MA123 Lab Report 3 Notes
Vector notation: 2 3
a1
6 a2 7
6 7
In Rn , denoted by !
a =6 .. 7 (a column vector) OR !
a = (a1 ; a2 ; :::; an ) (a row vector)
4 . 5
an
Notes:
a1
In R2 ; column vector !
a = or row vector !
a = (a1 ; a2 ); can be thought of as the point (a1 ; a2 ) on the xy-axes (i.e. two
a2
dimensional)
3 2
a1
Similarily, in R3 , column vector !
a = 4 a2 5 or row vector !a = (a1 ; a2 ; a3 ) can be thought of as the point (a1 ; a2 ; a3 ) on the
a3
xyz-axes (i.e. three dimensional) with an arrow (vector) from the origin to the point.
Vector Calculations in R3 (similar for Rn ):
!
Given !
a = (a1 ; a2 ; a3 ); b = (b1 ; b2 ; b3 ); and k 2 R :
1. Addition: ~a + ~b = (a1 ; a2 ; a3 ) + (b1 ; b2 ; b3 ) = (a1 + b1 ; a2 + b2 ; a3 + b3 )
Geometrically, it you draw a parallelogram with ~a and ~b being adjacent sides, then ~a + ~b is the vector
from the origin to the vertex of the parallelogram opposite the origin.
2. Scalar Multiplication: k~a = k(a1 ; a2 ; a3 ) = (ka1 ; ka2 ; ka3 )
p
3. Length of a Vector: k~ak = a21 + a22 + a23
! !
4. Distance Between Points A(a1 ; a2 ; a3 ) and B(b1 ; b2 ; b3 ) : AB where AB = (b1 a1 ; b2 a2 ; b3 a3 ) is
called a position vector.
!a
5. Unit Vector ! u in the Direction of !a :! u = !
kak
6. Dot Product: ~a ~b = a1 b1 + a2 b2 + a3 b3
Further properties:
i. ~a ~a = jaj2 ii. ~a ~b + ~c = ~a ~b + ~a ~c iii. ~0 ~a = ~0
iv. ~a ~b = ~b ~a v. (k~a) ~b = k ~a ~b = ~a (k~b); for scalar k
~a ~b
7. Vector projection of ~b onto ~a : proj~a~b = 2~a
k~ak
~b = a2 b2 a1 b1 a1 b1
8. Cross Product: ~a ; ; = (a2 b3 a3 b2 ; a3 b1 a1 b3 ; a1 b2 a2 b1 )
a3 b3 a3 b3 a2 b2
! result is a vector that is perpendicular to both ~a and ~b (and is only valid in R3 )
a b
! Note that = ad bc is called the determinant of a 2x2 matrix and is discussed in more detail later in the course.
c d
Further properties:
i. ~a ~b = ~b ~a ii. ~a ~b ~c = ~a ~b ~c iii. (k~a) ~b = k(~a ~b) = ~a (k~b) for scalar k
iv. ~a ~b + ~c = ~a ~b + ~a ~c v. ~a ~b ~c = (~a ~c) ~b ~a ~b ~c
Example: Consider !
x = (0; 3; 4) and !
y = (4; 5; 6): Then:
a. !
x +!
y = (0; 3; 4) + (4; 5; 6) = (4; 8; 10)
b. 2!
y = ( 8; 10; 12)
c. !
x 2!
y = (0; 3; 4) 2(4; 5; 6) = ( 8; 7; 8)
q p
2
d. kxk = (0)2 + (3) + (4)2 = 25 = 5
e. !
x !
y = 0(4) + 3(5) + 4(6) = 39
! ~x ~y 39 117 156
x y =
f. proj! 2~x= (0; 3; 4) = 0; ;
k~xk 25 25 25
3 5 0 4 0 4
g. ~x ~y = ; ;
4 6 4 6 3 5
= 3(6) 5(4); 4(4) 0(6); 0(5) 4(3) = 2; 16; 12
Additional Vector Properties: If !
x;!
y ;!
z 2 Rn and s; t 2 R; then:
1. !
x +!
y 2 Rn (closed under addition)
2. !
x +!
y =!
y +!
x (addition is commutative)
3. (!
x +!
y)+!
z =!
x + (!
y +!
z ) (addition is associative)
4. there exists 0 2 Rn such that !
x +0=!
x (zero vector)
5. there exists !
x 2 Rn such that !
x +( !
x ) = 0 (additive inverse)
6. t!
x 2 Rn (closed under scalar multiplication)
7. (st)!
x = s(t!
x ) (scalar multiplication is associative)
8. (s + t)!
x = s!
x + t!
x (another scalar mult. distributive law)
9. t(!
x +!
y ) = t!
x + t!
y (scalar mult. distributive law)
10. 1!
x =!
x (scalar multiplicative identity)
