CHAPTER 5 : VECTORS SM025_SESSION 2019/2020

a  b  a b cos

Scalar product a b  a1b1  a2b2  a3b3

aa  a
2

ab  ba
a  (b  c)  a  b  a  c
(ma)  b  m(a  b)  a  (mb)
0 a  0
If and only if a parallel to b
Scalar ab  a b in same direction
product Properties ab  a b If and only if a and b parallel
in opposite direction
a b  0 If and only if a is perpendicular to b

i  i  j  j  k  k  1 and
Angle between 2 i  j  j k  k  j  0

vectorsbetween 2
Angle  ab 
  cos1  

 a b 
vectors
Direction cosines for a b c
a non-zero vector cos  
OP
, cos  
OP
, cos  
OP

Direction angles
a b c
  cos1 ,   cos1 ,   cos1
OP OP OP
angles

1
 CHAPTER 5 : VECTORS SM025_SESSION 2019/2020

ab
a  b  a b sinθ
Vector product ab

product i
a  b  a1
j
a2
k
a3
b1 b2 b3
 (a2b3  a3b2 )i  (a1b3  a3b1 ) j  (a1b2  a2b1 )k

a  b  b  a
Vector (ma)  b  m(a  b)  a  (mb)

product Properties
Properties
a  (b  c)  (a  b)  (a  c)
(a  b)  c  a  c  b  c
a  (b  c)  (a  b)  c
a  (b  c)  (a  c)b  (a  b)c
Area of a  b  0 if a is parallel to b

parallelogram  ab

1

Area of triangle
a b
2 a

2
 CHAPTER 5 : VECTORS SM025_SESSION 2019/2020

Vector equation : r  ( x1i  y1j  z1k)  t (ai  bj  ck)

Equation of straight line x  x1  ta

Parametric equations :
y  y1  tb
z  z1  tc

Cartesian equation : x  x1 y  y1 z  z1
 
a b c

v1  v 2
Angle between 2 straight lines   cos1
v1 v 2
Applications
of vector Vector equation : r n  an
Equation of a plane
Cartesian equation : n1 x  n2 y  n3 z  a  n

n1  n 2
Angle between 2 planes   cos1
n1 n 2

Angle between a line and a plane v n

  cos 1
v n    900  

Point of intersection between a

line and a plane
P ( x, y , z )

3
CHAPTER 5 : VECTORS SM025_SESSION 2019/2020

Point of the intersection between a line and a plane

r  a  t v ……(1) parametric form

r  n  d . ……(2)
cartesian form

Find point of intersection Substitute (1)

get t values
between line and plane into (2)

Line : Plane
x  x1  ta
n:1x  n2 y  n3 z  d  (2)
y  y1  tb
z  z1  tc  (1)

Substitute t  P( x, y, z )
into (1)

4
CHAPTER 5 : VECTORS SM025_SESSION 2019/2020

Vector a and b are perpendicular to each other.

1. A(6, 3, 3), B(3, 5, 1) and C(-1, 3, 5) are the point in a three-dimensional space. Find
(a) The vector BA and BC in terms of unit vector i, j, k. Hence, show that BA is
perpendicular to BC . [6M]
[PSPM 2004]

Solution

BA  OA  OB
  6i  3 j  3k    3i  5 j  k 
 3i  2 j  2k

BC  OC  OB
   i  3 j  5k    3i  5 j  k 
 4i  2 j  4k

BA  BC   3i  2 j  2k    4i  2 j  4k 
 3(4)  (2)( 2)  2(4)
0
 BA is perpendicular to BC  shown 

Similar Pattern
UPS
PSPM 1a, 3a, 9b, 12a, 22a(i), 28b

Other (angle between two vectors)

UPS
PSPM 7c

5
CHAPTER 5 : VECTORS SM025_SESSION 2019/2020

Unit Vector

A(6, 3, 3), B(3, 5, 1) and C(-1, 3, 5) are the point in a three-dimensional space. Find a unit vector
that is perpendicular to plane containing the point A, B and C . [6M]
[PSPM 2004]

Solution

~
Let n is a vector that perpendiculat to the plane containing point A, B and C.
i j k
~
n  BA  BC  3 2 2
4 2 4
  8  4  i  12  8  j   6  8  k
 4i  20 j  14k

 BA  BC 
~ 1
unit vector of n 
BA  BC
1
  4i  20 j  14k 
 4  2
  20    14 
2 2

1 1
  4i  20 j  14k    2i  10 j  7k 
612 153

Similar Pattern
UPS
PSPM 1b, 10, 16b

6
CHAPTER 5 : VECTORS SM025_SESSION 2019/2020

Direction Cosines, Direction angles of a Vector

Given that u  3i  3 j  k . Determine the direction angles of u . [4M]

[PSPM 2007]

Solution

Let u makes angles of  ,  ,  with the x, y and z  axis respectively.

u  3i  3 j  k
u  32  32  ( 1)2  19
Direction cosines of u ,
3 3 1
cos   46.51 cos    46.51 cos    103 .26
19 19 19

Direction angles of u ,
 3   3   1 
  cos1    46.51   cos1    46.51   cos1    103.26
 19   19   19 

Similar Pattern
UPS
PSPM 7a, 9a, 28a, 31c,

7
CHAPTER 5 : VECTORS SM025_SESSION 2019/2020

Dot product / scalar product

If u, v and w are three non zero vectors such that u + v + w =0, show that

w u v
2 2 2

uv . [PSPM 2005 –5M]

2
Solution
uvw 0
Let u , v and w as a subject respectively,
u  v  w
v  u  w
w  u  v

uv    v  w   u  w 
 v  u  v  w  w  u  w2
 u  v  v  w  u  w  w2
  v  w   v  v  w  u  w  w 2
 v 2  w  v  v  w  u  w  w2
  v 2  w 2  u   u  v 
u  v  v 2  w2  u 2  u  v
2u  v  w2  u 2  v 2
 u  v
2 2 2
w
uv  proven
2
Similar Pattern
UPS
PSPM 2, 6, 8, 15c, 18

8
CHAPTER 5 : VECTORS SM025_SESSION 2019/2020

Cross Product / Vector Product

A(6, 3, 3), B(3, 5, 1) and C(-1, 3, 5) are the point in a three-dimensional space. Find a unit vector
that is perpendicular to plane containing the point A, B and C . [6M]
[PSPM 2004]

Solution

~
Let n is a vector that perpendiculat to the plane containing point A, B and C.
i j k
~
n  BA  BC  3 2 2
4 2 4
  8  4  i  12  8  j   6  8  k
 4i  20 j  14k

 BA  BC 
~ 1
unit vector of n 
BA  BC
1
  4i  20 j  14k 
 4  2
  20    14 
2 2

1 1
  4i  20 j  14k    2i  10 j  7k 
612 153

Similar Pattern (properties of cross product)

UPS
PSPM 4, 12b, 16a, 22a(ii), 26, 27b

9
CHAPTER 5 : VECTORS SM025_SESSION 2019/2020

Given that u  3i  3 j  k , and v  4i  2k , determine the area of parallelogram with sides u

and v . [PSPM 2007 – 2M]

Solution

i j k
uv  3 3 2   6  0  i  (6  8) j  (0  12)k  6i  2 j  12k
4 0 2

Area of parallelogram
 uv
 62  (2)2  (12) 2
 184unit 2

Similar Pattern (area of triangle & parallelogram)

UPS
PSPM 3a, 7b, 15a, 19, 22b, 23, 29

10
CHAPTER 5 : VECTORS SM025_SESSION 2019/2020

Applications of Vector

1. Equations of straight lines in space

The position vectors of the points P, Q and R are given respectively as

p  4i  3j  11k, q  2i  8k, r  i  2j
Find parametric equations of the straight line passing through the point (3, -5, 2) and perpendicular
to the plane containing P, Q and R. [4M]
[PSPM 2005]
Solution

QP  6i  3 j  3k QR  3i  2 j  8k
n  QP  QR  show the steps =  30i  57 j  3k

v  n  30i  57 j  3k
r  a  tv
  3i  5 j  2k   t  30i  57 j  3k 
Xi  Yj  Zk   3  30t  i   5  57t  j   2  3t  k
compare both sides
X   3  30t 
Y   5  57t 
Z   2  3t 

Similar Pattern (given a point on the line and the line perpendicular to a plane)
UPS
PSPM 3c, 9d, 11b, 15b, 22c(ii), 27b, 30c

Others (given two points on the line)

UPS
PSPM 11b

Others (given a point on the line and the line parallel to a vector)
UPS
PSPM 15b

11
CHAPTER 5 : VECTORS SM025_SESSION 2019/2020

2. Angle between 2 straight lines

The line L1 and L2 passes through the point R (2,4,-3) and S (8,-5,9) in the direction of
2i – 3j + 4k and i – 2j + 3k, respectively.
State the equations for lines L1 and L2 in vector form. Hence, calculate the acute angle between
the lines L1 and L2 . [5M]

Solution

L1 : r1  2 i  4 j  3k   (2 i  3 j  4k )
L2 : r2  8i  5 j  9k   ( i  2 j  3k )
v1  v2 2(1)  (3)(2)  4(3)
cos   
v1 v2 2  (3) 2  42 12  (2) 2  32
2

 0.9926
   6.980

Similar Pattern
UPS
PSPM 21a , 31a

12
CHAPTER 5 : VECTORS SM025_SESSION 2019/2020

3. Equation of a plane

The points A  2,1, 2  , B  5, 7, 3 and C  3,3,1 lie on the plane 1 .

The equation of a second plane  2 , is given as 2 x  y  2 z  5

(a) Find the vectors AB and AC [3M]

(b) Determine the Cartesian equation of 1 [3M]

Solution

AB  OB  OA AC  OC  OA
 5    2  3   2 
       
  7   1    3   1 
 3  2  1   2 
       
 7i  8 j  5k  5i  2 j  k
n  AB  BC
i j k
 7 8 5
5 2 1
 8  10 i   7  25  j  14  40 k
 18i  18 j  54 k

rn  an
r  18i  18 j  54 k    2i  j  2k   18i  18 j  54 k 
  218   1 18   254 
 54

Similar Pattern (given 3 points on the plane)

UPS
PSPM 1c, 3b, 5a-b, 9c, 11a, 13a-b, 22c(i)

13
CHAPTER 5 : VECTORS SM025_SESSION 2019/2020

The plane 𝛱1 contains a line L with vector equation r  t j and a point P (3, -1, 2).

(a) Find a Cartesian equation of 𝛱1 . [6M]

Solution

Cartesian equation of 𝛱1 :
Let B is a point on line L,
OP  3, 1, 2 and PB  OB  OP
 0,1, 0  3, 1, 2
= 3, 2, 2
i j k
n  PO  PB  3 1 2  2 i  3k
3 2 2

Equation of plane𝛱1 :
r .n  p .n
 x  2   3   2 
       
 y    0    1   0 
 z   3   2   3 
       
2 x  3z  0

Similar Pattern (given a point and a line on the plane)

UPS
PSPM 14c, 17a, 20c, 31b

other (given two lines on the plane)

UPS
PSPM 21c

14
CHAPTER 5 : VECTORS SM025_SESSION 2019/2020

4. Angles between two planes

The points A  2,1, 2  , B  5, 7, 3 and C  3,3,1 lie on the plane 1 .

The equation of a second plane  2 , is given as 2 x  y  2 z  5

(c) Find the acute angle between 1 and  2 , giving your answer in degrees [5M]

[PSPM 2006]
Solution

Find the plane equation ... (show the steps)

1 : X  Y  3Z  3

1 : X  Y  3Z  3  2 : 2 X  Y  2Z  5
n1  i  j  3k n2  2i  j  2k

cos  
i  j  3k   2i  j  2k 
 12   12  32  22   12   22 
  
12    1 1  3 2 

 11  9 
3
cos   acute angle  180   107 .55 
99
  107 .55   72.45 
Similar Pattern
UPS
PSPM 5c, 13c, 17b, 20a, 24c, 25, 30b

15
CHAPTER 5 : VECTORS SM025_SESSION 2019/2020

5. Angles between a line and a plane

6  4
   
Find the angle between the straight line r =  5   t  0  and the plane x  y  3 z  2
 3  1
   

Solution

 4
 
From line, v   0 
1
 
1
 
From plane, n   1 
 3 
 

 4  1 
   
0 1 
 1   3 
cos      
17 11

1
cos  
187
  1.5 rad or 85.8

The angle between the line and the plane,  is given by;


 =  1.5 rad = 0.07 rad( 2 d.p) or 4.2
2
Similar Pattern
UPS
PSPM 14a, 21b, 24b, 30a

16
CHAPTER 5 : VECTORS SM025_SESSION 2019/2020

6. Intesection point between a line and a plane

The points A(1,3,2), B(3,-1,6) and C(5,2,0) lie on the plane 𝛱. A line L passes through the points
P(1,2,2) and Q(0,1,4). Find he point of intersection of L and 𝛱.
Solution

AB  OB  OA AC  OC  OA
 3   1  5  1
       
  1    3    2   3
 6   2  0  2
       
 2i  4 j  4k  4i  j  2k
AB  BC
i j k
 2 4 4
4 1 2

 12i  20 j  14k
Equation of the plane π,

rn  an
x, y, z  12, 20,14  1, 3, 2  12, 20,14
6 x  10 y  7 z  50.......(1)

Equation of the line,

r  a t v

 i  2 j  2k  t  i  j  2k 
x  1 t 

y  2  t  .....(2)
z  2  2t 


At the point of intersection, sub (2) into (1)

6(1  t )  10(2  t )  7(2  2t )  50
40-2t =50
t=-5
Point of intersection (6,7,-8)

Similar Pattern
UPS
PSPM 11c, 14b, 20b, 24a, 27a

17