Precalculus : Parallel and Perpendicular Vectors in Two Dimensions

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Precalculus

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Example Questions

Example Question #11 : Determine If Two Vectors Are Parallel Or Perpendicular

Which of the following pairs of vectors are parallel?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

For two vectors,  and  to be parallel, , for some real number .

Recall that for a vector, .

The correct answer here is 

This is the correct answer because .

Example Question #12 : Determine If Two Vectors Are Parallel Or Perpendicular

Which of the following pairs of vectors are parallel?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

For two vectors,  and  to be parallel, , for some real number .

Recall that for a vector, .

The correct answer here is 

.

Using the formula  we have our  to be .

Applying this we find the vector that is parallel.

Example Question #11 : Determine If Two Vectors Are Parallel Or Perpendicular

Which pair of vectors represents two parallel vectors?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Two vectors are parallel if their cross product is . This is the same thing as saying that the matrix consisting of both vectors has determinant zero.

 

This is only true for the correct answer.

 

In essence each vector is a scalar multiple of the other.

Example Question #11 : Parallel And Perpendicular Vectors In Two Dimensions

Which relationship best describes the vectors and ?

Possible Answers:

the same direction, but different magnitudes

perpendicular

neither parallel nor perpendicular

more information needed

parallel

Correct answer:

perpendicular

Explanation:

We can discover that these vectors are perpendicular by finding the dot product:

A dot product of zero for two non zero vectors means that they are perpedicular vectors.

Example Question #15 : Matrices And Vectors

Which relationship best describes the two vectors and ?

Possible Answers:

both parallel and perpendicular

neither parallel nor perpendicular

parallel

perpendicular

more information is needed

Correct answer:

parallel

Explanation:

To show that these are parallel, we have to find their magnitudes using the Pythagorean Theorem:

 

To multiply , multiply the numbers within the radicals first, then take the square root:

Now we have to find the dot product and compare it to the product of these two magnitudes. If they are the same, or if they differ only by sign [one is the negative version of the other] then the two lines are parallel. 

This is the negative version of the magnitudes' product! This means that the two vectors are parallel.

Example Question #12 : Parallel And Perpendicular Vectors In Two Dimensions

Find the dot product of the two vectors

 

and

.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the dot product of two vectors,

find the product of the x-components,

find the product of the y-components,

and then find the sum.

Example Question #13 : Parallel And Perpendicular Vectors In Two Dimensions

Find the dot product of the two vectors

 

and

.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the dot product of two vectors,

find the product of the x-components,

find the product of the y-components,

and then find the sum.

Example Question #14 : Parallel And Perpendicular Vectors In Two Dimensions

Find the dot product of the two vectors

and

.

 

 
Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the dot product of two vectors,

find the product of the x-components,

find the product of the y-components,

and then find the sum.

Example Question #16 : Determine If Two Vectors Are Parallel Or Perpendicular

Evaluate the dot product of the following two vectors:

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the dot product of two vectors, we multiply the corresponding terms of each vector and then add the results together, as expressed by the following formula:

Example Question #15 : Matrices And Vectors

Let 

Find the dot product of the two vectors

.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Let

The dot product  is equal to

.

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