MATH 2015 Section B

Brief review of vectors

Vectors. A vector is a quantity with both...

Notation. In this course, we will represent vectors...

Given a vector u 6= 0, the notation û is used to represent the vector...

Note. It’s important that you have a working understanding of the geometry and algebra of
vector addition, scalar multiplication and lengths of vectors moving forward.

1. Consider the vector u = h1, 2i. Which of the following is û?

(a) û = h 13 , 32 i (b) û = h1, 2i (c) û = h √15 , √25 i (d) û = h 15 , 25 i

Standard basis vectors. In 3D space, there are three standard basis vectors:

We often express other vectors in terms of these, e.g.,

h3, −1, 6i =

1
 We have two ways of “multiplying” vectors: the dot product and the cross-product (←
3D only).
Dot product. The dot product of u = hu1 , u2 , u3 i and v = hv1 , v2 , v3 i is...

2. Let u = h1, 0, 3i, v = h0, 2, 1i, and w = h3, −1, −1i. Calculate each of the following.

(a) u · v

(b) u · w

Note.

(i) u · u =

(ii) u · v =

Geometric interpretation.

2
3. Are any of the vectors in question 2 perpendicular?

4. Given u = h1, 1, 0i and v = h0, 2, 0i, what is the angle between u and v?

Projections. Read about the scalar projection of u onto v, compv (u), and the vector
projection of u onto v, projv (u), on pg. 782 of the textbook (or come to office hours).

It will be useful for us to be able to take two non-parallel 3D vectors u and v and
construct a third vector perpendicular to both u and v. To do this, we use the cross
product.

Cross product. The cross product of u = hu1 , u2 , u3 i and v = hv1 , v2 , v3 i is:

This is often written as the determinant of order three:

3
5. Let u = h1, 0, 3i and v = h2, 1, 1i. Calculate u × v.

Note. In general:

(i) u × v =

(ii) u × u =

It is easy (but annoying) to show that

u · (u × v) = 0 and v · (u × v) = 0.

Theorem.

Just as we had a way of interpreting the dot product geometrically, we can interpret the
cross product geometrically.
Geometric interpretation.

4
6. In what situation is u × v = 0?

This geometric interpretation tells us how about the length of a cross product. The right-hand
rule tells us about its direction.

Right-hand rule.

7. Find a vector perpendicular to the plane that passes through the points P (1, 0, 0), Q(0, 1, 0)
and R(0, 0, 1).