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10. Vector Algebra

Key Points :
 A scalar is a quantity that is determined by its magnitude.
 A vector is a quantity that is determined by both its magnitude and its direction
 Two or more vectors are said to be collinear or parallel if they have same line of action or
have the lines of action parallel to one another.
Two or more vectors are said to be coplanar if they lie on the same plane or parallel to the
same plane.
 Two vectors are said to be equal if they have equal length and the same direction.
 A vector of magnitude 0 is called the zero vector.
 A vector of magnitude 1 is called a unit vector.
  
Let a be a vector and m be a scalar. Then the vector m a is called the scalar multiple

of a vector a by the scalar m.
    
Two vectors a and b are said to be parallel if a   b , where λ is a scalar.
      
If a , b and c are the sides of a triangle taken in order then a  b  c  0
 Vector addition is associative & commutative.
 “If two vectors are represented in magnitude and direction by the two sides of a triangle
taken in the same order, then their sum is represented by the third side taken in the
reverse order”. This is known as the triangle law of addition.
  
In a parallelogram OABC, if OA and OB represents two adjacent sides, then the

diagonal OC represents their sum. This is parallelogram law of addition.
 Section Formula – Internal & External Division)
 Let O be the origin. Let A and B be two points. Let P be the point which divides
 
the line segment AB internally in the ratio m : n. If a and b are the position
 
  n a  mb
vectors of A and B, then the position vector op of P is given by op  .
nm
 Let O be the origin. Let A and B be two points. Let P be the point which divides
 
the line segment AB externally in the ratio m : n. If a and b are the position
 
  n a  mb
vectors of A and B, then the position vector op of P is given by op  .
nm
   
Three distinct points A, B and C with position vectors a , b and c are collinear if and
only if there exist real numbers x,y,z, none of them is zero, such that
x + y + z = 0 and x aˆ  y bˆ  zcˆ  0 .
 If α, β, γ are the direction angles then cosα , cosβ , cos γ are the direction cosines.

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 
The direction ratios of the vector r  x iˆ  y ˆj  zkˆ are x, y, z .
 
Let r  x iˆ  y ˆj  zkˆ be the position vector of any point and let α, β, γ , be the direction

angles of r ,Then
(i) cos 2   cos 2   cos 2   1
(ii) sin 2   sin 2   sin 2   2
 x y z
(iii) The direction cosines of r are , ,
x2  y2  z 2 x2  y2  z2 x2  y2  z 2
(iv) l, m, n are the direction cosines of a vector if and only if l 2  m 2  n 2  1 .
(v) Any unit vector can be written as cos  iˆ  cos  ˆj  cos  kˆ
      
The scalar product of the vectors a and b is a  b  a b cos 

      
Vector product of any two non-zero vectors a and b is written as a  b  a b sin  nˆ ,
   
where θ is the angle between a and b , 0     . Here a , b , n̂ form a right handed
system.
  
Given two vectors a  a1 iˆ  a 2 ˆj  a3 kˆ and b  b1 iˆ  b2 ˆj  b3 kˆ the scalar product (or dot
   
product) is denoted by a  b and is calculated by a . b  a1b1  a 2 b2  a3b3
 
and the vector product (or cross product) is denoted a  b and is calculated by
iˆ ˆj kˆ
 
a  b  a1 a2 a3
b1 b2 b3
  
An angle between two non-zero vectors a and b is found by the following formula
 
   
a b  a b 
cos        cos 1    
a b  a b 
 
 
(i) a and b are said to be parallel if the angle between them is 0 or π .
   3
(ii) a and b are said to be perpendicular if the angle between them is or
2 2
 Property :
 
(i) Let a and b be any two nonzero vectors. Then
   
 a  b  0 iff a and b are perpendicular to each other.
   
 a  b  0 iff a and b are Parallel to each other.
  
(ii) Let a b and c be any three nonzero vectors and  is scalar
   
 a b  b a

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        
 a  b  c  a  c b  c
 
  

    
  k a   b  k  a  b   a  k b 
     
   
  a  b    b  a 
   
  
     
  a  b  c  a  c  b  c
 
  

    
  
k a  b  k  a  b   a  k b 
     
2 2  2 2 2  2
    
    
(iii)  a  b   a b  2 a.b ,  a  b   a b  2 a.b
   
2 2
     
(iv)  a  b . a  b   a  b
  
 If D is the midpoint of the side BC of a triangle ABC,
 
  2 
2
then AB  AC  2  AD  BD 
2 2
 
 

    
The area of the parallelogram whose adjacent sides are a and b  a  b .
 
1  
The area of any triangle whose two sides are a and b  a b
2
 
   a.b
Projection of a vector a on other vector b , is given by  .
b

      
If a is perpendicular to b and c then a  b c
   
      
For any three vectors a , b and c the scalar triple product  a  b  . c denoted by  a , b , c 
   
a1 a 2 a3
        
 a , b , c    a  b  . c  b1 b2 b3
c1 c 2 c3
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. The magnitude of the vector 6 iˆ  2 ˆj  3kˆ is equal to:
a) 5 b) 1 c) 7 d) 12
2. If |a × b| = 4 and |a.b| = 2, then |a|² |b|² is equal to:

a) 4 b) 6 c) 20 d) 2

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ASSERTION-REASON BASED QUESTIONS

In the following questions, a statement of assertion (A) is followed by a statement of Reason

Choose the correct answer out of the following choices.
(A). Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(B). Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(C). A is true but R is false.
(D). A is false but R is true.
31.      
Assertion (A) : If I is the incentre of then ABC , then BC IA CA IB AB IC  0
  
OA OB OC
Reason (R) : The position vector of centroid of ABC , is
3
32.  
Assertion (A) : The adjacent sides of a parallelogram are along a  iˆ  2 ˆj & b  2iˆ  ˆj the

Prepared by M.Vijayan M.Sc.,B.Ed., M.Phil., Contact : 9444499114, 9677860688

 angle between the diagonal is 150o
   
Reason (R) : Diagonals of a parallelogram will be along a  b and a  b
33.

Assertion (A) : If a and b represent the adjacent sides of a triangle as shown, then its area
1  
is  a  b
2
1 
Reason (R) : Area of triangle ABC ,  a b sin 
2
34. Assertion (A): Two vectors are said to be like vectors if they have the same direction but
different magnitude.
Reason (R): Vector quantities do not have a specific direction.
35. Assertion (A): If a line makes angles  ,  ,  with positive direction of the coordinate axes,
then sin 2   sin 2   sin 2   2
Reason (R): The sum of squares of the direction cosines of a line is 1

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