Math 10A: Multivariable Calculus

1.1 Vectors in 2D and 3D spaces

In this section, we introduce

• Vectors in R1 , R2 , R3 .
• standard basis: ~i, ~j, ~
k.
a = (a1 ; a2 ; a3 ) = a1~i + a2~j + a3~
•~ k.
a ˚ ~b; c~
•~ a
• Equation of lines passing through (x1 ; y1 ; z1 ) along the di-
rection ~
v = (a; b; c) :
8
>
>
>
>
>
>
x(t) = x1 + at
>
<
~
l(t) : > y(t) = y1 + bt
>
>
>
>
>
>
:z(t) = z1 + ct

• x-axis, y-axis, z-axis, x-y plane, x-z plane, y-z plane

1 Basic definitions of vectors

Question 1 why do we study vectors?

Single variable calculus: For instance, t=time.

t0 = 3 : 30 pm
t1 = 5 pm

Two variables calculus: (x; y). For instance, GPS locations by listing longitude and
latitude: My office:

(x; y) = (`117:3287882; 33:9752069)

1
 We call t 2 R1 , a scalar vector.

We call (x; y) 2 R2 , a vector in R2 as an ordered pair of real numbers.

In order to distinguish people living on different floors, we introduce a new variable,

height in feet. Then the location of my office can be recorded as a triple

(x; y; z) = (`117:3287882; 33:9752069; 18):

Definition 1 Vectors are directed line segments in the space (or the plane) represented by a line
segment with an arrow. The starting point is called the tail and the end point is
called the head for the vector.

Note 1 Throughout the class we will write R1 to denote the real line, R2 the plane, and R3
the 3-dimensional Euclidean space.
In general, Rn is the n`dimensional Euclidean space.

Remark 1 • Two key features of a vector: the length of the segment and the direction.

• A vector is often denoted by bold letters in print (e.g. v) while in written form,
we will denote a vector be a letter with an arrow on top (e.g. ~ v ).

• A vector ~ a is completely determined by an ordered triple of real numbers

(a1 ; a2 ; a3 ) and we denote it by ~ a = (a1 ; a2 ; a3 ). Those numbers can be
obtained by placing the tail of the vector at the origin and read the coordinates
for the head. a1 ; a2 ; a3 are called components of the vector.

Proposition 1 Two vectors are equal if and only if all their components are
equal.

Example 1 (1,2,3) = (1,2,3)

(1,3,2) 6= (1,2,3)

2 Basic vector operations and their geometric inter-

pretations
• Scalar multiplication: ¸~
a = ¸(a1 ; a2 ; a3 ) = (¸a1 ; ¸a2 ; ¸a3 );
a + ~b = (a1 ; a2 ; a3 ) + (b1 ; b2 ; b3 ) = (a1 + b1 ; a2 + b2 ; a3 + b3 );
• Addition: ~

2
 Remark 2 To distinguish from the real number zero, we write the zero vector as ~0.

Example 2 a=(1,2),~b=(3,4), compute ~

~ a- 12~b.
a+~b, ~
Solution:

a+~b = (1+3,2+4) = (4,6)

~
a- 1~b= (1,2)-( 3 , 2) = (- 1 , 0):
~ 2 2 2

3 The standard basis vectors for 2D and 3D space

Throughout this course we will make the following convention for vectors in space:
~i = (1; 0; 0); ~j = (0; 1; 0); ~
k = (0; 0; 1):
The vectors ~i; ~j; ~
k are called the standard basis vectors for the 3D space.
Theorem 1 Any vector in the space R3 , ~ a = (a1 ; a2 ; a3 ), can be represented
uniquely as a sum of the standard basis vectors:

a = a1~i + a2~j + a3~

~ k:

Throughout this course we will make the following convention for vectors in plane:
~i = (1; 0); ~j = (0; 1):
The vectors ~i; ~j; ~
k are called the standard basis vectors for the plane.
Theorem 2 Any vector in the space R2 , ~ a = (a1 ; a2 ), can be represented
uniquely as a sum of the standard basis vectors:

a = a1~i + a2~j:
~

4 Geometric meaning of vectors

Vectors are geometric objects. They are line segments in R2 or R3 , represented as an
arrow begin at a point (tail) to an end (head).
• Scalar multiplications simply mean stretching the length of vector (if ¸ is neg-
ative, then we also need to reverse the arrow);
• Addition of two vectors is by placing vectors head to tail.
a ` ~b is the vector joining two points from the head of ~b to the head of ~
• ~ a. (i.e.,
pointing from ~b to ~a.)
If P (x; y; z); Q(x0 ; y 0 ; z 0 ) are two points in the space, then the vector starting
# » # »
at P and ends at Q will be written as P Q. The components for P Q is
# »
P Q = (x0 ` x; y 0 ` y; z 0 ` z):

3
 5 Equations of lines
One should compare the contents in this section with equations for lines in the plane.

Theorem 3 (Point-Direction form:) If l passes through the head of a vector

a whose tail is the origin and l is pointing the direction of ~
~ v . Then the parametric
equation for the line l is
~
l(t) = ~a + t~v:
In coordinate form, any point (x; y; z) in the line satisfies:
8
>
> x = a1 + v1 t;
>
>
<
~
l(t) : >y = a2 + v2 t;
>
>
>
:
z = a3 + v3 t:

Theorem 4 (Point-Point form:) If l passes through two different points

P = (x1 ; y1 ; z1 ), Q = (x2 ; y2 ; z2 ) then the parametric equations for any point
(x; y; z) on the line satisfy:
8
>
>x
>
>
= x1 + (x2 ` x1 )t;
<
~
l(t) : >y = y1 + (y2 ` y1 )t;
>
>
>
:
z = z1 + (z2 ` z1 )t:

The meaning of the line equation of point-point form is that, when t=0, ~
l(0) gives
point P , while t=1, ~
l(1) gives point Q.

Example 3 (1) Find the equation for the line which passes through the point P=(1,2,3) in the
direction of 2~i`3~j+ 4~
k;
(2) Find the equations for the line which passes through points P=(0,7,1) and
Q=(7,7,0).
Solution:
(1) We use the point-direction form for the line equation. Here the point is P=(1,2,3)
and the direction is ~
v =(2,-3,4). Hence the parametric line equation is
8
>
>
>
>
x=1+2t,
<
~
l(t) : > y=2+(-3)t,
>
>
>
:
z=3+4t.

(2) Here we will use the point-direction form.

Step 1: Take P=(0,7,1) be the point in the formula.
# »
Step 2: Take P Q = Q-P = (7,7,0)-(0,7,1) = (7,0,-1) as the direction ~
v of the
line.

4
 Step 3: Apply the point-direction form, we have
8
>
>
>
>
x=0+7t,
<
~
l(t) : > y=7+0t,
>
>
>
:
z=1+(-1)t.
We simplify it, 8
>
>
>
>
x=7t,
<
~
l(t) : > y=7,
>
>
>
:
z=1-t.

Example 4 Do the two lines ~l(t): (x,y,z)=(t,-6t+1,2t-8) and m(s):

~ (x,y,z)=(3s+1,2s,0) intersect?
If they do, find the intersection point.

Solution: If the lines ~

l(t) and m(s)
~ intersect, then there exist some values t and s such that
~
l(t)=m(s)
~ as a vector. In particular, that means all the components are equal.
Hence two lines intersect if and only if there is a solution of t and s for the following
equations.
8
>
>
>
>
t=3s+1, (1)
<
> -6t+1=2s, (2)
>
>
>
:
2t-8=0. (3)
Here equation (3) implies that t=4.
Plug in t=4 into equation (1), we get s=1.
But t=4 and s=1 violates with equation (2).
Hence there is no solution to the above equation.
Hence they don’t intersect.

Example 5 Find the intersection point of line ~

l(t)=(7,-7,-8)+t(1,1,0) and a plane 2x-3y+z-3=0.
If none, explain why.

Solution: If there is a intersection point of the line and plane, then there is a value t such
that the point ~l(t) satisfying the plane equation.
In other words, we plug in the equations
8
>
>
>
>
x(t)=7+t,
<
> y(t)=-7+t,
>
>
>
:
z(t)=-8.

into the equation

2x-3y+z-3=0,
and solve for t. Hence
2(7+t)-3(-7+t)-8-3=0

5
 Simplify and get -t+24=0. Hence t=24 and x(24)=31, y(24)=17, z(24)=-8.
Hence the intersection point is (31,17,-8).

In the last example, if we change the line equation to be ~ l(t)=(7,-7,-8)+t(1,1,1).

Then we can check that there is no intersection of this line with the plane 2x-3y+z-
3=0. Geometrically, this line is parallel to the plane. We are going to learn an easier
way to check the line is parallel to the plane in section 1.3.

6 Span
Definition 2 Given vectors ~ vn , the span of ~
v1 ; ´ ´ ´ ; ~ vn is the family of vectors which
v1 ; ´ ´ ´ ; ~
can be written as linear combinations of ~ vn .
v1 ; ´ ´ ´ ; ~

Example 6 k is R3 ;
1. The span of ~i; ~j; ~

2. The span of ~i; ~j is the x-y plane. The points on the x-y plane have z-coordinates
equal to zero and x, y coordinates could be any real numbers.

3. The span of ~j is the y-axis. The points on the y-axis have x and z-coordinates
equal to zero and y coordinates could be any real number.

Remark 3 (optional) The minimal number of vectors whose span is the given entire space V ,
is called the dimension of V . The dimension of Rn is n.