CHAPTER 1 Vectors in Rn and Cn, Spatial Vectors 7

1.5 Located Vectors, Hyperplanes, Lines, Curves in Rn

This section distinguishes between an n-tuple Pðai Þ  Pða1 ; a2 ; . . . ; an Þ viewed as a point in Rn and an
n-tuple u ¼ ½c1 ; c2 ; . . . ; cn  viewed as a vector (arrow) from the origin O to the point Cðc1 ; c2 ; . . . ; cn Þ.

Located Vectors
Any pair of points Aðai Þ and Bðbi Þ in Rn defines the located vector or directed line segment from A to B,
! !
written AB . We identify AB with the vector
u ¼ B  A ¼ ½b1  a1 ; b2  a2 ; . . . ; bn  an 
!
because AB and u have the same magnitude and direction. This is pictured in Fig. 1-2(b) for the
points Aða1 ; a2 ; a3 Þ and Bðb1 ; b2 ; b3 Þ in R3 and the vector u ¼ B  A which has the endpoint
Pðb1  a1 , b2  a2 , b3  a3 Þ.

Hyperplanes
A hyperplane H in Rn is the set of points ðx1 ; x2 ; . . . ; xn Þ that satisfy a linear equation
a1 x1 þ a2 x2 þ    þ an xn ¼ b
where the vector u ¼ ½a1 ; a2 ; . . . ; an  of coefficients is not zero. Thus a hyperplane H in R2 is a line, and a
! We show below, as pictured in Fig. 1-3(a) for R , that u is orthogonal to
hyperplane H in R3 is a plane. 3

any directed line segment PQ , where Pð pi Þ and Qðqi Þ are points in H: [For this reason, we say that u is
normal to H and that H is normal to u:]

Figure 1-3

Because Pð pi Þ and Qðqi Þ belong to H; they satisfy the above hyperplane equation—that is,

a1 p1 þ a2 p2 þ    þ an pn ¼ b and a1 q1 þ a2 q2 þ    þ an qn ¼ b
!
Let v ¼ PQ ¼ Q  P ¼ ½q1  p1 ; q2  p2 ; . . . ; qn  pn 

Then

u  v ¼ a1 ðq1  p1 Þ þ a2 ðq2  p2 Þ þ    þ an ðqn  pn Þ

¼ ða1 q1 þ a2 q2 þ    þ an qn Þ  ða1 p1 þ a2 p2 þ    þ an pn Þ ¼ b  b ¼ 0
!
Thus v ¼ PQ is orthogonal to u; as claimed.
 8 CHAPTER 1 Vectors in Rn and Cn, Spatial Vectors

Lines in Rn
The line L in Rn passing through the point Pðb1 ; b2 ; . . . ; bn Þ and in the direction of a nonzero vector
u ¼ ½a1 ; a2 ; . . . ; an  consists of the points X ðx1 ; x2 ; . . . ; xn Þ that satisfy
8
>
> x ¼ a1 t þ b1
< 1
x2 ¼ a2 t þ b2
X ¼ P þ tu or or LðtÞ ¼ ðai t þ bi Þ
>
> ::::::::::::::::::::
:
xn ¼ an t þ bn
where the parameter t takes on all real values. Such a line L in R3 is pictured in Fig. 1-3(b).

EXAMPLE 1.6
(a) Let H be the plane in R3 corresponding to the linear equation 2x  5y þ 7z ¼ 4. Observe that Pð1; 1; 1Þ and
Qð5; 4; 2Þ are solutions of the equation. Thus P and Q and the directed line segment
!
v ¼ PQ ¼ Q  P ¼ ½5  1; 4  1; 2  1 ¼ ½4; 3; 1

lie on the plane H. The vector u ¼ ½2; 5; 7 is normal to H, and, as expected,
u  v ¼ ½2; 5; 7  ½4; 3; 1 ¼ 8  15 þ 7 ¼ 0
That is, u is orthogonal to v.
(b) Find an equation of the hyperplane H in R4 that passes through the point Pð1; 3; 4; 2Þ and is normal to the
vector u ¼ ½4; 2; 5; 6.
The coefficients of the unknowns of an equation of H are the components of the normal vector u; hence, the
equation of H must be of the form

4x1  2x2 þ 5x3 þ 6x4 ¼ k

Substituting P into this equation, we obtain

4ð1Þ  2ð3Þ þ 5ð4Þ þ 6ð2Þ ¼ k or 4  6  20 þ 12 ¼ k or k ¼ 10

Thus, 4x1  2x2 þ 5x3 þ 6x4 ¼ 10 is the equation of H.

(c) Find the parametric representation of the line L in R4 passing through the point Pð1; 2; 3; 4Þ and in the
direction of u ¼ ½5; 6; 7; 8. Also, find the point Q on L when t ¼ 1.
Substitution in the above equation for L yields the following parametric representation:
x1 ¼ 5t þ 1; x2 ¼ 6t þ 2; x3 ¼ 7t þ 3; x4 ¼ 8t  4
or, equivalently,

LðtÞ ¼ ð5t þ 1; 6t þ 2; 7t þ 3; 8t  4Þ

Note that t ¼ 0 yields the point P on L. Substitution of t ¼ 1 yields the point Qð6; 8; 4; 4Þ on L.

Curves in Rn
Let D be an interval (finite or infinite) on the real line R. A continuous function F: D ! Rn is a curve in
Rn . Thus, to each point t 2 D there is assigned the following point in Rn :
FðtÞ ¼ ½F1 ðtÞ; F2 ðtÞ; . . . ; Fn ðtÞ

Moreover, the derivative (if it exists) of FðtÞ yields the vector

 
dFðtÞ dF1 ðtÞ dF2 ðtÞ dFn ðtÞ
V ðtÞ ¼ ¼ ; ;...;
dt dt dt dt
CHAPTER 1 Vectors in Rn and Cn, Spatial Vectors 9

which is tangent to the curve. Normalizing V ðtÞ yields

V ðtÞ
TðtÞ ¼
kV ðtÞk
Thus, TðtÞ is the unit tangent vector to the curve. (Unit vectors with geometrical significance are often
presented in bold type.)

EXAMPLE 1.7 Consider the curve FðtÞ ¼ ½sin t; cos t; t in R3 . Taking the derivative of FðtÞ [or each component of
FðtÞ] yields
V ðtÞ ¼ ½cos t;  sin t; 1
which is a vector tangent to the curve. We normalize V ðtÞ. First we obtain

kV ðtÞk2 ¼ cos2 t þ sin2 t þ 1 ¼ 1 þ 1 ¼ 2

Then the unit tangent vection TðtÞ to the curve follows:
 
V ðtÞ cos t  sin t 1
TðtÞ ¼ ¼ pffiffiffi ; pffiffiffi ; pffiffiffi
kV ðtÞk 2 2 2

1.6 Vectors in R3 (Spatial Vectors), ijk Notation

Vectors in R3 , called spatial vectors, appear in many applications, especially in physics. In fact, a special
notation is frequently used for such vectors as follows:
i ¼ ½1; 0; 0 denotes the unit vector in the x direction:
j ¼ ½0; 1; 0 denotes the unit vector in the y direction:
k ¼ ½0; 0; 1 denotes the unit vector in the z direction:
Then any vector u ¼ ½a; b; c in R3 can be expressed uniquely in the form
u ¼ ½a; b; c ¼ ai þ bj þ cj
Because the vectors i; j; k are unit vectors and are mutually orthogonal, we obtain the following dot
products:
i  i ¼ 1; j  j ¼ 1; kk ¼1 and i  j ¼ 0; i  k ¼ 0; jk ¼0
Furthermore, the vector operations discussed above may be expressed in the ijk notation as follows.
Suppose
u ¼ a1 i þ a2 j þ a3 k and v ¼ b1 i þ b2 j þ b3 k
Then
u þ v ¼ ða1 þ b1 Þi þ ða2 þ b2 Þj þ ða3 þ b3 Þk and cu ¼ ca1 i þ ca2 j þ ca3 k
where c is a scalar. Also,
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
u  v ¼ a1 b1 þ a2 b2 þ a3 b3 and kuk ¼ u  u ¼ a21 þ a22 þ a23

EXAMPLE 1.8 Suppose u ¼ 3i þ 5j  2k and v ¼ 4i  8j þ 7k.

(a) To find u þ v, add corresponding components, obtaining u þ v ¼ 7i  3j þ 5k
(b) To find 3u  2v, first multiply by the scalars and then add:
3u  2v ¼ ð9i þ 13j  6kÞ þ ð8i þ 16j  14kÞ ¼ i þ 29j  20k
 10 CHAPTER 1 Vectors in Rn and Cn, Spatial Vectors

(c) To find u  v, multiply corresponding components and then add:

u  v ¼ 12  40  14 ¼ 42
(d) To find kuk, take the square root of the sum of the squares of the components:
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffi
kuk ¼ 9 þ 25 þ 4 ¼ 38

Cross Product
There is a special operation for vectors u and v in R3 that is not defined in Rn for n 6¼ 3. This operation is
called the cross product and is denoted by u  v. One way to easily remember the formula for u  v is to
use the determinant (of order two) and its negative, which are denoted and defined as follows:
   
a b a b
  ¼ ad  bc   
c d and  c d  ¼ bc  ad

Here a and d are called the diagonal elements and b and c are the nondiagonal elements. Thus, the
determinant is the product ad of the diagonal elements minus the product bc of the nondiagonal elements,
but vice versa for the negative of the determinant.
Now suppose u ¼ a1 i þ a2 j þ a3 k and v ¼ b1 i þ b2 j þ b3 k. Then
u  v ¼ ða2 b3  a3 b2 Þi þ ða3 b1  a1 b3 Þj þ ða1 b2  a2 b1 Þk
     
 a1 a2 a3   a1 a2 a3   a1 a2 a3 
¼  i  jþ  i
b1 b2 b3   b1 b2 b3  b1 b2 b3 
That is, the three components of u  v are obtained from the array
 
a1 a2 a3
b1 b2 b3
(which contain the components of u above the component of v) as follows:

(1) Cover the first column and take the determinant.

(2) Cover the second column and take the negative of the determinant.
(3) Cover the third column and take the determinant.

Note that u  v is a vector; hence, u  v is also called the vector product or outer product of u
and v.

EXAMPLE 1.9 Find u  v where: (a) u ¼ 4i þ 3j þ 6k, v ¼ 2i þ 5j  3k, (b) u ¼ ½2; 1; 5, v ¼ ½3; 7; 6.
 
4 3 6
(a) Use to get u  v ¼ ð9  30Þi þ ð12 þ 12Þj þ ð20  6Þk ¼ 39i þ 24j þ 14k
2 5 3
 
2 1 5
(b) Use to get u  v ¼ ½6  35; 15  12; 14 þ 3 ¼ ½41; 3; 17
3 7 6

Remark: The cross products of the vectors i; j; k are as follows:

i  j ¼ k; j  k ¼ i; ki¼j
j  i ¼ k; k  j ¼ i; i  k ¼ j
Thus, if we view the triple ði; j; kÞ as a cyclic permutation, where i follows k and hence k precedes i, then
the product of two of them in the given direction is the third one, but the product of two of them in the
opposite direction is the negative of the third one.
Two important properties of the cross product are contained in the following theorem.
CHAPTER 1 Vectors in Rn and Cn, Spatial Vectors 11

Figure 1-4

THEOREM 1.5: Let u; v; w be vectors in R3 .

(a) The vector u  v is orthogonal to both u and v.
(b) The absolute value of the ‘‘triple product’’

uvw

represents the volume of the parallelopiped formed by the vectors u; v, w.

[See Fig. 1-4(a).]

We note that the vectors u; v, u  v form a right-handed system, and that the following formula
gives the magnitude of u  v:
ku  vk ¼ kukkvk sin y
where y is the angle between u and v.

1.7 Complex Numbers

The set of complex numbers is denoted by C. Formally, a complex number is an ordered pair ða; bÞ of
real numbers where equality, addition, and multiplication are defined as follows:
ða; bÞ ¼ ðc; dÞ if and only if a ¼ c and b ¼ d
ða; bÞ þ ðc; dÞ ¼ ða þ c; b þ dÞ
ða; bÞ  ðc; dÞ ¼ ðac  bd; ad þ bcÞ
We identify the real number a with the complex number ða; 0Þ; that is,
a $ ða; 0Þ
This is possible because the operations of addition and multiplication of real numbers are preserved under
the correspondence; that is,
ða; 0Þ þ ðb; 0Þ ¼ ða þ b; 0Þ and ða; 0Þ  ðb; 0Þ ¼ ðab; 0Þ
Thus we view R as a subset of C, and replace ða; 0Þ by a whenever convenient and possible.
We note that the set C of complex numbers with the above operations of addition and multiplication is
a field of numbers, like the set R of real numbers and the set Q of rational numbers.