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The Cross Product The Cross Product: B B B B B
The Cross Product The Cross Product: B B B B B
The Cross Product The Cross Product: B B B B B
Given two nonzero vectors a = ¢a1, a2, a3² and To eliminate c3 we multiply by b3 and by a3 and
b = ¢b1, b2, b3², it is very useful to be able to find a nonzero subtract:
vector c that is perpendicular to both a and b.
(a1b3 – a3b1)c1 + (a2b3 – a3b2)c2 = 0
If c = ¢c1, c2, c3² is such a vector, then a x c = 0 and
b x c = 0 and so Equation 3 has the form pc1 + qc2 = 0, for which an obvious
solution is c1 = q and c2 = –p. So a solution of is
a1c1 + a2c2 + a3c3 = 0
c1 = a2b3 – a3b2 c2 = a3b1 – a1b3
b1c1 + b2c2 + b3c3 = 0
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c3 = a1b2 – a2b1
This means that a vector perpendicular to both a and b is Notice that the cross product a u b of two vectors a and b,
unlike the dot product, is a vector. For this reason it is also
¢c1, c2, c3² = ¢a2b3 – a3b2, a3b1 – a1b3, a1b2 – a2b1² called the vector product.
The resulting vector is called the cross product of a and b Note that a u b is defined only when a and b are
and is denoted by a u b. three-dimensional vectors.
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The Cross Product The Cross Product
Notice also the minus sign in the second term. For If we now rewrite Definition 4 using second-order
example, determinants and the standard basis vectors i, j, and k, we
see that the cross product of the vectors
a = a1 i + a2 j + a3 k and b = b1 i + b2 j + b3 k is
= –38
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A = |a|(|b|sin T) = |a u b|
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Solution:
iuj=k juk=i kui=j
In Example 3 we computed that PQ u PR = ¢–40, –15, 15².
The area of the parallelogram with adjacent sides PQ and
PR is the length of this cross product: j u i = –k k u j = –i i u k = –j
Observe that
iujzjui
The area A of the triangle PQR is half the area of this
parallelogram, that is, .
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The Cross Product The Cross Product
Thus the cross product is not commutative. Also The following theorem summarizes the properties of vector
products.
i u (i u j) = i u k = –j
whereas
(i u i) u j = 0 u j = 0
(a u b) u c z a u (b u c)
If a = ¢a1, a2, a3², b = ¢b1, b2, b3², and c = ¢c1, c2, c3², then
Triple Products
a x (b u c) = a1(b2c3 – b3c2) + a2(b3c1 – b1c3)
+ a3(b1c2 – b2c1)
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Figure 3
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Figure 6
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Planes Planes
The normal vector n is orthogonal to every vector in the To obtain a scalar equation for the plane, we write
given plane. In particular, n is orthogonal to r – r0 and so n = ¢a, b, c², r = ¢x, y, z², and r0 = ¢x0, y0, z0².
we have
Find an equation of the plane through the point (2, 4, –1) Similarly, the y-intercept is 4 and the z-intercept is 3. This
with normal vector n = ¢2, 3, 4². Find the intercepts and enables us to sketch the portion of the plane that lies in the
sketch the plane. first octant (see Figure 7).
Solution:
Putting a = 2, b = 3, c = 4, x0 = 2, y0 = 4, and z0 = –1 in
Equation 7, we see that an equation of the plane is
2(x – 2) + 3(y – 4) + 4(z + 1) = 0
or 2x + 3y + 4z = 12
Figure 7
To find the x-intercept we set y = z = 0 in this equation and
obtain x = 6.
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Planes
By collecting terms in Equation 7 as we did in Example 4,
we can rewrite the equation of a plane as
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