Department of Electronic Engineering

Qian Yizhao

1155204337@link.cuhk.edu.hk

ENGG1130 Tutorial 1
Context

 1. Definition of vector & Exercise1

 2. Sum of vectors & Exercise2
 3. Definition of unit vector & Exercise3
 4. Dot product/Inner product & Exercise4\5\6
 5. Vector projection & Exercise7
 6. Cross product/Outer product & Exercise8\9
 Definition
 A vector is a quantity that has both magnitude and direction.
 The modulus of a vector is its magnitude.
 Vectors are said to be equivalent vectors if they have the same magnitude and direction.

Remark
 A vector in a plane is represented by a directed line segment (an arrow). The endpoints of the segment
are called the initial point and the terminal point of the vector. An arrow from the initial point to the
terminal point indicates the direction of the vector.
 The length of the line segment represents its magnitude. We use the notation ∥ 𝑣⃗ ∥ (|𝑣⃗|) to denote the
magnitude of the vector.

 A vector with an initial point and terminal point that are the same is called the zero-vector denoted ∥ 0 ∥.
The zero vector is the only vector without a direction, and by convention can be considered to have any
direction convenient to the problem at hand.
Definition
 A vector with initial point (0,0) and terminal point (x, y) can be written in component form as

𝑣⃗ = 𝑥, 𝑦
The scalars x and y are called the components of 𝑣⃗ .

Rule
 Let 𝑣⃗ be a vector with initial point (𝑥 , 𝑦 ) and terminal point (𝑥 , 𝑦 ). Then we can express 𝑣⃗ in
component form as

𝑣⃗ = 𝑥 − 𝑥 , 𝑦 − 𝑦
Example 1
 Express vector with initial point (-3, 4) and terminal point (1,2) in component form.
 Definition
 The product of a vector and a scalar is a vector with a magnitude that is times the
magnitude of , and with a direction that is the same as the direction of if > 0, and opposite
the direction of if < 0. That is called scalar multiplication. If = 0 or = , then = .
 Definition
 The sum of two vectors 𝒗 and 𝒘 can be constructed graphically by placing the initial point of 𝒘 at the terminal point
of 𝒗. Then, the vector sum, 𝒗 + 𝒘, is the vector with an initial point that coincides with the initial point of 𝒗 and has
a terminal point that coincides with the terminal point pf 𝒘. That operation is known as vector addition.

(a) When adding vectors by the triangle method, the initial point of 𝒘 is the terminal point of 𝒗 .
(b) When adding vectors by the parallelogram method, the vectors 𝒗 and 𝒘 have the same initial point.
 Example 2
 Let 𝒗 be the vector with initial point (2,5) and terminal point (8,13), and let 𝒘 = −𝟐, 𝟒 .
 (a) Express 𝒗 in component form and find 𝒗 . Then , using algebra, find
 (b) 𝒗 + 𝒘,
 (c) 3𝒗, and
 (d) 𝒗 −𝟐𝒘
Definition
 A unit vector is a vector with magnitude 1. For any nonzero vector 𝒗, we can use scalar
multiplication to find a unit vector 𝒖 that has the same direction as 𝒗. To do this, we multiply the
vector by the reciprocal of its magnitude:

𝒖= 𝒗
𝒗

 We say that 𝒖 is the unit vector in the direction of 𝒗. The process of using scalar multiplication to
find a unit vector with a given direction is called normalization.
 Example 3
 Let 𝒗 = −𝟐, 𝟗, 𝟓 and 𝒘 = 𝟏, −𝟏, 𝟎 . Find the following vectors.

(a) 3 −

(b) 5

(c) 5

(d) a unit vector in the direction of

Definition
The dot product of vectors = 𝟏 𝟐 𝟑 and = 𝟏 𝟐 𝟑 is given by the sum of
the products of the components

= 𝟏 𝟏 𝟐 𝟐 𝟑 𝟑

The dot product of two vectors is the product of the magnitude of each vector and the
cosine of the angle between them:

The nonzero vectors and are orthogonal vectors if and only if

Example 4
Find the inner product and the lengths of and as well as the angle
between these vectors.
Example 5

Work Done by a Force Expressed as an Inner Product

This is a major application. It concerns a body on which a constant force 𝑷 acts. Let the body be given a

displacement 𝒅 , Then the work done by 𝑷 in the displacement is defined as

that is, magnitude 𝑷 of the force times length 𝒅 of the displacement times the cosine of the angle

a between 𝑷 and 𝒅. If 𝛼 < 90°, then power 𝑊 > 0. If 𝑷 and 𝒅 are orthogonal, then the work is
zero(why?). If𝛼 < 90°, then𝑊 < 0, which means that in the displacement one has to do work against
the force. For example. think of swimming across a river at some angle a against the current.
Example 5
 Let force 𝑷 = 𝟏, 𝟐, 𝟒 and displacement 𝒅 = 𝟒, 𝟐, 𝟏 . Find the work done of force 𝑷 in the
displacement 𝒅 .
Example 6
 Given two vectors 𝒂 = 𝟏, 𝟐 and 𝒃 = 𝟐, 𝟏 and a point 𝑝 = (1,1), suppose there is a point c such
that the vector 𝒑𝒄 is orthogonal to 𝒂 , and a point d such that the vector 𝒑𝒅 is orthogonal to 𝒃 .
Please calculate the angle between 𝒑𝒄 and 𝒑𝒅
Definition
The vector projection of 𝒗 onto 𝒖 is the vector labeled 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝒖 𝒗 in Figure. It has the same initial point
as 𝒖 and 𝒗 and the same direction as 𝒖, and represents the component of 𝒗 that acts in the direction of
𝒖.
If 𝜃 represents the angle between 𝒖 and 𝒗 , then, by properties of triangles, we know the length of
𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝒖 𝒗 is 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝒖 𝒗 = 𝒗 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝜽. When expressing 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝜽 in terms of the dot product, this becomes:

We now multiply by a unit vector in the direction of u to get 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝒖 𝒗 :

The length of this vector is also known as the scalar projection of 𝒗 onto 𝒖 and is denoted by
Example 7
 Find the projection of 𝒗 onto 𝒖 .
a. 𝒗 = 𝟑, 𝟓, 𝟏 and 𝒖 = −𝟏, 𝟒, 𝟑

b. 𝒗 = 𝟑 ̂ − 𝟐ȷ̂ and 𝒖 = ̂ + 𝟔ȷ̂

Definition
Let = 𝟏 𝟐 𝟑 and = 𝟏 𝟐 𝟑 . Then, the cross product × is vector

× ( - ) -( − ) +( − )

− − −
Definition
Example 8
Example 9
Let 𝒂 = 𝟓, 𝟐, −𝟏 and 𝒃 = 𝟎, −𝟏, 𝟒 Find a unit vector orthogonal to both 𝒂 and 𝒃