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"eneralise ectors to
n
What is meant by
!
?
!
is the plane representin" the Cartesian coordinate system named after the ,rench
mathematician $philosopher% 5ene 6escartes&
a
1
2
a
a
-
2
a
a
O
-
b
a
-
b
b
Rene Descartes was a French philosopher born in 1596. He
attended a Jesit colle!e and becase o" his poor health he was
allowed to re#ain in bed ntil 11 o$cloc% in the #ornin!& a habit he
contined ntil his death in 165'.
Descartes stdied law at the (ni)ersity o" *oitiers which is
located soth west o" *aris. A"ter !radatin! in 161+ he went to
Holland to stdy #athe#atics.
O)er the ne,t decade he tra)elled thro!h -rope e)entally
settlin! in Holland in 16.+. Here Descartes li)ed a solitary li"e
only concentratin! on #athe#atics and philosophy.
Fi! 11 Rene Descartes 1596 to 165'
Chapter 3: Euclidean Space 4
Descartes #ain contribtion to #athe#atics was his analytic !eo#etry which inclded
or present ,/y plane and the three di#ensional space.
0n 1619 Descartes #o)ed to 2weden to teach 3een 4hristina. Howe)er she wanted to
learn her #athe#atics early in the #ornin! 55a#6 which did not sit Descartes becase
he had a habit o" !ettin! p at 11a#. 4o#bined with these 5a# starts and the harsh
2wedish winter Descartes died o" pne#onia in 165'.
The points in the plane are ordered pairs with reference to the ori"in which is denoted
by O& ,or e'ample the followin" are all ectors in the plane
!
:
x
-4 -2 2 4 6 8 10
y
-2
2
4
7
5
/1
5
.
8
/6
/8
,i" )!
These are e'amples of ectors with two entries(
0 1 ! )
( ( and
3 / 3 /
&
The set of all ectors with two entries is denoted by
!
u !
& :lot
+ u !
and write down
+ u !
as a column ector&
What do you notice about your result?
Solution
x
-2 -1 1 2 3
y
-2
-1
1
2
3
:
/.
8
) :
8
/1
9 )
,i" ).
By e'aminin" ,i" ). we hae that the coordinates of
+ u !
are
$)( !%
and this is
written as a column ector
)
!
&
If we add ! and y coordinates separately then we obtain the resultant ector&
That is if we ealuate
3 ! 3 ! )
) 3 ) 3 !
+ = + = =
+
u !
which means that we can
add the correspondin" entries of the ector to find
+ u !
&
In "eneral if
a
b
=
u
and
c
d
=
!
then
a c a c
b d b d
+
+ = + =
+
u !
E'ample !
9et
3
)
=
!
& :lot the ectors
)
( ! ( 3
!
! ! ! and
!
on the same a'es&
Chapter 3: Euclidean Space "
Solution& :lottin" each of these ectors on
!
we hae
x
-2 2 4 6 8 10
y
-1
1
2
3
)
1
.
)
8)
; )
.)
,i" )/
Note that by readin" off the coordinates of each ector we hae:
3 )&/ 3 0 3 3
) )
( ! ! ( 3 3
) *&/ ) ! ) 3 ! !
= = = = = =
! ! !
and
3 3
) )
= =
!
5emember the product
k !
is called scalar multiplication& The term scalar comes
from the 9atin word scala meanin" ladder& Scalar multiplication chan"es the len"th of
the ector or we can say it chan"es the scale of the ector as you can see in ,i" )/&
In "eneral if
a
b
=
!
then the scalar multiplication
a ka
k k
b kb
= =
!
A4 Vectors in
3
mean?
3
is the set of all ordered triples of real numbers and is also called 3;space&
4e can e'tend the ector properties in
!
pronounced 7r three8&
The
! y
plane can be e'tended to coer three dimensions by includin" a third a'is
called the " a'is& This a'es is at ri"ht an"les to the other two( ! and y( a'es& The
position of a ector in three dimensions is "ien by three co;ordinates ( ) ( ( ! y "
&
,or e'ample the followin" is the ector
)
!
/
in
3
& That is if
and
a d
b e
c f
= =
u !
then the ector addition
a d a d
b e b e
c f c f
+
+ = + = +
+
u !
Scalar multiplication is defined by
a ka
k k b kb
c kc
= =
u
A Vectors in
n
What does
n
reresent?
In the )1
th
century 5ene 6escartes used ordered pairs of real numbers(
a
b
=
!
( to
describe ectors in the plane and e'tended it to ordered triples of real numbers(
a
b
c
=
!
( to describe ectors in 3 dimensional space& Why can#t we e!tend this to an
ordered $uadrule of real numbers%
a
b
c
d
=
!
% or n& tules of real numbers%
)
!
n
v
v
v
=
!
M
?
,i" )1
!
y
"
,i" )1
)
!
/
Chapter 3: Euclidean Space $
In the )1
th
century ectors were defined as "eometric ob-ects and there was no
"eometric interpretation of
n
for
n
"reater than 3& =oweer in the )3
th
century
ectors were thou"ht of as mathematical ob-ects that can be added( subtracted( scalar
multiplied etc so we could e'tend the ector definition&
An e'ample is a system of linear e#uations where the number of un>nowns
) ! 3
( ( ( and
n
! ! ! ! L
is "reater than 3&
A ector
)
!
n
v
v
v
=
!
M
is called an n dimensional ector& An e'ample is
)
!
2
=
!
M
&
=ence
n
is the set of all n dimensional ectors where si"nifies that the entries of
the ector are real numbers( that is
) ! 3
( ( ( and
n
v v v v L
are all real numbers& The
real number
'
v
of the ector ! is called the component or more precisely the -th
component of the ector !&
This
n
=
!
M
is different from
!
)
2
M
( that is the order of the components
matters&
How do we draw vectors in
n
for . n ?
4e cannot draw pictures of ectors in
. / 0
( ( etc& What is the oint of the n&
sace%
n
% for . n ?
4ell we can carry out ector arithmetic in n;space&
A" Vector Addition and Scalar Multiplication in
n
&
9et
) )
! !
and
n n
u v
u v
u v
= =
u !
M M
be ectors in
n
then
$3&3%
) ) ) )
! ! ! !
n n n n
u v u v
u v u v
u v u v
+
+
+ = + =
+
u !
M M M
The sum of the ectors u and ! denoted by
+ u !
is e'ecuted by addin" the
correspondin" components as formulated in $3&3%& Note that
+ u !
is also a ector in
n
&
Scalar multiplication
k !
is carried out by multiplyin" each component of the ector !
by the real number k:
$3&.%
) )
! !
n n
v kv
v kv
k k
v kv
= =
!
M M
A"ain
k !
is a ector in
n
&
E'ample .
9et
3 3
) !
and
1 .
/ )
= =
u !
& ,ind
$a%
+ u !
$b% )*u $c% 3 ! + u ! $d%
u u
$e% ! 2 u !
Solution&
$a% By applyin" $3&3% we hae
Chapter 3: Euclidean Space 1'
3 3 3 3 0
) ! ) ! 3
1 . 1 . 3
/ ) / ) .
+
+
+ = + = =
+
u !
$b% By usin" $3&.% we hae
3 3 )* 3*
) ) )* )*
)* )*
1 1 )* 1*
/ / )* /*
= = =
u
$c% By applyin" both $3&3% and $3&.% we hae
3 3 3 3 3 !
) ! ) 3 ! !
3 ! 3 !
1 . 1 3 . !
/ ) / 3 ) !
3 )2 3 )2 3
3 . 3 . 1
!) 2 !) 2 )3
)/ ! )/ ! )3
+ = + = +
+
+
= + = =
+
u !
$d% 4e hae
( )
3 3 3 3
) ) ) )
)
1 1 1 1
/ / / /
3 3 3 3 *
) ) ) ) *
1 1 1 1 *
/ / / / *
= = +
+
= + = = =
+
u u
(
=ence
u u
"ies the +ero ector (&
$e% 4e hae
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
3 ! 3 3 3 2
) ! ) ! ! 2
! 2 ! 2
1 ! 1 . . 2
/ ! / ) ) 2
0 1! 0 1! 00
! )0 ! )0 )2
). 3! ). 3! )2
)* 2 )* 2 !
= =
= = =
u !
&
=ence Euclidean space is the set
n
&
Euclid was a ?ree> mathematician who lied around 3**BC and deeloped distances
and an"les in the plane and three dimension space& A more detailed profile of Euclid is
"ien in the ne't section&
SDAAA5@
<ectors hae ma"nitude as well direction& Scalars only hae ma"nitude& <ectors are
normally denoted by bold letters such as u( !( ) etc&
<ector addition in the plane
!
where n is a
natural number such as )( !( 3( . (/ E
9et
) )
! !
and
n n
u v
u v
u v
= =
u !
M M
be ectors in
n
then
$3&3%
) ) ) )
! ! ! !
n n n n
u v u v
u v u v
u v u v
+
+
+ = + =
+
u !
M M M
$3&.%
) )
! !
n n
v kv
v kv
k
v kv
= =
!
M M