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MATH 2394 – ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS

Week 1: VECTORS

Lecturer: Dr. Cuong T. Nguyen

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Tentative Outline

• Vector Introduction: What is it? Why we need to know it

and what does it look like?

• Vector Arithmetic: What can we do with vectors?

• Vector Applications: Are there any useful applications in

science and engineering?

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Part I. Vector Introduction

What is a vector?
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I.1. Vectors and Scalars

Vectors Scalars
Magnitude/size Only Magnitude/size
and
Direction

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I.1. Vectors and Scalars

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Motivation

Robotics Engineering Electrical Engineering

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Motivation

source: https://www.wiplane.com/p/foundations-for-data-science-ml

Software Engineering & Information Technology

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I.2. Vector representation

Vectors are often represented by an arrow or a line segment with
direction.

Example: A horizontal force of 35 N acting to the right, would be indicated

by a line and if the chosen vector scale were 1 cm = 10 N, the line would
be .......... cm long.

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I.3. Vector notations

• Vectors names are usually accented with an arrow pointing to the right
side. Example: 𝑣Ԧ , 𝒗, 𝐴𝐵, etc.

• Example: vector 𝑣Ԧ is defined as the line from point A to point B. Thus,

we can refer to it as vector 𝑣Ԧ or vector 𝐴𝐵.

𝐵
𝑣Ԧ

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I.3. Vector notations

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I.4. Vector components

Resolution
• Vector resolution

• For any vector 𝑣Ԧ between point A with coordinate (x1, y1) and point B
with coordinate (x2, y2), the resolution of vector 𝑣Ԧ shall be equal to:
𝑦

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I.4. Vector components

Resolution
Example: Find the resolutions of

a) Vector 𝑂𝐴 which goes from point O (0,0) to point A (4, 3).

b) Vector 𝐴𝐵 which goes from point A (4,3) to point B (5, 1).

𝑦
𝐴 (4, 3)

𝐵 (5, 1)
𝑂(0, 0)
𝑥

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I.4. Vector components

Resolution → Magnitude
• The magnitude of a Vector is denoted as the name of the vector with
vertical bars on each side |…|.

o Example: the magnitude of vector 𝐴𝐵 is written as |𝐴𝐵|.

• To calculate the magnitude of a Vector, we invoke the Pythagorean

Theorem.

Thus, for any vector 𝑣Ԧ with resolution [x, y], the magnitude of 𝑣Ԧ shall be

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I.4. Vector components

Resolution → Magnitude
Example: Calculate the magnitude |𝑂𝐴| of vector 𝑂𝐴 [4, 3].

𝐴 (4, 3)

𝑂(0, 0)
𝑥

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I.4. Vector components

Resolution → Direction
The direction of a vector is usually expressed by a quantity called “direction
cosine”.

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I.4. Vector components

Resolution → Direction
Example: Calculate the direction cosine 𝛼 and 𝛽 of vector 𝑂𝐴 [4, 3].

What are the value of 𝛼 and 𝛽 in degrees?

𝐴 (4, 3)

𝛽
𝑂(0, 0) 𝛼 𝑥

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I.5. Unit vector

• Unit vector is a vector which has a magnitude of 1.

• Unit vectors are often denoted with an accented “^”.

Example:
o Is Vector 𝑎Ԧ [0, 1] a unit vector?
o Is Vector 𝑏 [1, 1] a unit vector?

• To find the unit vector of any vector

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I.5. Unit vector

෢ of vector 𝑂𝐴 [4, 3].
Example: Find the resolution [x, y] for the unit vector 𝑂𝐴

𝐴 (4, 3)

𝛽
𝑂(0, 0) 𝛼 𝑥

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I.5. 3D Vectors

How is it different from 2D vectors?

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I.5. 3D Vectors
Introduction
• Given the forces in the cables, how will you determine the
resultant force acting at D, the top of the tower?

𝐴 (4, 3, 5)

𝑂(0, 0, 0)

𝑥 𝑦
𝐴1 (4, 3, 0)
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I.5. 3D Vectors
Introduction
• Cartesian coordinate system by the right-hand rule

𝐴 (4, 3, 5)

𝑂(0, 0, 0)

𝑥 𝑦
𝐴1 (4, 3, 0)
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I.5. 3D Vectors
Magnitude & Direction
• The magnitude of a vector in 3D is still the length or size of the vector.

• The formula to find the magnitude of a vector 𝑣Ԧ in 3D with resolution

[𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧] can then be generalized as:

|𝑣| = 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 +𝑧 2

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I.5. 3D Vectors
Magnitude & Direction
Example: Find the magnitude of vector 𝑂𝐴 [4, 3, 5].

𝐴 (4, 3, 5)

𝑂(0, 0, 0)

𝑥 𝑦

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I.5. 3D Vectors
Magnitude & Direction
Similar to 2D Vectors, the direction of 3D vectors are also defined by its
“direction cosines”. Visualization of the angles 𝛼 , 𝛽 , and 𝛾 are as follows:

𝛾 𝐴 (4, 3, 5)

𝑂(0, 0, 0) 𝛽
𝛼
𝑥 𝑦

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I.5. 3D Vectors
Magnitude & Direction
Example: Calculate the direction cosine 𝛼 , 𝛽 , and 𝛾 of vector 𝑂𝐴 [4, 3, 5].
What are the value of 𝛼, 𝛽, and 𝛾 in degrees?

𝛾 𝐴 (4, 3, 5)

𝑂(0, 0, 0) 𝛽
𝛼
𝑥 𝑦

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I.5. 3D Vectors
Unit vector
Example: Calculate the resolution of the unit vector of vector 𝑂𝐴 [4, 3, 5].

𝛾 𝐴 (4, 3, 5)

𝑂(0, 0, 0) 𝛽
𝛼
𝑥 𝑦

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Part II. Vector Arithmetic

All the fun things we can do with Vectors.

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II.1. Vector Addition

Example in physics

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II.1. Vector Addition

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II.1. Vector Addition

The resolution [xr, yr, zr] of the resultant vector 𝑟Ԧ can be calculated from the
resolution [x1, y1, z1] of vector 𝑢 and the resolution [x2, y2, z2] of vector 𝑣Ԧ as
follow:
𝑢 + 𝑣Ԧ = 𝑟Ԧ
→ 𝑥1, 𝑦1, 𝑧1 + 𝑥2, 𝑦2, 𝑧2 = [𝑥𝑟 , 𝑦𝑟 , 𝑧𝑟 ]
→ 𝒙𝒓, 𝒚𝒓 , 𝒛𝒓 = 𝒙𝟏 + 𝒙𝟐 , 𝒚𝟏 + 𝒚𝟐, 𝒛𝟏 + 𝒛𝟐

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II.1. Vector Addition

Example: find the resolution of the resultant vector 𝑂𝐶 = 𝑂𝐴 + 𝑂𝐵 where

𝑂𝐴 4, 3, 5 and 𝑂𝐵 [1, 1, 1]

𝑧 The resolution of the resultant vector 𝑂𝐶 can be

𝐶 calculated as
𝐵 (1, 1, 1) 𝐴 (4, 3, 5) 𝑂𝐴 + 𝑂𝐵 = 𝑂𝐶
→ [𝑥𝑟 , 𝑦𝑟 , 𝑧𝑟 ] = 𝑥1, 𝑦1, 𝑧1 + 𝑥2, 𝑦2, 𝑧2
𝑂(0, 0, 0)
𝑦 → 𝑥𝑟, 𝑦𝑟 , 𝑧𝑟 =
𝑥
→ 𝑥𝑟, 𝑦𝑟 , 𝑧𝑟 =

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II.2. Vector Subtraction

𝑦 𝑦
Notice the difference? 𝐶

𝑂𝐴 𝑂𝐶
𝑂𝐵 𝐵 𝐴 𝐵 𝐴
𝑂𝐵
𝑂(0, 0) 𝑂(0, 0) 𝑂𝐴
𝑂𝐶 𝑥 𝑥
𝐶

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II.3. Scalar multiplication

• A vector 𝑢 can be multiplied or divided by a scalar “𝑘” to yield another
vector 𝑣.
Ԧ

• The resolution of 𝑣Ԧ can be calculated as follow:

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II.3. Scalar multiplication

Example: Find the resolution of the vector 𝑂𝐵 knowing that 𝑂𝐵 is parallel to

vector 𝑂𝐴 [4, 3, 5] and 𝑂𝐵 is only half as long as 𝑂𝐴?

𝐴 (4, 3, 5)

𝑂(0, 0, 0) 𝐵

𝑥 𝑦

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II.4. Dot and Cross products

Dot it or cross it.

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II.4.1. Dot product

Using components
• The definition of a dot product between 2 vectors 𝑢 x1, y1, z1 and
𝑣[𝑥
Ԧ 2, 𝑦2, 𝑧2] is as follows:

𝑢 ⋅ 𝑣Ԧ = 𝑥1 , 𝑦1 , 𝑧1 ⋅ 𝑥2 , 𝑦2 , 𝑧2 = 𝑥1 . 𝑥2 + 𝑦1 . 𝑦2 + 𝑧1 . 𝑧2

Source: Skyler Dale, an intuitive explanation of vectors, https://towardsdatascience.com/ 36

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II.4.1. Dot product

Using components
• The dot product is 0 when the blue vector is perpendicular to the red vector.

• The dot product is larger when the magnitude of the blue vector is larger.

• The dot product is larger when the direction of the blue vectors is similar to the direction
of the red vector.

Source: Skyler Dale, an intuitive explanation of vectors, https://towardsdatascience.com/ 37

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II.4.1. Dot product

Using magnitudes and angle
Another identity of a dot product between 2 vectors 𝑢 x1, y1, z1 and
𝑣[𝑥
Ԧ 2, 𝑦2, 𝑧2] is as follows:
𝑢 ∙ 𝑣Ԧ = 𝑢 . 𝑣Ԧ . cos 𝜃

, where 𝜃 is the angle between the 2 vectors.

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II.4.1. Dot product
Example

Find the Dot product between vector 𝑂𝐴 [4, 3] and vector 𝑂𝐵 [6, 8]. What
is the angle 𝜃 between them?

𝑦
𝐵 (6, 8)

𝜃
𝐴 (4, 3)
𝑂(0, 0)
𝑥

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