Name and ID#:__________________________________________________________________

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ARMENIA

College of Science and Engineering
ENGS 121 Mechanics
QUIZ 01
Date / Time: Friday, January 26 at 08:30
Duration: 50 mins
Attention: ANY TYPE OF COMMUNICATION IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED

Problem 1: Consider two vectors 𝐴⃗ = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗̂ + 𝐴𝑧 𝑘̂ and 𝐵 ⃗⃗ = 𝐵𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝐵𝑦 𝑗̂ + 𝐵𝑧 𝑘̂, where Ax, Ay and Az are
the last three non-zero digits of your ID#; Bx, By and Bz – the first three non-zero digits of your ID#; and
𝑖̂, 𝑗̂, 𝑘̂ – the base vectors of the Cartesian system of coordinates. Compute: a) 𝐴⃗2; b) 𝐵 ⃗⃗ 2; c) (𝐴⃗ ∙ 𝐵
⃗⃗ ).

Solution

a) By definition, 𝐴⃗2 = 𝐴⃗ ∙ 𝐴⃗ = 𝐴2𝑥 + 𝐴2𝑦 + 𝐴2𝑧 = |𝐴⃗|2

⃗⃗ 2 = 𝐵
b) By definition, 𝐵 ⃗⃗ ∙ 𝐵
⃗⃗ = 𝐵𝑥2 + 𝐵𝑦2 + 𝐵𝑧2 = |𝐵
⃗⃗ |2
c) By definition, (𝐴⃗ ∙ 𝐵
⃗⃗ ) = 𝐴𝑥 𝐵𝑥 + 𝐴𝑦 𝐵𝑦 + 𝐴𝑧 𝐵𝑧

Problem 2: Consider the same vector 𝐴⃗ from Problem 1. Find the following vectors: a) a unit vector 𝐵 ⃗⃗ that
lies in the x-y plane and is perpendicular to 𝐴⃗; b) a unit vector 𝐶⃗ that is perpendicular to both 𝐴⃗ and 𝐵
⃗⃗.

Solution

a) ⃗⃗ lies in the x-y plane  Bz = 0

𝐵
⃗⃗ ⊥ 𝐴⃗  AxBx + AyBy = 0  𝐵𝑦 = − 𝐴𝑥 𝐵𝑥
𝐵 𝐴 𝑦
𝐴𝑦 𝐴𝑥
⃗⃗ is a unit vector  𝐵𝑥2 + 𝐵𝑦2 = 1  𝐵𝑥 =
𝐵  𝐵𝑦 = −
√𝐴2𝑥 +𝐴2𝑦 √𝐴2𝑥 +𝐴2𝑦

b) ⃗⃗  BxCx + ByCy = 0  𝐶𝑦 = − 𝐵𝑥 𝐶𝑥 = 𝐴𝑦 𝐶𝑥
𝐶⃗ ⊥ 𝐵 𝐵 𝐴 𝑦 𝑥
𝐴2𝑦 𝐴𝑥 +𝐴𝑦 2 2
𝐶⃗ ⊥ 𝐴⃗  AxCx + AyCy+ AzCz = 0  𝐴𝑥 𝐶𝑥 + 𝐴 𝐶𝑥 + 𝐴𝑧 𝐶𝑧 = 0  𝐶𝑧 = − 𝐴 𝐴 𝐶𝑥
𝑥 𝑥 𝑧
𝐴2𝑦 𝐴4𝑥 +2𝐴2𝑥 𝐴2𝑦 +𝐴4𝑦
𝐶⃗ is a unit vector  𝐶𝑥2 + 𝐶𝑦2 + 𝐶𝑧2 =1 𝐶𝑥2 (1 + 𝐴2 + )=1
𝑥 𝐴2𝑥 𝐴2𝑧

Problem 3: Consider a vector 𝑉 ⃗⃗ and 𝑖̂ is , between 𝑉

⃗⃗ , such that the angle between 𝑉 ⃗⃗ and 𝑗̂ – is , and
between 𝑉⃗⃗ and 𝑘̂– is . Prove that cos  + cos  + cos  = 1. Hint: consider the dot products of 𝑉
2 2 2 ⃗⃗ with the
base vectors.

Solution
2
⃗⃗ ∙ 𝑖̂ = 𝑉𝑥 ∙ 1 + 𝑉𝑦 ∙ 0 + 𝑉𝑧 ∙ 0 = 𝑉𝑥 = |𝑉
𝑉 ⃗⃗ | cos2
⃗⃗ ||𝑖̂| cos 𝛼 ⇒ 𝑉𝑥2 = |𝑉
2
⃗⃗ ∙ 𝑗̂ = 𝑉𝑥 ∙ 0 + 𝑉𝑦 ∙ 1 + 𝑉𝑧 ∙ 0 = 𝑉𝑦 = |𝑉
𝑉 ⃗⃗ | cos2
⃗⃗ ||𝑗̂| cos 𝛽 ⇒ 𝑉𝑦2 = |𝑉
2
⃗⃗ ∙ 𝑘̂ = 𝑉𝑥 ∙ 0 + 𝑉𝑦 ∙ 0 + 𝑉𝑧 ∙ 1 = 𝑉𝑧 = |𝑉
𝑉 ⃗⃗ | cos2
⃗⃗ ||𝑘̂| cos 𝛾 ⇒ 𝑉𝑧2 = |𝑉
Adding, 𝑉𝑥2 + 𝑉𝑦2 + 𝑉𝑧2 = |𝑉 ⃗⃗ |2(cos2 + cos2 + cos2)  cos2 + cos2 + cos2 = 1
⃗⃗ |2 = |𝑉

Use the backside, if needed Page 1 of 1