2.13.

The Scalar Triple Product

The scalar triple product is given by a1 a2 A ( B C ) = ijk ai b j ck = b1 b2 c1 c2 a3 b3 c3

= volume of parallelepiped with sides A, B and C.

Theorem 2.14
3 vectors A, B and C in R3 are linearly dependent A ( B C ) = 0 . Proof If B and C are linearly dependent, then B C = 0 and theorem is proved. If B and C are L.I., then there exists , , , not all zero, such that A+ B +C = 0 Furthermore 0 since otherwise = = = 0 . Taking ( B C ) on both sides gives A ( B C ) = 0 . QED. Given A ( B C ) = 0 , we have either B C = 0 or A is orthogonal to B C 0 . For the former case, B and C are dependent and the theorem is proved. For the latter case, theorem 2.13 says that B, C and B C form a basis so that A = B + C + B C Taking ( B C ) on both sides gives 0 = B C A = B + C QED.
2

so that = 0 , i.e.,