VECTORS SUMMARY SHEET

================================================================================= Vector Magnitude / Norm / Modulus / Length || v ||

1/ Mathematical entity / object with attributes of length and direction 2/ Geometric Interpretation; an arrow 3/ A directed line segment 4/ In Linear Algebra; An n dimensional entity The length of a vector

|| v || = [ a2 + b2 ]1/2 for v = <a,b> e.g. ||< 5,12 >|| = [ 5 2 + 12 2 ] 1/2 = [ 169 ] 1/2 = 13 Equivalent Vectors
Vectors with the same magnitude and direction

Scalar
A number ; from the Set of Real numbers

Equal Vectors
Equivalent vectors at the same location

Direction [angle] of a vector < x , y >

The angle made by the vector with respect to the horizontal or X axis; = Arctan [ y / x ]

Parallel Vectors
Vectors that have the same or opposite direction Cross Product = 0 because Sin 0 deg = 0 Vector b = Scalar x Vector a => b & a are parallel

Unit Vector
Vector with a magnitude = 1 [one] = v / || v || e.g. <3,4> ; It's unit vector = < 3,4 > / || < 3,4 > || = < 3,4 > / 5 = < 3 / 5 , 4 / 5 >

Orthogonal Vectors
Perpendicular Vectors Dot product = 0 because Cosine [ 90deg ] = 0

Resultant Vector
The vector which is the sum of the vectors involved Usually seen in Resultant Forces gravity problems or wind / water current influenced navigation problems

Specifying a vector
Cartesian Coordinates; < x , y y> e.g. < 3 , 4 > or 3 i + 4 j Polar Coordinates ; < length , angle > e.g. < 5 , / 4 >

Polar Form of a vector

Vector expressed as a length and angle e.g. < 5 , 30deg >

Cartesian Form of a vector

Vector expressed as change in x and change in y e.g < 5, 3 >

Changing from Cartesian to Polar form; r = || <x,y> || = Arctan [ y / x ] VECTOR OPERATIONS Addition / Subtraction [Algebraic]
Add [ or subtract ] the x values and then the y values of the two vectors e.g. <2,5> + <3,1> = <5,6> <2,5> - <3,1> = < -1,4>

Changing from Polar to Cartesian Form; x = r Cos y = r Sin

Addition / Subtraction [Graphical]

Construct the parallelogram made by the two vectors Sum of the vectors is the parallelogram's long diagonal Difference of the vectors is the shorter diagonal For angles 90 degrees Reversed for angles between 90 and 180 deg

Multiplication .. Dot [ Scalar / Direct / Inner ] Product for u = <a,b> v = <c,d> e.g. <1,4> dot <2,3> = ( 1 x 2 ) + ( 4 x 3 ) = 14 2/ u . v = ||u|| ||v|| cos x x = angle between the vectors u & v T 3/ u . v = matrix multiplication of u x v uT is the transpose of vector u
Result is a scalar 1/ u . v = a c + b d a . b or a dot b

Cross

[ Vector / Skew ]

Product

uxv

Result is a vector perpendicular to both vectors a and b Geometric interpretation; = area of parallelogram formed by the two vectors u and v

1/ u x v = [ ||u|| ||v|| sin x ] n x = angle between the vectors u & v n is a unit vector perpendicular to u & v direction is determined by the Right Hand Rule 2/ a x b = the determinant of a Matrix of 3 row vectors Component of u in v direction [ a scaler ] n= < i j k > Comp v u is the length of the Projection of u on to v a = < a 1 a2 a3 > Comp v u = [ u . v / ||v|| ] = ||u|| ||v|| Cos x / ||v|| b = < b 1 b2 b3 > Comp v u = ||u|| Cos x x = angle between the vectors u & v | i j k | Comp v u = || Proj v u || a x b = Det | a 1 a2 a3 | | b 1 b2 b3 | Projection of u on to v [ a vector ] a x b is Perpendicular to both a & b Proj v u is the vector that results by dropping a perpendicular to vector v from vector u If vectors a & b are Parallel, then a x b = 0 If vectors a & b are Perpendicular, then a dot b = 0 Proj v u = [ u . v ] v / ||v||2 = ( [ u . v ] / ||v|| ) v / ||v|| Proj v u = [ Comp v u ] x [ Unit vector for v ] 22 Dec 2011
PFreda, Assumption College

Vector Triple Product

Result is a vector

axbxc

Scalar Triple Product [ Mixed , Box ]

a.(bxc)

Cross product of a cross product To Find the Angle between two vectors u & v
1/ Find each of the angles [directions] of vectors u & v and then subtract to find the angle between them.

Result is a scalar Geometric interpretation; = volume of the parallelopiped formed by the three vectors a , b , and c This can be calculated by replacing the I , j , k of the cross product determinant with the components of the vector a.

2/ For u = < a,b > v = < c,d > x = ArcCos [ (ac + bd) / ||u|| ||v|| ] u . v = ||u|| ||v|| Cos x = ac + bd Work Problems
Work = Force times Distance

a.(bxc) = b.(cxa) = c.(axb) a . ( b x c ) = -- a . ( c x b ) Vectors used in Physics

Vectors are used to represent the state of a system The n dimensional array of scalars quantify all the parameters needed to completely specify the system A process or experiment changes or transforms the initial system state to another state Mathematically, a Matrix transforms the initial vector to another vector [ or system state ] and the Matrix represents the process or experiment.

W= F . d

which is a scalar

Schwarz Inequality
The dot product of 2 vectors is less than or equal to the product of the magnitudes of the 2 vectors.

|u . v | Vector

|| u || || v ||

Vectors in Matrix Mathematics

The rows and/or columns of a Matrix can be thought of as Vectors A x = b ; Vector x is transformed in to Vector b

Line element oriented in some direction

Bivector
Plane element oriented in some direction

Trivector
Volume element oriented in some direction

Scaler Field
Temperature at different points in a swimming pool

Vector Field
Flow rate & direction at different points in a swimming pool

Determinant Geometric Interpretations

2 dimensions; | Det A | = area of the paralleogram spanned by the 2 row vectors of matrix A 3 dimensions; | Det A | = volume of the parallelepiped spanned by the 3 row vectors of matrix A Note; This = a . ( b x c ) The Scalar Triple Product

Determinant Calculation of Area of a Triangle

The area of a triangle of points ( x 1 , y 1 ) ( x 2 , y 2 ) ( x 3 , y 3 ) is equal to 1/2 the absolute value of the determinant of a matrix with rows of ( x 1 , y 1, 1 ) ( x 2 , y 2, 1 ) ( x 3 , y 3, 1 ) Hint ; First simplify with elimination to make the 2nd & 3rd row 1's to be 0's before finding the determinant

Vector Properties u + ( v + w ) = ( u + v ) + w Associativity for Addition u+v = v+u Commutivity for Addition v+0=0+v= v Additive Identity v+(-v)= 0 Additive Inverse r ( u + v ) = ru + rv Distributivity ( r + s ) v = rv + sv Distributivity (rs)v = r(sv) = s(rv) Associativity for Multiplication 1v=v Multiplicitive Identity 0v=0 Multiplication by 0

Properties of the Dot Product a . a = || a ||2 u.v=v.u u.(v+w)=u.v + u.w ku . v = u . kv = k ( u . v ) 0.u=0

22 Dec 2011 PFreda, Assumption College