The Dot and Cross Products

This is a primer/summary of the dot and cross products designed to help you understand the two concepts better
and avoid the common confusion that arises when learning these two concepts for the first time.

The Dot Product

If a and b are two vectors, the dot product is defined two ways:

1. b = o
1
b
1
+ o
2
b
2
+ +o
n
b
n
, where o
1
and b
1
(etc) are the component values of the vectors.
2. b = |||b| cos 0.

The dot product always produces a scalar result. You will most often use formula (1) since you rarely know the
angle between the two vectors. However, formula (2) is handy since it gives a more physical meaning to the dot
product (it is the result of the Law of Cosines), and it allows us to determine the angle:

0 = cos
-1
_
b
|||b|
]

Thus, if the dot is positive, the angle is acute, and if the dot is negative, the angle is obtuse. And most
importantly, if the dot is 0, the two vectors are orthogonal ) ( to one another:

b = u b

A very common relationship is = ||
2
, which relates the dot product operation to the magnitude of a. This
fact is used often in vector analysis.

The projection of one vector onto another is facilitated by the dot product. For example, the projection of b onto
a is defined by:

pioj

b = _
b

]

Viewing b as the hypotenuse of a triangle and its projection onto a as the adjacent leg, then the opposite leg is
called the orthogonal projection of b onto a, with the relationship that

pioj

b + oith

b = b

The dot product is commutative, distributable across addition, but is not associative in that one cannot dot
three vectors together, since dotting the first two produces a scalar.

The dot product is immediately applicable in the physical concept of work (a scalar):

= F D
The Cross Product

The cross product of a with b is defined and best memorized as the expansion of a 3 by 3 determinant:

b = _

o
1
o
2
o
3
b
1
b
2
b
3
_ =
o
2
o
3
b
2
b
3

o
1
o
3
b
1
b
3
+
o
1
o
2
b
1
b
2


It is a vector with the property that it is orthogonal to the individual vectors that created it; thus if we dot the cross
with each of its parent vectors, the dot product would be zero:

( b) = u, b ( b) = u

This is a good way to test your result: if you do not get a 0 result, your cross is incorrect. Watch your arithmetic
carefully!

If the cross of two vectors is 0, then the two vectors are parallel. A corollary is that the cross of a vector with
itself is always 0. The cross product is not commutative, but if you do change the order of the vectors, you simply
get the negative version of the original:

b = (b )

The magnitude of the cross product is defined to be

| b| = |||b| sin 0

The length of b is equal to the area of the parallelogram formed by a and b. If you are given three points in
space, form two vectors, cross them, find its magnitude and you will have the area of the parallelogram suggested
by the two vectors. Half this result is the area of the triangle formed by the three points.

A visual you might consider memorizing is this: three non-collinear points determine a plane, and the cross of the
two vectors lying on the plane (formed by the three points) will be orthogonal to this plane. Extending this to
other surfaces, we will want to know the vector that sticks straight out from a point on the surface: this is called
the normal vector and is always found by the cross product (normals are orthogonal to tangent vectors, by the
way).

There are many interesting geometrical properties of the cross product. If vectors a, b and c are non-collinear (or
any two of the three), then they form a 3-dimensional parallelepiped, a slanty box. Its volume is the absolute
value of one of the vectors dotted with the cross of the other two:

| (b )| = _
o
1
o
2
o
3
b
1
b
2
b
3
c
1
c
2
c
3
_

The dot product has immediate physical applications as torque, where turning a wrench (for example) translates
into a force to move a screw in a certain direction (a vector).

Keeping track of whats what.

Let = (1,4, S), b = (4,S, 1) and = (7, 2, S). Classify each expression below as a vector, a scalar, or
impossible. If its a vector or scalar, calculate the result. If its impossible to calculate, explain why. Note: scalar
multiplication is always written without the actual symbol. The dot symbol always refers to the dot product.

1.
2. ( )b
3. ( ) b
4. ( ) b
5. ( ) b
6. ( )b
7. ( ) b
8. ( )
9. ( ) (b )
10. ( ) (b )
11. ( ) (b )
12. ( )(b )

Other practice:

13. You start walking from the origin in the direction of (S,1), with the intention of ending on point
(7,1). You are allowed one right-angle turn. Find (a) the point at which you make this turn, (b) how
far you walked in the (S,1) direction, and (c) how far you walked orthogonal to the (S,1) direction.

14. Let points = (1,S,1), = (2,S, S), = (4,1,8) be given. The three points form a triangle.
Find (a) the angle in degrees at vertex A, and (b) find the area within this triangle.

15. The points (0,0,0), (3,1,0), (1,5,0) and (2,2,7) form a three-dimensional quasi-tetrahedral solid (a four-
sided object in which all four sides are triangles, but not necessarily with symmetry). What is the
volume contained in this object?

These are not due. Please use this as a reference and to promote discussion with classmates.