The previous section introduced vectors and described how to add them together and how to multiply them by scalars. This section introduces a multiplication on vectors called the dot product.
Note how this product of vectors returns a scalar, not another vector. We practice evaluating a dot product in the following example, then we will discuss why this product is useful.
The dot product, as shown by the preceding example, is very simple to evaluate. It is only the sum of products. While the definition gives no hint as to why we would care about this operation, there is an amazing connection between the dot product and angles formed by the vectors. Before stating this connection, we give a theorem stating some of the properties of the dot product.
The last statement of the theorem makes a handy connection between the magnitude of a vector and the dot product with itself. Our definition and theorem give properties of the dot product, but we are still likely wondering “What does the dot product mean?” It is helpful to understand that the dot product of a vector with itself is connected to its magnitude.
The next theorem extends this understanding by connecting the dot product to magnitudes and angles. Given vectors and in the plane, an angle is clearly formed when and are drawn with the same initial point as illustrated in Figure 12.3.6.(a). (We always take to be the angle in as two angles are actually created.)
Image shows the angle formed by two vectors, and . The angle is formed from to .
The same is also true of 2 vectors in space: given and in with the same initial point, there is a plane that contains both and . (When and are co-linear, there are infinitely many planes that contain both vectors.) In that plane, we can again find an angle between them (and again, ). This is illustrated in Figure 12.3.6.(b).
Note how on the left hand side of the equation, we are computing the dot product of two unit vectors. Recalling that unit vectors essentially only provide direction information, we can informally restate Theorem 12.3.7 as saying “The dot product of two directions gives the cosine of the angle between them.”
When is an acute angle (i.e., ), is positive; when ,; when is an obtuse angle (), is negative. Thus the sign of the dot product gives a general indication of the angle between the vectors, illustrated in Figure 12.3.9.
Each image has the two vectors and along with shown. The dot product along with three possible cases of <, > and equal to are shown. In the first image, the dot product has a positive value, the angle between the two vectors is acute. In the second image, the dot product is equal to , the angle is degrees. In the third image, the dot product has a negative value and the angle is obtuse.
We can use Theorem 12.3.7 to compute the dot product, but generally this theorem is used to find the angle between known vectors (since the dot product is generally easy to compute). To this end, we rewrite the theorem’s equation as
We see from our computation that , as indicated by Figure 12.3.11. While we knew this should be the case, it is nice to see that this non-intuitive formula indeed returns the results we expected.
While our work shows that each angle is , i.e., , none of these angles looks to be a right angle in Figure 12.3.13. Such is the case when drawing three-dimensional objects on the page.
All three angles between these vectors was , or . We know from geometry and everyday life that angles are “nice” for a variety of reasons, so it should seem significant that these angles are all . Notice the common feature in each calculation (and also the calculation of in Example 12.3.10): the dot products of each pair of angles was 0. We use this as a basis for a definition of the term orthogonal, which is essentially synonymous to perpendicular.
Find two non-parallel vectors in that are orthogonal to .
Solution1.
Recall that a line perpendicular to a line with slope has slope , the “opposite reciprocal slope.” We can think of the slope of as , its “rise over run.” A vector orthogonal to will have slope . There are many such choices, though all parallel:
or or or etc.
There are infinitely many directions in space orthogonal to any given direction, so there are an infinite number of non-parallel vectors orthogonal to . Since there are so many, we have great leeway in finding some. One way is to arbitrarily pick values for the first two components, leaving the third unknown. For instance, let . If is to be orthogonal to , then , so
.
So is orthogonal to . We can apply a similar technique by leaving the first or second component unknown. Another method of finding a vector orthogonal to mirrors what we did in part 1. Let . Here we switched the first two components of , changing the sign of one of them (similar to the “opposite reciprocal” concept before). Letting the third component be 0 effectively ignores the third component of , and it is easy to see that
An important construction is illustrated in Figure 12.3.16, where vectors and are sketched. In Figure 12.3.16.(a), a dotted line is drawn from the tip of to the line containing , where the dotted line is orthogonal to . In Figure 12.3.16.(b), the dotted line is replaced with the vector and is formed, parallel to . It is clear by the diagram that . What is important about this construction is this: is decomposed as the sum of two vectors, one of which is parallel to and one that is perpendicular to . It is hard to overstate the importance of this construction (as we’ll see in upcoming examples).
Two vectors and are shown that start from the same position, the angle between them is marked , the vector is shorter. From the end of a dashed perpendicular is drawn on .
(a)
Two vectors and are shown that start from the same position, the angle between them is marked , the vector is shorter. From the end of a dashed perpendicular is drawn on . The vector and are also added. From the initial point the vector is drawn in the same direction as but it ends at the start of the perpendicular. The perpendicular starts at the tip of and ends at the tip of and is labeled .
We also know that is parallel to to ; that is, the direction of is the direction of , described by the unit vector . The vector is the vector in the direction with magnitude :
(Replacing using Theorem 12.3.7) (Applying Theorem 12.3.4).
Vectors , and proj are sketched in Figure 12.3.20. Note how the projection is parallel to ; that is, it lies on the same line through the origin as , although it points in the opposite direction. That is because the angle between and is obtuse (i.e., greater than ).
The axis is drawn from to and the axis is drawn from to . Two vectors and are shown, both start at the origin. The vector ends in point and lies in the second quadrant and ends in point and lies in the first quadrant. The projection of on is shown and it lies in the third quadrant.
These vectors are sketched in Figure 12.3.21.(a), and again in Figure 12.3.21.(b) from a different perspective. Because of the nature of graphing these vectors, the sketch in Figure 12.3.21.(a) makes it difficult to recognize that the drawn projection has the geometric properties it should. The graph shown in Figure 12.3.21.(b) illustrates these properties better.
The above formula shows that the orthogonal projection of onto is only concerned with the direction of , as both instances of in the formula come in the form , the unit vector in the direction of .
A special case of orthogonal projection occurs when is a unit vector. In this situation, the formula for the orthogonal projection of a vector onto reduces to just proj, as .
This gives us a new understanding of the dot product. When is a unit vector, essentially providing only direction information, the dot product of and gives “how much of is in the direction of .” This use of the dot product will be very useful in future sections.
Two vectors and are shown that start from the same position, the angle between them is marked , the vector is shorter. From the end of a dashed perpendicular is drawn on . The projection of and are also added. The projection of is in the same direction as but it ends at the start of the perpendicular. The perpendicular starts at the tip of the projection of and ends at the tip of and is labeled .
This is not nonsense, as pointed out in the following Key Idea. (Notation note: the expression “” means “is parallel to .” We can use this notation to state “” which means “ is parallel to .” The expression “” means “is orthogonal to ,” and is used similarly.)
Consider Figure 12.3.26.(a), showing a box weighing 50lb on a ramp that rises 5ft over a span of 20ft. Find the components of force, and their magnitudes, acting on the box (as sketched in Figure 12.3.26.(b)):
Image of a box being placed on an inclined plane. The downward force for gravity is marked as . The surface of the ramp is labeled as base of the ramp is labeled and the height is marked as .
(a)
Image of a box being placed on an inclined plane. The downward force for gravity is marked as . The surface of the ramp is labeled as base of the ramp is labeled and the height is marked as . The projection of on is shown.
(b)
Figure12.3.26.Sketching the ramp and box in Example 12.3.25. Note: The vectors are not drawn to scale.
As the ramp rises 5ft over a horizontal distance of 20ft, we can represent the direction of the ramp with the vector . Gravity pulls down with a force of 50lb, which we represent with .
To find the force of gravity in the direction of the ramp, we compute proj:
proj.
The magnitude of proj is proj lb . Though the box weighs 50lb, a force of about 12lb is enough to keep the box from sliding down the ramp.
To find the component of gravity orthogonal to the ramp, we use Key Idea 12.3.23.
proj.
The magnitude of this force is lb. In physics and engineering, knowing this force is important when computing things like static frictional force. (For instance, we could easily compute if the static frictional force alone was enough to keep the box from sliding down the ramp.)
In physics, the application of a force to move an object in a straight line a distance produces work; the amount of work is , (where is in the direction of travel). The orthogonal projection allows us to compute work when the force is not in the direction of travel.
A box is shown that is being pushed to the right by a force. The displacement is shown as a horizontal vector and is labeled . Force is drawn from the middle of the box at an angle and is labeled as . The projection of the is also shown, it is parallel to the displacement vector.
Consider Figure 12.3.27, where a force is being applied to an object moving in the direction of . (The distance the object travels is the magnitude of .) The work done is the amount of force in the direction of ,proj, times :
The expression will be positive if the angle between and is acute; when the angle is obtuse (hence is negative), the force is causing motion in the opposite direction of , resulting in “negative work.” We want to capture this sign, so we drop the absolute value and find that .
A man slides a box along a ramp that rises 3ft over a distance of 15ft by applying 50lb of force as shown in Figure 12.3.30. Compute the work done.
Image of a box being placed on an inclined plane or ramp. The base of the ramp is labeled and the height is marked as . Force is drawn from the middle of the box at an angle of from the horizontal and is labeled as .
Figure12.3.30.Computing work when sliding a box up a ramp in Example 12.3.29
Solution.
The figure indicates that the force applied makes a angle with the horizontal, so . The ramp is represented by . The work done is simply
ft--lb .
Note how we did not actually compute the distance the object traveled, nor the magnitude of the force in the direction of travel; this is all inherently computed by the dot product!
The dot product is a powerful way of evaluating computations that depend on angles without actually using angles. The next section explores another “product” on vectors, the cross product. Once again, angles play an important role, though in a much different way.
In the following exercises, vectors and are given. Find proj, the orthogonal projection of onto , and sketch all three vectors with the same initial point.
In the following exercises, vectors and are given. Write as the sum of two vectors, one of which is parallel to (or is zero) and one of which is orthogonal to . Note: these are the same pairs of vectors as found in Exercises 21–26.
How much work is performed in moving a box up the length of a ramp that rises 2ft over a distance of 10ft, with a force of 50lb applied at an angle of to the horizontal?
How much work is performed in moving a box up the length of a 10ft ramp that makes a angle with the horizontal, with 50lb of force applied in the direction of the ramp?