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Problem Set 0

This document is a problem set for a multivariable calculus course that involves reviewing concepts related to dot and cross products in 3-dimensional space. It contains 8 problems exploring properties of and relationships between vectors in R3, including determining vectors that satisfy certain conditions, expressing vectors in terms of other vectors, applying properties like orthogonality and parallelism, and geometric interpretations involving circles.

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Toby Cheng
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39 views

Problem Set 0

This document is a problem set for a multivariable calculus course that involves reviewing concepts related to dot and cross products in 3-dimensional space. It contains 8 problems exploring properties of and relationships between vectors in R3, including determining vectors that satisfy certain conditions, expressing vectors in terms of other vectors, applying properties like orthogonality and parallelism, and geometric interpretations involving circles.

Uploaded by

Toby Cheng
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MATH 2023 • Spring 2015-16 • Multivariable Calculus

Problem Set #0 • Dot and Cross Products (Review)


1. (F) Given three points in R3 :
A(1, 2, 3), B(4, 0, 5) and C ( x, 6, 4)
Determine the number of possible value(s) of x such that the triangle ABC has a right
angle.
2. (FF) Let u = 2i + j − 2k, v = i + 2j + 2k and w = u × v. [Typo in previous version]
(a) Show that u, v and w are mutually orthogonal (i.e. u ⊥ v, v ⊥ w and w ⊥ u).
(b) Given any vector r = xi + yj + zk in R3 , show that:
r·u r·v r·w
r= 2
u+ 2
v+ w.
|u| |v| | w |2
[Hint: You may use the fact that since u, v and w are mutually orthogonal and
non-zero, the vector r can be expressed as a linear combination of u, v and w, i.e.
r = au + bv + cw.
Solve for the scalars a, b and c.]
(c) Express the vector i as a linear combination of u, v and w.
3. (F) The figure below shows two vectors a and b which span a parallelogram. The vectors
in blue and red represent the two diagonals of the parallelogram.

(a) Express the red and the blue vectors in terms of a and b.
(b) By considering the dot product, show that: |a| = |b| if and only if the diagonals of
the parallelogram are orthogonal to each other.
4. (F) Let u = xi + yj + zk be a variable unit vector in R3 and v = i + 2j + 3k.
(a) Find x, y and z such that u · v is the maximum possible. Explain your answer.
(b) Find x, y and z such that |u × v| is the maximum possible. Explain your answer.
5. (FF) Given two vectors a and b in R3 , prove the following:
(a) Cauchy-Schwarz’s Inequality: |a · b| ≤ |a| |b|
(b) Triangle Inequality: |a + b| ≤ |a| + |b|
(c) If a and b are orthogonal, show that |a + b|2 = |a|2 + |b|2 .
6. (F) Let A, B and C be the points ( a, 0, 0), (0, b, 0) and (0, 0, c) respectively in the three
dimensional space, and O be the origin (0, 0, 0). Denote [ ABC ] the area of the triangle
with vertices A, B and C (analogously for [OAB], [OBC ], etc.). Show that:
[ ABC ]2 = [OAB]2 + [OBC ]2 + [OCA]2 .
With the help of a diagram, explain why this result can be regarded as the three-dimensional
analogue of the Pythagoreas’ Theorem.

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MATH 2023 Dot and Cross Products (Review) Problem Set #0

7. (FF) Given three non-zero vectors u, v and w in R3 , provide a geometric explanation to


each of the following facts:
(a) u × u = 0
(b) (u × v) · u = (u × v) · v = 0
(c) (u × v) × w is a vector on the plane spanned by u and v.
−→
8. (FFF) The diagram below shows a circle with radius r centered at O. Let a = OA,
−→ −→
b = OB and c = OC. The purpose of the problem is to use dot products to show that
the angle at the center of a circle is twice the corresponding angle at the circumference.
Precisely, with the notations in the diagram below, we want to show ∠ BOA = 2∠ BCA.
We will prove this by showing ϕ1 = 2θ1 , and ϕ2 = 2θ2 can be proved in a similar way.
Follow the steps structured below:

θ1
c θ2

O
b ϕ1
ϕ2 a
−c
B
A

b·c
(a) Show that cos ϕ1 = − . Recall that r is the radius of the circle.
r2
r2 − b · c
(b) Show that cos θ1 = .
|b − c| |c|
(c) Showing that |b − c|2 = 2(r2 − b · c).
r2 − b · c
(d) Using the result proved in the previous parts, show that cos2 θ1 = .
2r2
(e) Finally, find a relation between cos2 θ1 and cos ϕ1 , and conclude that ϕ1 = 2θ1 .
[Hint: Double angle formula for cos.]

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