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Lecture 3 Math 263 Calculus III Syllabus Fall 2021 NU

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4 views

Lecture 3 Math 263 Calculus III Syllabus Fall 2021 NU

Uploaded by

asylansson
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lecture 3: Dot Products

August 20, 2021

Lecture 3: Dot Products


Overview

Previously:
We defined vectors.
We defined algebraic operations on vectors:
addition
subtraction
scalar multiplication
Today: We introduce one method for multiplying vectors with
each other.

Lecture 3: Dot Products


Dot Products

The starting point of our discussion is the following definition:

Definition
Let u = hu1 , u2 i, v = hv1 , v2 i be vectors in 2-space. The dot
product u · v of u and v is defined as

u · v = u1 v1 + u2 v2 .

If u = hu1 , u2 , u3 i, v = hv1 , v2 , v3 i are vectors in 3-space, then the


dot product u · v of u and v is defined as

u · v = u1 v1 + u2 v2 + u3 v3 .

Lecture 3: Dot Products


Dot Products

Example 1: Compute u · v for the following vectors:


i. u = h1, 2i, v = h3, 4i
ii. u = h7, 2, 1i, v = h−1, 3, 3i

Solution: Using the definition of dot products, you should get:


i. u · v = 1 · 3 + 2 · 4 = 11
ii. u · v = 7 · (−1) + 2 · 3 + 1 · 3 = 2

Lecture 3: Dot Products


Dot Products and Norms

If you look carefully at the definition of dot products and norms,


you should be able to see that they are connected in the following
way:

Theorem
If v is a vector in 2-space or 3-space, then

v · v = kvk2 .

You should note that this theorem is true for vectors in other
dimensions, as well. We won’t discuss this in this course.

Lecture 3: Dot Products


Dot Products and Angles

A (much) less obvious fact about dot products is the connection


between the dot product of two vectors and the angle between
them.

Theorem
If u and v are non-zero vectors in 2- or 3-space, and if θ is the
angle between them, then

u · v = kukkvk cos θ.

In the special case where u ⊥ v, then u · v = 0.

Again, this holds for vectors in other dimensions, as well. We will


not discuss that in this course.

Lecture 3: Dot Products


Dot Products and Angles

Example 1: Find the angle between the vectors u = h1, 1i and


v = h1, −1i.
Solution: Recall that

u · v = kukkvk cos θ.

A simple computation will show that

h1, 1i · h1, −1i = (1)(1) + (1)(−1) = 0.

Since √
kuk = kvk = 2 6= 0,
then it must be the case that cos θ = 0, which happens only when

θ = 90◦ .

Lecture 3: Dot Products


Orthogonal Decomposition

Often, it is useful to write a vector v as a combination of two


orthogonal vectors w1 and w2 .
If this can be done, then the three vectors satisfy an equation
of the form
v = aw1 + bw2
for some scalars a and b.
Question: How do we find a and b?
Answer: We can try taking the dot product of v with w1 , w2 .

Lecture 3: Dot Products


Orthogonal Decompositions

Suppose we first try the dot product with w1 :

v · w1 = aw1 · w1 + bw1 · w2

Since w1 ⊥ w2 , then w1 · w2 = 0. So:

v · w1 = aw1 · w1 = akw1 k2

We can now solve for a:


v · w1
a=
kw1 k2

Using a similar computation involving w2 , you should see that


v · w2
b= .
kw2 k2

Lecture 3: Dot Products


Orthogonal Decompositions

Recalling that u · v = kukkvk cos θ, we can rewrite these as

kvk kvk
a= cos θ1 and b = cos θ2 ,
kw1 k kw2 k

where θi is the angle between v and wi .


Note that, because of the cosine in these expressions, they will be
largest if the vectors point in the same direction, and zero if they
are perpendicular.
The point: the numbers a and b should be interpreted as telling
you how much of v points in the direction of w1 and w2 ,
respectively.

Lecture 3: Dot Products


Orthogonal Decompositions

This leads us to the following definition:

Definition
Let v and w be vectors. We define the projection of v along w as
the vector
v·w
projw v = w.
kwk2

Note that this is a vector which points in the same direction as w,


but whose magnitude will depend on how much of v points in the
same direction as w.

Lecture 3: Dot Products


Orthogonal Decompositions

Example 2: Let v = h3, 2i, w1 = h1, 1i, and w2 = h1, −1i.


Compute projw1 v and projw2 v, and write the vector v as a
combination of w1 and w2 .
Solution: For w1 , we have
v · w1
projw1 v = w1
kw1 k2
5
= h1, 1i
2
 
5 5
= , .
2 2

Lecture 3: Dot Products


Orthogonal Decompositions

For w2 , we have
v · w2
projw2 v = w2
kw2 k2
1
= h1, −1i
2
 
1 1
= ,− .
2 2
We can then write v as
v = projw1 v + projw2 v
   
5 5 1 1
= , + ,−
2 2 2 2
= h3, 2i .

Lecture 3: Dot Products

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