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  • Derivatives: Chain Rule
  • Derivatives: Definition of a Derivative
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  • Vectors
  • Vectors, continued

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Vectors, continued

Scalar Multiplication

Given a vector multiplied by a constant

k\vec{v} = <kv_1, kv_2>

all components are multiplied by the constant

Example

 3<2,3> = <3(2),3(3)>=<6,9>

or

 3(2\vec{i}+3\vec{j})=6\vec{i}+9\vec{j}

 

Vector Addition and Subtraction

Given two vectors

 \vec{a}=<a_1,b_1>

 \vec{b}=<b_1,b_2>

then

 \vec{a} + \vec{b}=<a_1 + b_1,a_2 \pm b_2>

which has both of the following geometrical interpretations:

and

also,

 \vec{u} - \vec{v}=<v_1 - u_1,v_2 - u_2>

which has the following geometrical interpretation:

Example

Find the sum and difference of the given vectors

 \vec{a}=<3,-2>

 \vec{b}=<1,-7>

Solution:

 \vec{a}+\vec{b}=<3+1,(-2)+(-7)> =<4,-9>

and

 \vec{a}-\vec{b}=<3-1,(-2)-(-7)> =<2,5>

 

Dot Product

Given vectors

 \vec{a}=<a_1,b_1>

 \vec{b}=<b_1,b_2>

their dot product is defined as

 \vec{a} \, \cdot \, \vec{b} =a_1 b_1+ a_2 b_2

which means that the dot product of two vectors produces a scalar.

Also, the following relationship is true for two vectors and the angle  \theta between them:

 \vec{a} \, \cdot \, \vec{b}=||\vec{a}||\,||\vec{b}||\,cos \theta

Examples

1.

Find the dot product of the given vectors

 \vec{a}=<-2,5>

 \vec{b}=<4,6>

Solution:

their product is

 \vec{a} \, \cdot \, \vec{b} =(-2) (4)+ (5)(6)=-8+30=22

 

2.  Find the angle between the vectors in the previous example

we know that

 \vec{a} \, \cdot \, \vec{b}=||\vec{a}||\,||\vec{b}||\,cos \theta

we also know from the previous example that

 \vec{a} \, \cdot \, \vec{b} = 22

now,

 ||\vec{a}|| = \sqrt{(-2)^2+(5)^2}=\sqrt{29}

 ||\vec{b}|| = \sqrt{(4)^2+(6)^2}=\sqrt{52}

solving the dot product formula for  \theta we get

\theta = \arccos{\frac{\vec{a} \, \cdot \, \vec{b}}{||\vec{a}||\,||\vec{b}||} = \arccos{\frac{22}{(\sqrt{29})(\sqrt{52})}=59^o

hence the angle between the vectors is 59 degrees.

Finally, notice that if the angle between the vectors is 90 degrees, the value of the dot product will be zero since cos(90) = 0

 
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