Calculus 3 : Vectors and Vector Operations

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Calculus 3

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Example Questions

Example Question #311 : Vectors And Vector Operations

Find the vector difference , where  and .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

If  and , then the vector  , called the "difference" of two vectors, is defined by the difference of its respective components; that is,

.

We have  and . Since subtraction of real numbers is not commutative, and the difference of vectors is defined by the differences of the real numbers which comprise their components,  unless . Therefore, we must careful with the order in which the vectors  and  are subtracted. We can calculate the vector   using the definition of the "difference" of two vectors as follows:

Hence, .

Example Question #311 : Vectors And Vector Operations

Solve:

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The difference of two vectors is found by subtracting the corresponding components (for instance, )

Our final answer is

Example Question #312 : Vectors And Vector Operations

Find the difference of the vectors  and 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the difference between two vectors  and , we use the formula

Using the vectors from the problem statement we get

Example Question #314 : Vectors And Vector Operations

Find the difference of the vectors  and 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the difference between two vectors  and , we use the formula

Using the vectors from the problem statement we get

Example Question #315 : Vectors And Vector Operations

Find the difference between the vectors  and 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the difference between two vectors  and , we use the formula

Using the vectors from the problem statement, we get

Example Question #1 : Dot Product

Evaluate the dot product between , and .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

All we need to do is multiply like components.

Example Question #2 : Dot Product

Evaluate the dot product of , and .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

All we need to do is multiply the like components and add them together.

Example Question #1 : Dot Product

Find the dot product of the following vectors:

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the dot product between two vectors 

we calculate

so for 

we have

Example Question #2 : Dot Product

What is the length of the vector

?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

We can compute the length of a vector by taking the square root of the dot product of  and , so the length of  is:

Example Question #3 : Dot Product

Find the dot product of the following vectors:

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the dot product between two vectors 

we calculate

so for 

we have

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