Vector Algebra Review
Suppose A and B are points (not necessarily different) in space. The directed line segment from
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ ; B is called the head and A the tail.
A to B is represented by 𝐴𝐵
Theorem 2.1 (a) ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝐴𝐵 = ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗𝐴𝐵
(b) If 𝐴𝐵 = ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ 𝐶𝐷, then ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝐶𝐷 = ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝐴𝐵 .
(c) If 𝐴𝐵 = 𝐶𝐷 and 𝐶𝐷 = 𝐸𝐹 , then ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ 𝐴𝐵 = ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝐸𝐹 .
Definition The set of all directed line segments equivalent to a given directed line segment is a
vector v. Any member of that set is a representative of v. The set of all directed line segments
equivalent to one of length zero is called the zero vector 0.
Definition Suppose u and v are vectors. Let 𝐴𝐵⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ be a representative of u. Let 𝐵𝐶
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ be that
representative of v with tail at B. The sum 𝒖 + 𝒗 of u and v is the vector w, having 𝐴𝐶 ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ as a
representative.
B v C B v C
u u u u-v u
w
A v D A v D
Definition If v is a vector, then |𝒗| is the length of any representative of v. It is called the
absolute value, or length, of v. (Note: length of v is not a vector, but a scalar)
Definition If k is a scalar and v a vector, then kv is a vector whose length is |𝑘||𝒗| and whose
direction is the same as or opposite to the direction of v, according to whether k is positive or
negative. It is called a scalar multiple of v.
−2𝒗
−𝒗
2v
Theorem 2.2 The following properties hold for arbitrary vectors u, v, and w and arbitrary
scalars a and b.
(a) 𝒖 + 𝒗 = 𝒗 + 𝒖 (f) 0𝒗 = 𝟎
(b) 𝒖 + (𝒗 + 𝒘) = (𝒖 + 𝒗) + 𝒘 (g) 𝑎𝟎 = 𝟎
(c) (𝑎𝑏)𝒗 = 𝑎(𝑏𝒗) (h) |𝑎𝒗| = |𝑎||𝒗|
(d) (𝑎 + 𝑏)𝒗 = 𝑎𝒗 + 𝑏𝒗 (i) |𝒖 + 𝒗| ≤ |𝒖||𝒗|
(e) 𝒗 + 𝟎 = 𝒗 (j) 𝑎(𝒖 + 𝒗) = 𝑎𝒖 + 𝑎𝒗
Remark The scalar multiple of the nonzero vector v and the scalar 1⁄|𝒗| is the unit vector
(vector of length 1) in the direction of v. It is usually written 𝒗⁄|𝒗|.
Definition If O = (0, 0), X = (1, 0), and Y = (0, 1), then the vectors represented by ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑂𝑋 and ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑂𝑌
are denoted by i and j, respectively, and are called basis vectors.
Theorem 2.3 Every vector in the xy-plane can be written in the form
𝑎𝑖 + 𝑏𝑗
in one and only one way. The numbers a and b are called the components of the vector.
(0, b) (a, b)
bj v
ai x
(a, 0)
Theorem 2.4 If ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝐴𝐵 , where 𝐴 = (𝑥1 , 𝑦1 ) and 𝐵 = (𝑥2 , 𝑦2 ), represents a vector v in the xy-
plane, then 𝒗 = (𝑥2 − 𝑥1 )𝒊 + (𝑦2 − 𝑦1 )𝒋.
y
𝐵(𝑥2 , 𝑦2 )
v
w
u
𝐴(𝑥1 , 𝑦1 ) 𝐶(𝑥2 , 𝑦1 )
Theorem 2.5 (a) (𝑎1 𝒊 + 𝑏1 𝒋) + (𝑎2 𝒊 + 𝑏2 𝒋) = (𝑎1 + 𝑎2 )𝒊 + (𝑏1 + 𝑏2 )𝒋
(b) (𝑎1 𝒊 + 𝑏1 𝒋) − (𝑎2 𝒊 + 𝑏2 𝒋) = (𝑎1 − 𝑎2 )𝒊 + (𝑏1 − 𝑏2 )𝒋
(c) 𝑑(𝑎𝒊 + 𝑏𝒋) = 𝑑𝑎𝒊 + 𝑑𝑏𝒋
(d) |𝑎𝒊 + 𝑏𝒋| = √𝑎2 + 𝑏 2
THE DOT PRODUCT
There are two different product operations for a pair of vectors, the dot product and the cross
product – we will consider only the dot product now.
Definition If 𝒖 = 𝑎1 𝒊 + 𝑏1 𝒋 and 𝒗 = 𝑎2 𝒊 + 𝑏2 𝒋, then the dot product (scalar product, inner
product) of u and v is
𝒖 ⋅ 𝒗 = 𝑎1 𝑎2 + 𝑏1 𝑏2 .
Note: The dot product of two vectors is NOT another vector; it is a scalar.
Theorem 2.6 If u, v, and w are vectors and k is a scalar, then
(a) u ⋅ v = v ⋅ u,
(b) (u + v) ⋅ w = u ⋅ w + v ⋅ w,
(c) k(u ⋅ v) = (ku) ⋅ v = u ⋅ (kv),
(d) 0 ⋅ u = 0,
(e) u ⋅ u = |𝒖|2.
Definition The angle between two nonzero vectors u and v is the smaller angle (𝜃 in figure
below) between the representatives of u and v having their tails at the origin.
Theorem 2.7 If u and v are vectors and 𝜃 is the angle between them, then
𝒖 ⋅ 𝒗 = |𝒖||𝒗| 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃
and
𝒗 ⋅ 𝒗 = |𝒗|2.
Theorem 2.8 The vectors u and v (not both 0) are orthogonal (perpendicular) if and only if
u ⋅ v = 0 (the zero vector is taken to be orthogonal to every other vector).
Definition The nonzero vectors u and v are parallel if u = kv for some scalar k.
Definition The projection of u on v (v ≠ 0) is a vector w such that if ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝐴𝐵 is a representative of u
and 𝐴𝐶 is a representative of v, then a representative of w is a directed line segment ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ 𝐴𝐷 lying
on the line determined by AC with BD perpendicular to that line (see Figure).
B
𝜃
w
A D C
Theorem 2.9 If w is the projection of u on v and 𝜃 is the angle between u and v, then
|𝒖⋅𝒗| 𝒖⋅𝒗 𝒗 𝒖⋅𝒗
|𝒘| = and 𝒘 = ( |𝒗| ) |𝒗| = |𝒗|2 𝒗.
|𝒗|
