Sketching the Plane Curve of a Vector-Valued Function

EX #3: Sketch the plane curve represented by

𝐫𝐫 = 3 cos 𝑡𝑡 𝐢𝐢 + 4 sin 𝑡𝑡 𝐣𝐣 , 0 ≤ 𝑡𝑡 ≤ 2𝜋𝜋. Use arrows to
indicate the direction. Write the rectangular equation.

Operations of Vector-Valued Functions

Since vector-valued functions are the sum of the parametric components, 𝑥𝑥(𝑡𝑡) + 𝑦𝑦(𝑡𝑡), we can
perform the following algebraic operations. Likewise, limits, continuity and derivatives are also
defined.

Sum and Difference 𝐫𝐫1 (𝑡𝑡) ± 𝒓𝒓2 (𝑡𝑡) = [𝑓𝑓1 (𝑡𝑡)𝐢𝐢 + 𝑔𝑔1 (𝑡𝑡)𝐣𝐣] ± [𝑓𝑓2 (𝑡𝑡)𝐢𝐢 + 𝑔𝑔2 (𝑡𝑡)𝐣𝐣]

𝑘𝑘𝐫𝐫(𝑡𝑡) = 𝑘𝑘[𝑓𝑓(𝑡𝑡)𝐢𝐢 + 𝑔𝑔(𝑡𝑡)𝐣𝐣] = 𝑘𝑘𝑓𝑓(𝑡𝑡)𝐢𝐢 + 𝑘𝑘 𝑔𝑔(𝑡𝑡)𝐣𝐣

Scalar Multiplication
ℎ(𝑡𝑡)𝐫𝐫(𝑡𝑡) = ℎ(𝑡𝑡)[𝑓𝑓(𝑡𝑡)𝐢𝐢 + 𝑔𝑔(𝑡𝑡)𝐣𝐣] = ℎ(𝑡𝑡)𝑓𝑓(𝑡𝑡)𝐢𝐢 + ℎ(𝑡𝑡)𝑔𝑔(𝑡𝑡)𝐣𝐣

Dot Product 𝐫𝐫1 (𝑡𝑡) ∙ 𝒓𝒓2 (𝑡𝑡) = [𝑓𝑓1 (𝑡𝑡)𝐢𝐢 + 𝑔𝑔1 (𝑡𝑡)𝐣𝐣] ∙ [𝑓𝑓2 (𝑡𝑡)𝐢𝐢 + 𝑔𝑔2 (𝑡𝑡)𝐣𝐣]
(is a scalar) = [𝑓𝑓1 (𝑡𝑡) ∙ 𝑓𝑓2 (𝑡𝑡)] + [𝑔𝑔1 (𝑡𝑡) ∙ 𝑔𝑔2 (𝑡𝑡)]

Limits, Derivatives and Continuity

Limits lim 𝐫𝐫(𝑡𝑡) = �lim 𝑓𝑓(𝑡𝑡)� 𝐢𝐢 + �lim 𝑔𝑔(𝑡𝑡)� 𝐣𝐣

𝑡𝑡→𝑎𝑎 𝑡𝑡→𝑎𝑎 𝑡𝑡→𝑎𝑎

Derivatives 𝐫𝐫 ′ (𝑡𝑡) = 𝑓𝑓 ′ (𝑡𝑡)𝐢𝐢 + 𝑔𝑔′ (𝑡𝑡)𝐣𝐣

A vector-valued function is continuous at a point 𝑡𝑡 = 𝑎𝑎 if

lim 𝐫𝐫(𝑡𝑡) = 𝐫𝐫(𝑎𝑎)
𝑡𝑡→𝑎𝑎
Continuity
A vector-valued function is continuous on an interval
provided r(t) is continuous at every point in the interval.

© 2018 Flamingo MathTM, LLC (Jean Adams)