Unit Two

2.Vectors
• Certain physical quantities such as
mass, area, density, volume etc possess
only magnitude are called scalars. On
the other hand, there are physical
quantities such as acceleration, velocity,
force etc that has both magnitude and
direction such quantities are called
Vectors.
 2.1 Definition of points in 𝑛-space
• We know that, once a unit length is selected, a
number 𝑥 can be used to represent a point on a
line. A pair of numbers (𝑥, 𝑦) can be used to
represent a point in the plane. A triples of a
numbers (𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) can be used to represent a
point in space. The following pictures illustrates
these representations:
Cont..
 Cont…
• We can say that a single number represents a
point in 1-space.
A couple represents a point in 2-space,and a triple
represents a point in 3-space.
 2.2 vectors in 2-Space,3-Space and in
n- space
• Vectors in 2-space
Def. Let A=(𝑎1 , 𝑎2 ), B=(𝑏1 , 𝑏2 ) be vectors in 𝑅2 then
Addition : A+B =(𝑎1 + 𝑏1 , 𝑎2 +𝑏2 )
Subtraction: A-B =(𝑎1 − 𝑏1 , 𝑎2 − 𝑏2 )
Scalar multiplication: 𝑘𝐴= (𝑘𝑎1 , 𝑘𝑎2 )
Example: let A =(1,4,5) B=(-6,3,4) then find A+B,A-B,
2A+3B
 Cont…
• Vectors in 3 –space
Def. Let A=(𝑎1 , 𝑎2 , 𝑎3 ), B=(𝑏1 , 𝑏2 , 𝑏3 ) be vectors in 𝑅3
then
Addition : A+B =(𝑎1 + 𝑏1 , 𝑎2 +𝑏2 , 𝑎3 +𝑏3 )
Subtraction: A-B =(𝑎1 − 𝑏1 , 𝑎2 − 𝑏2 , 𝑎3 − 𝑏3 )
Scalar multiplication: 𝑘𝐴= (𝑘𝑎1 , 𝑘𝑎2 , k𝑎3 )
Example: let A =(1,4,5) B=(-6,3,3) then find A+B,A-B,
2A+3B
 Vectors in n- space
Definition . Suppose A = (𝑎1 , 𝑎2 , …..,𝑎𝑛 ) and
B = (𝑏1 ,𝑏2 , …..,𝑏𝑛 ) be two points in n-space and
c.
a) A + B = (𝑎1 +𝑏1 , 𝑎2 + 𝑏2 , ….., 𝑎𝑛 +𝑏𝑛 )
b) 𝑐A = ( 𝑐𝑎1 , c 𝑎2 , …..,c𝑎𝑛 )
Example: Let A =(-1,3,6,2), B = (0,-5,-1,4),
C = (2,-1,3) and D = (0,0,0,0)
Find a) A + B b) A + C c) -2A d) B+D
 Cont…
Theorem 1. Properties

Suppose A , B and C are points represented by n- space and  , 

1) A+B=B+A

2 ) A +(B+C)=( A +B)+C

3 ) ( A +B)=  A + B =( A + B ) 

4 ) (+)A = A + A

5 ) ( A)= ()A

6 ) A +0 =0+ A = A

7 )1. A = A and -1. A = - A

8 ) A +(- A)=0
 Cont…
Definition : A vector 𝐴𝐵 is determined by the points A
and B where A is the initial point and B is a terminal
point.

Definition: Suppose 𝐴𝐵 and 𝐶𝐷 be two vectors. We say 𝐴𝐵

is equivalent to 𝐶𝐷 written 𝐴𝐵  𝐶𝐷 iff B – A = D – C

Example 2: Let A = (4, 3) B = (2,-1) C = (1,2) and D = (-1,-2)

Find a) B-A b) D – C c) Determine whether or not 𝐴𝐵

is equivalent to 𝐶𝐷.
 Cont…
Remark : Every vector is equivalent to a vector whose
initial point is the origin.
Example : Show that 𝐴𝐵 is equivalent to𝐶𝐷 where
A = (-1,0) , B = (0,1), C =(0,0) and D = (1,1).

Definition : Two vectors 𝐴𝐵 and 𝐶𝐷 are said to be

parallel if there exists 𝑡 such that
B – A = 𝑡( D – C) .

Example: Show that 𝐴𝐵 is parallel to 𝐶𝐷 where

A = (-1,0) , B = (0,1), C = (0,0) and D = (1,1).
 Cont…
Remark: Equivalent vectors are parallel.
Example : Let A = (1,6,4), B = (3,4,-2),C = (4,8,-1) and
D = (1,11,8). Determine whether or not 𝐴𝐵 is parallel
to 𝐶𝐷.
Activity: Let A = (-1,4,8) , B = (3,-4, 0) , C = (-5,3,1)
and D = (-4, 1,-1). Show that 𝐴𝐵 is parallel to 𝐶𝐷
Remark : i) if 𝑡 > 0 , 𝐴𝐵 and 𝐶𝐷 have the same
direction.
ii) If 𝑡 < 0 , 𝐴𝐵 and 𝐶𝐷have opposite direction
Cont…
Distance between two points
 2.3 Dot Product

Definition. Let A = (𝑎1 , 𝑎2 , …..,𝑎𝑛 ) and

B =(𝑏1 , 𝑏2 , …..,𝑏𝑛 ) be two vectors. Define the scalar
product or dot product of A and B as
A.B = 𝑎1 𝑏1 + 𝑎2 𝑏2 + …..+ 𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑛
cA = (c 𝑎1 , c𝑎2 , …..,c𝑎𝑛 )
Example: Let A = (2,0,-1,2),B =(1,-1,3,5) and
C = (1,-3,1)
Find a) A. B b) B.A c) A.C d) (A.B) C e) (A – B).A
 Cont…
Theorem: Let A, B and C be vectors in n-
dimensional space and   then
a) A. B = B .A
b) A.(B + C ) = A.B + A.C = (B + C).A = B.A + C.A
c) (A). B = (A. B ) = A(B ) = (A.B )
d) A.A  0 and A.A = 0 if and only if A = 0.
 Cont…
Definition: Two vectors A and B are said to be
perpendicular (orthogonal ) iff A.B= 0.
Example: Show that the vectors A = (1,3,2) and
B = (-4,2,-1) are perpendicular.
The norm of a vector
Definition: Let A = (𝑎1 ,𝑎2 , …..,𝑎𝑛 ).The norm of the
vector A denoted by ||𝐴|| is defined as ||𝐴|| = 𝐴. 𝐴
= 𝑎1 2 + 𝑎2 2 + ⋯ 𝑎𝑛 2
Example : Let A = (-1,3,0,5) .Find the norm of A
 Cont…
Theorem : Prove that a) ||𝐴||  0 if A  0
b) ||𝐴|| = ||−A ||
c) ||A|| = ||||A|| where  
Proof : (exercise)
Definition : A unit vector is a vector whose norm is 1
unit.
That is, A is a unit vector iff || A|| = 1.
2 2
Example: Let A = ( , 0, − )
2 2
 Cont…
Definition: The distance between two points A and
B in n- space is defined as
||𝐴 – 𝐵|| = 𝐴 − 𝐵 . (𝐴 − 𝐵)
Example: Let A = (-1,2,-2) and B =(2,3,-1)
Theorem: Given A and B points in n- space
|| 𝐴 + 𝐵 || = || 𝐴 − 𝐵 ||iff A  B
 cont…
Definition: The angle between two non zero vectors
A and B defined to be the angle  where 0     ,
formed by the corresponding directed line segments
whose initial points are the origin.
Theorem: Let A = 𝑎1 i +𝑎2 j + 𝑎3 k and B = 𝑏1 i + 𝑏2 j +
𝑏3 k be two non zero vectors and let  be the angle
between A and B , then A.B = ||A||||B||cos i.e
𝐴.𝐵
cos  =
||𝐴|| ||𝐵||
 Cont…
Example: Find the angle between the vectors
A =(2,-1,2) and B=(1,-1,0)
 2.4 The Cross Product
Definition: Let A = (𝑎1 , 𝑎2 ,𝑎3 )andB = (𝑏1 ,𝑏2 ,𝑏3 ).
be two vectors in three dimensional space . We
define
A x B = i(𝑎2 𝑏3 - 𝑏3 𝑎2 ) – j(𝑎1 𝑏3 - 𝑎3 𝑏1 ) + k(𝑎1 𝑏2 - 𝑎2 𝑏1 )
Example : Let A = (1,-1,3) and B = (2,1,1).
Find
a) A x B b) B x A
 Cont…
Theorem: 1. A x B = − (B x A)
2. If A and B are parallel, then A x B = 0
3.Ax(B+C) = A x B + A x C and (B + C ) x A = B x A + C x A
4. For any   , (A) x B = (A x B) = A x (B)
5. (A x B) x C = (A.C) B – (B.C) A
6. A x B is perpendicular to both A and B.
7. (𝐴x𝐵)2 = (A.A)(B.B) – (𝐴. 𝐵)2
 Cont…
Theorem: If 𝜃 is the angle between A and B, then
||AxB|| = ||A||||B||sin , 0 ≤ 𝜃 ≤ 𝜋
Using (7), ||𝐴xB||2 = ||𝐴||2 ||𝐵||2 - ||𝐴||2 ||𝐵||2 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜃
2
= ||𝐴||2 𝐵 (1 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜃)
2
= ||𝐴||2 𝐵 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝜃
2
 ||𝐴xB|| = ||𝐴|| 𝐵 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝜃 Taking square root on
2 2
both sides
||AxB|| = ||A||||B|||sin  |, Since 0    180,
|sin  | = sin  .
Hence ||AxB|| = ||A||||B||sin 
 2.5 Lines and planes
• Lines in space
From Euclidean Geometry that a line 𝑙 in space is
uniquely determined by a point Q on 𝑙 and a vector L
parallel to the line. From the above, a point P is on 𝑙 if
and only if 𝑃𝑄 is parallel to L, this means
𝑃𝑄 = 𝑡𝐿 where t 
 Cont…
If 𝑟0 =𝑥0 i+𝑦0 j+𝑧0 k and 𝑟 = 𝑥𝑖 + 𝑦𝑖 + 𝑧𝑘, then 𝑃𝑄 = 𝑟 − 𝑟0 that is
𝑡𝐿 = 𝑟 − 𝑟0
𝒓 = 𝒓𝒐 + 𝒕𝑳 ..(1) which is called the 𝒗𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒍.
Since 𝑟0 can be any vector that joins the origin to a point on 𝑙, and
Since 𝐿 can be any vector parallel to 𝑙, there are many different
vectors equations of a given line 𝑙.
Suppose we let L = 𝑎𝑖 + 𝑏𝑗 + 𝑐𝑘
𝑟 = 𝑟𝑜 + 𝑡𝐿 can be written as
𝑥𝑖 + 𝑦𝑗 + 𝑧𝑘 = 𝑥0 i+𝑦0 j+𝑧0 k + t(𝑎𝑖 + 𝑏𝑗 + 𝑐𝑘)
= (𝑥0 +𝑎𝑡)i + ( 𝑦0 +𝑏𝑡)j + ( 𝑧0 +𝑐𝑡)k Or equivalently
𝒙 = 𝒙𝟎 +𝒂𝒕, y = 𝒚𝟎 +𝒃𝒕, z = 𝒛𝟎 +𝒄𝒕 Which is called
𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒍 and 𝑡 is a parameter.
 cont…
Example: Find a vector equation of the line that
contains (2,0,1) and is parallel to 2i –j+ k.
Example: Find the parametric equations of the line
that contains (1, 1, 3) and parallel to 𝑖 + 𝑗 + 𝑘
 Cont…
• Let 𝒙 = 𝒙𝟎 +𝒂𝒕, y = 𝒚𝟎 +𝒃𝒕 and z = 𝒛𝟎 +𝒄𝒕 be a
parametric equation of a line. Suppose all 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 are
non - zero. If you solve each of these three equations
for t, you will get
𝑥−𝑥0 𝑦−𝑦0 𝑧−𝑧0
𝑡= ,𝑡 = and 𝑡 =
𝑎 𝑏 𝑐
𝑥−𝑥0 𝑦−𝑦0 𝑧−𝑧0
= = is called the symmetric
𝑎 𝑏 𝑐
equations of line 𝑙.
Example: Find the symmetric equations of the line 𝑙 that
contains the two points P=(1, 1,2) and Q=(2, 0,-1).
 Planes in space
Let Q= (𝑥0 ,𝑦0 , 𝑧0 ) be a given point and
𝑁 = 𝑎𝑖 + 𝑏𝑗 + 𝑐𝑘 be a non zero vector. Then a point
𝑃 = (𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) lies on the plane  that contains Q and
is perpendicular to N if and only if the vector
𝑄𝑃= ( 𝑥 –𝑥0 )i + (𝑦 – 𝑦0 )j +(𝑧 – 𝑧0 )k is
perpendicular to N
This means N. 𝑄𝑃 = 0 which means
[𝑎𝑖 + 𝑏𝑗 + 𝑐𝑘][( 𝑥 – 𝑥0 )i +(y – 𝑦0 )j +(z – 𝑧0 )k ] = 0
Which implies 𝑎( 𝑥 – 𝑥0 ) + 𝑏 (𝑦 – 𝑦0 + 𝑐(𝑧 – 𝑧0 ) = 0. The
vector N is said to be normal to .
 Cont…
Example: Find the equation of the plane that
contains the point (1, −1,3) and perpendicular to
the vector 2𝑖 – 𝑗 + 5𝑘.
Solution: The normal vector 𝑁 = 𝑎𝑖 + 𝑏𝑗 + 𝑐𝑘 =
2𝑖 – 𝑗 + 5𝑘
𝑎 = 2 , 𝑏 = −1, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐 = 5
(𝑥0 , 𝑦0 ,𝑧0 ) = (1,-1,3)  𝑥0 = 1,𝑦0 = -1 and 𝑧0 = 3 We
obtain the equation ;
2(𝑥 – 1) + −1(𝑦 – (−1)) + 5(𝑧 – 3) = 0
Collecting terms 2𝑥 – 𝑦 + 5𝑧 = 18