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3D Vectors

Notes on 3D vectors for Design of Mechanical elements (solids) for mechanical engineering at University of south Carolina

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scp616
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46 views

3D Vectors

Notes on 3D vectors for Design of Mechanical elements (solids) for mechanical engineering at University of south Carolina

Uploaded by

scp616
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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VECTORS # 2

One of the most important applications of the dot product is in determining the amount of a vector that is along a given direction. If u is a unit vector along the direction of interest, then

Fu =
Let Y

amount of

F along line of interest = |F| cos()

900

Line of interest

CROSS PRODUCT OF TWO VECTORS The cross product of vectors is most often used in statics to obtain a forcing function known as the moment vector, M. However, the concept of cross product is independent of any specific interpretation, and is represented geometrically below.

R
Y

QXR

Q
X

Letting Q and R be two vectors with an included angle . Then, the cross product of these two vectors is a vector (a) with magnitude |Q X R | = |Q| |R | sin () (b) perpendicular to the plane of Q and R and in a direction corresponding to the direction of the right thumb when using the right hand rule and rotating Q towards R By writing the equations that result from requiring Q X R to be perpendicular to the plane of Q and R, a relatively simple form for the cross-product vector has been developed.

Moment as a vector The concept of a moment vector, M, can be viewed as the applied forcing function that will either tend to rotate, or stop rotation, of an object. The most common definition of a moment uses the CROSS PRODUCT of two vectors. The key point behind defining the moment of a force, M, about any point is to note that there is no tendency for a body to rotate about any axis at a point P if the force passes through the point Thus, there must be a non-zero perpendicular distance between the direction of the force and the point of interest P to have a moment, M at this point. Let R be any vector from the point of interest, P, that intersects the line of action of the force, F. Y
180 - R, F
0

L r P-L P
R, F

R, F 90

Z By geometry above, regardless of what point L on the line of action of F is chosen for defining r, the magnitude of the moment is the same. It is the | F | times the perpendicular distance from point P to the line of action of F.

See figure below for general concepts in a 3D situation. Consider point of interest as P in the figure

Q passes through the point P and so moment vector at P due to Q is zero.

R does not pass through P and so moment vector at P due to R is non-zero.

Since it is not always easy to identify the perpendicular distance | r | sin (R, F ) required to determine the magnitude of the moment vector about a point P, the vector form determined by the DETERMINANT using the following formula.

i
DETERMINANT

j ry
P-L

k rZ
P-L

rx

P-L

FX

FY

FZ

M = (ry FZ rZ Fy) i - (rX FZ rZ FX) j + (rx Fy - ry Fx) k

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