The Dot Product

Well define the dot product as follows:

G
G
If a = a1i + a2 j + a3 k and b = b1i + b2 j + b3 k,
G G G G
then a b = a b cos , where is the anglebetweenthe vectors.

G
b

G
a

What does this definition mean?

G G G G
a b = a b cos

G
b

G
b cos

G
a

What does this definition mean?

We can think of the dot product as the length of
vector a times the length of the component of
vector b that is parallel to vector a.
G G G G
a b = a b cos

G
b

G
b cos

G
a

Alternatively, we could think of it as the length of

vector b times the length of the component of
vector a that is parallel to vector b.

G G G G
a b = a b cos

G
b

G
b cos

G
a

Alternatively, we could think of it as the length of

vector b times the length of the component of
vector a that is parallel to vector b.
The result is the same either way.
G G G G
a b = a b cos

G
b

G
b cos

G
a

The dot product gives us a way of multiplying two

vectors such that the result is a number (or scalar),
not another vector.

G G G G
a b = a b cos

G
b

G
b cos

G
a

The problem, though, is that we need to know the

angle between the vectors in order to accomplish
this.

G G G G
a b = a b cos

G
b

G
b cos

G
a

The problem, though, is that we need to know the

Angle between the vectors in order to accomplish
This.
And this is something we often dont know.
G G G G
a b = a b cos

G
b

G
b cos

G
a

Fortunately, however, we have a theorem to help us.

G G G G
a b = a b cos

G
b

G
b cos

G
a

G G G G
Theorem : a b = a b cos = a1b1 + a2b2 + a3b3 = [ a1

G G G G
a b = a b cos

G
b

G
b cos

G
a

a2

b1
a3 ] b2
b3

G G G G
Theorem : a b = a b cos = a1b1 + a2b2 + a3b3 = [ a1

Proof: By the law of cosines,

G G
a b

G2 G2
G G
= a + b 2 a b cos .

G G
a b

G
b

G
a

a2

b1
a3 ] b2
b3

But this implies that,

(a1 b1 ) 2 + (a2 b2 ) 2 + (a3 b3 ) 2
=

a12

+ a2 +
2

a3 + b12
2

G G
+ b2 + b3 2 a b cos .
2

G G
a b

G
b

G
a

Expanding the left side of the equation yields,

a12 2a1b1 + b12 + a2 2 2a2b2 + b2 2 + a32 2a3b3 + b32

=

a12

+ a2 +
2

a3 + b12
2

G G
+ b2 + b3 2 a b cos .
2

G G
a b

G
b

G
a

Next, subtracting like terms from each side gives,

G G
2a1b1 2a2b2 2a3b3 = 2 a b cos .

G G
a b

G
b

G
a

And finally, we divide each side by -2.

G G
G G
a1b1 + a2b2 + a3b3 = a b cos = a b .

G G
a b

G
b

G
a

As a corollary, we get the following formula for finding

the angle between two vectors.
G G
a1b1 + a2b2 + a3b3
a b
= cos .
G G =
G G
a b
a b
0

G G
a b

G
b

G
a

EXAMPLE:

G
a = 2i + 3 j + 4k
G
b = i + 2 j 2k
G G
a b = (2)(1) + (3)(2) + (4)(2) = 4
G G
4
4
a b
1 4
=
=
=

=
cos
cos

104.3
G
4 + 9 + 16 1 + 4 + 4 3 29
a b
3 29

G G
a b

G
b

G
a

A fairly immediate and important consequence of what

weve seen is the following:
G G
G G G G
G G
a b = a b cos = 0 if and only if = 90 or a = 0 or b = 0.

A fairly immediate and important consequence of what

weve seen is the following:
G G
G G G G
G G
a b = a b cos = 0 if and only if = 90 or a = 0 or b = 0.

In other words, we can determine if two vectors are

perpendicular or not simply by looking to see if the dot
product is zero. Furthermore, the zero vector is considered
perpendicular to all vectors.

A fairly immediate and important consequence of what

weve seen is the following:
G G
G G G G
G G
a b = a b cos = 0 if and only if = 90 or a = 0 or b = 0.

In other words, we can determine if two vectors are

perpendicular or not simply by looking to see if the dot
product is zero. Furthermore, the zero vector is considered
perpendicular to all vectors.
As a final note, the dot product is also known as the
scalar product.

The Cross Product

The cross product of two vectors is defined as

follows:
G
G

If a = a1i + a2 j + a3 k and b = b1i + b2 j + b3 k,

j
i
G G
then a b = a1 a2
b1 b2

k
a2
a3 =
b2
b3

a3
a
i 1
b3
b1

a3
a
j + 1
b3
b1

= (a2b3 a3 .b2 )i (a1b3 a3 .b1 ) j + (a1b2 a2 .b1 )k.

a2
k
b2

The cross product of two vectors is defined as

follows:
G
G

If a = a1i + a2 j + a3 k and b = b1i + b2 j + b3 k,

j
i
G G
then a b = a1 a2
b1 b2

k
a2
a3 =
b2
b3

a3
a
i 1
b3
b1

a3
a
j + 1
b3
b1

= (a2b3 a3 .b2 )i (a1b3 a3 .b1 ) j + (a1b2 a2 .b1 )k.

Isnt that cool!

a2
k
b2

The cross product of two vectors is another vector.

The cross product of two vectors is another vector.

Also, the cross product is perpendicular to both vector a
and vector b.

The cross product of two vectors is another vector.

Also, the cross product is perpendicular to both vector a
and vector b.

G
G
If a = a i + a2 j + a3 k and b = b1i + b2 j + b3 k, then
G G G
a a b = a1 (a2b3 a3 .b2 ) + a2 [ (a1b3 a3 .b1 ) ] + a3 (a1b2 a2 .b1 )

= a1a2b3 a1a3b2 a1a2b3 + a2 a3b1 + a1a3b2 a2 a3b1 = 0

The cross product of two vectors is another vector.

Also, the cross product is perpendicular to both vector a
and vector b.

G
G
If a = a i + a2 j + a3 k and b = b1i + b2 j + b3 k, then
G G G
a a b = a1 (a2b3 a3 .b2 ) + a2 [ (a1b3 a3 .b1 ) ] + a3 (a1b2 a2 .b1 )

= a1a2b3 a1a3b2 a1a2b3 + a2 a3b1 + a1a3b2 a2 a3b1 = 0

The proof that the cross product is perpendicular to vector b
is similar.

G G
The cross product, a b , obeys a right-hand rule.
G G
a b

G
a

G
b

The cross product is also known as the

vector product. Furthermore, just like the
dot product, so does the cross product have
interesting properties.

The cross product is also known as the

vector product. Furthermore, just like the
dot product, so does the cross product have
interesting properties.
One of the more important ones is below:

G G
G G
a b = a b sin , where is the anglebetweenthetwo vectors,

The cross product is also known as the

vector product. Furthermore, just like the
dot product, so does the cross product have
interesting properties.
One of the more important ones is below:

G G
G G
a b = a b sin , where is the anglebetweenthetwo vectors,

The proof is amazingly simple!

Proof:
G G
a b

= (a2b3 a3 .b2 ) 2 + (a1b3 a3 .b1 ) 2 + (a1b2 a2 .b1 ) 2

= a2 2b32 2a2 a3b2b3 + a32b2 2 + a12b32 2a1a3b1b3 + a32b12

+ a12b2 2 2a1a2b1b2 + a2 2b12
= a12b2 2 + a12b32 + a2 2b12 + a2 2b32 + a32b12 + a32b2 2
2a1a2b1b2 2a1a3b1b3 2a2 a3b2b3
= a12b12 + a2 2b2 2 + a32b32 + a12b2 2 + a12b32 + a2 2b12 + a2 2b32 + a32b12 + a32b2 2
2a1a2b1b2 2a1a3b1b3 2a2 a3b2b3 a12b12 a2 2b2 2 a32b32
= (a12 + a2 2 + a32 )(b12 + b2 2 + b32 ) (a1b1 + a2b2 + a3b3 ) 2
2
G2 G2
G G 2 G2 G2
G G
= a b a b = a b a b cos

G
= a

G2 G
b a

G2
G
2
b cos = a

G
b

G
1 cos = a
2

G2 2
b sin .

Thus,
G G
a b

G
= a

G2 2
b sin .

And since,
sin 0 for 0 ,

We have that,

G G
G G
a b = a b sin .

One application of this result is a formula for the area

of a parallelogram.

G G
G G
Area = a b sin = a b

G
b

G
height = b sin

G
a

EXAMPLE (Cross Product):

G
a = 2i + 3 j + 4k
G
b = i + 2 j 2k

EXAMPLE (Cross Product):

G
a = 2i + 3 j + 4k
G
b = i + 2 j 2k
i j
k
G G
a b = 2 3 4 = 14i + 0 j + 7 k = 14i + 7 k
1 2 2

EXAMPLE (Area of aParallelogram):

G
a = 2i + 3 j + 4k
G
b = i + 2 j 2k

EXAMPLE (Area of aParallelogram):

G
a = 2i + 3 j + 4k
G
b = i + 2 j 2k

G G
Area = a b = 14i + 7 k = 245 = 7 5 15.65