School of Mathematics, Statistics & Physics

ENG1001 – ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS 1

VECTOR ALGEBRA - EXAMPLES

These examples demonstrate methods taught in the lectures.

1. Particles P1 , P2 , P3 have velocities v1 , v2 and v3 .

The velocities of P2 , P3 relative to P1 are v21 = 5i + 2j − 4k, and v31 = 3i + 5j − 5k.
What is the velocity v23 of P2 relative to P3 ? Show that v23 is perpendicular to v21 .

v21 = v2 − v1


v23 = v2 − v3 = v21 − v31 = 5i + 2j − 4k − 3i + 5j − 5k = 2i − 3j + 1k
v31 = v3 − v1



v23 · v21 = 2i − 3j + 1k · 5i + 2j − 4k = 10 − 6 − 4 = 0 X

2. Find the components f1 , f2 of F = 2i + j − 2k in the directions d1 = i − 2k, d2 = j − k.

1
1  6 F
f1 = 2
F · d1 d1 = (2 × 1) + (1 × 0) + (−2 × −2) d1 = d1 d
|d1 | 5 5

1
1  3 f
f2 = F · d2 d2 = (2 × 0) + (1 × 1) + (−2 × −1) d2 = d2 1
|d2 |2 2 2


f = 2
F·d d
|d|

3. Given a = −i + 2j + 4k, b = 2i + 2j − 3k, and c = 2i + j + 3k, find the value of λ that

makes a + λb perpendicular to c? For what value of µ is |a + µb| minimum?

a + λb is perpendicular to c when (a + λb) · c = 0. That is a · c + λb · c = 0. Rearranging for λ

a·c (−1 × 2) + (2 × 1) + (4 × 3) 12
λ = − = − = − = 4
b·c (2 × 2) + (2 × 1) + (−3 × 3) −3

b λb
|a + µb| is minimum when a + µb is orthogonal to b. Giving a + λb
a + µb
a·b (−1 × 2) + (2 × 2) + (4 × −3) 10
µ = − = − = a
b·b (2 × 2) + (2 × 2) + (−3 × −3) 17

1001EX2 1 2019-20
 4. Points P1 , P2 , P3 have position vectors p1 = (1, 1, 2), p2 = (1, 0, 1), and p3 = (0, −1, −1).
−→ −→ −→
Find the angles between the three vectors OP 1 , OP 2 , OP 3 .
√
p1 · p2 (1, 1, 2) · (1, 0, 1) 3 3 π
cos θ12 = = √ √ = √ √ = ⇒ θ12 =
|p1 | |p2 | 2 2
1 +1 +2 2 2
1 +0 +1 2 2 6 2 2 6

√
p1 · p3 (1, 1, 2) · (0, −1, −1) −3 3 5π
cos θ13 = = √ p = √ √ = − ⇒ θ13 =
|p1 | |p3 | 12 + 12 + 22 02 + (−1)2 + (−1)2 6 2 2 6

p2 · p3 (1, 0, 1) · (0, −1, −1) −1 1 2π

cos θ23 = = √ p = √ √ = − ⇒ θ23 =
|p2 | |p3 | 2 2
1 +0 +1 2 2 2
0 + (−1) + (−1)2 2 2 2 3

5. Given a = i − 2j − k and b = −i + j + k, find c = a × b and verify that |c| = |a| |b| sin θ,
where θ is the angle between a and b.

 
 i j k       
   −2 −1   1 −1   1 −2 
c = a×b =  1 −2 −1  = −
 1 1 i  −1 1  j +  −1 1  k
     
 
 −1 1 1  | {z } | {z } | {z }
= −1 i − 0 j + −1 k = −i − k
√ √ √
|c| = 2, |a| = 6, |b| = 3,
a·b 4 p 1 √ √ 1 √
cos θ = = − √ , sin θ = 1 − cos2 θ = , |a| |b| sin θ = 6 3 = 2 = |c| X
|a| |b| 3 2 3 3

6. Draw a diagram showing the vectors e1 = cos θ i + sin θ j and e2 = − sin θ i + cos θ j.
What is the vector e1 × e2 ?

e2
j
e1

θ
O i

 

 i j k   
 sin θ 0 

 cos θ 0 
 
 cos θ sin θ 

e1 × e2 =  cos θ sin θ 0 
  =  cos θ 0  i
  −  − sin θ 0  j
  +  − sin θ cos θ  k
 
 − sin θ cos θ 0  | {z } | {z } | {z }
= 0 i − 0 j + (cos2 θ + sin2 θ) k = k

1001EX2 2 2019-20