12.

4 THE CROSS PRODUCT / Vector

Product
Illustration of cross product
Definition: Cross Product
u x v = ( u u sin ) n
where n is a unit vector.
Parallel Vectors
Nonzero vectors u and v are parallel if
and only if u x v = 0
Properties of the Cross Product

If u, v and w are any vectors and r, s are

scalars, then
1. (r u)x (s v) = (rs)(u x v)
2. u x (v + w) = (u x v) + (u x w)
3. (v + w) x u = (v x u) + (w x u)
4. v x u = - (u x v)
5. 0 x u = 0

Area of a Parallelogram - u x v
 u x v = u v sin n = u vsin

Determinant Formula for u x v

Calculating Cross Product Using
Determinant

If u = u1i + u2j + u3k and v = v1i + v2j + v3k,

then
 i j k
u1 u2 u3
u x v = v v v3
1 2

Example:1
Find u X v and v X u if u = 7i + j k and v
= -2i + 4j + k

Equation of the plane:

Example:2

Find the following:

(a) a vector perpendicular to the plane of P (1,2,3),
Q (-5,4,1) and R ( 3,-1,2).
(b) a unit vector perpendicular to the plane of P
(1,2,3), Q (- 5,4,1) and R ( 3,-1,2).

Example:3
Find the area of the triangle with vertices P
(1,2,3), Q (-3,4,5) and R ( 6,-1,2).
Triple Scalar or Box Product
(u v) w u v w cos

Absolute magnitude
Value

Calculating the Triple Scalar Product

u1 u2 u3
(u v) w v1 v2 v3
w1 w2 w3
Example:5

Find the volume of an oblique box (parallelepiped)

determined by the vertices
P (-3,1,6) , Q (-4,3,1) , R (5,-2,3) and S (3,2,1).

(Optional)
Describe about Torque Vector