.Referred to a fixed origin 𝑂, the points 𝐴, 𝐵 and 𝐶 have position vectors 𝒊 − 2𝒋 + 2𝒌, 3𝒊 − 𝒌 and −𝒊 + 𝒋 +
4𝒌 respectively. Calculate the cosine of the angle 𝐵𝐴𝐶. Hence, or otherwise, find the area of the triangle 𝐴𝐵𝐶,
giving your answer to three significant figures.