VECTOR ALGEBRA

Chapter - 10

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 Session Objectives
1. Basic Concepts

2. Types of Vectors
3. Addition of Vectors

4. Multiplication of a Vector by a Scalar

5.Product of Two Vectors
 Introduction
In this chapter, we will study some of the basic
concepts about vectors, various operations on
vectors, and their algebraic and geometric properties.
These two type of properties, when considered
together give a full realisation to the concept of
vectors, and lead to their vital applicability in various
areas as mentioned above.
Some Basic Concepts
Let ‘l’ be any straight line in plane or three dimensional
space. This line can be given two directions by means
of arrowheads. A line with one of these directions
prescribed is called a directed line (Fig 10.1 (i), (ii)).
Now observe that if we restrict the line l to the line
segment AB, then a magnitude is prescribed on the
line l with one of the two directions, so that we obtain
a directed line segment (Fig 10.1(iii)). Thus, a directed
line segment has magnitude as well as direction.
Definition 1 A quantity that has magnitude as well as
direction is called a vector.
Notice that a directed line segment is a vector ,denoted
as AB or simply as a , and read as ‘vector AB ’ or
‘vector a ’.
The point A from where the vector starts is called
point, and the point B where it ends is called its
terminal point. The distance between initial and
terminal points of a vector is called the magnitude (or
length) of the vector, denoted as
The arrow indicates the direction of
the vector.
Note Since the length is never negative, the notation
| a | < 0 has no meaning.
Position Vector
Three dimensional right handed rectangular coordinate
system (Fig 10.2(i)). Consider a point P in space,
having coordinates (x, y, z) with respect to the origin
O(0, 0, 0). Then, the vector having O and P as its
initial and terminal points, respectively, is called the
position vector of the point P with respect to O. Using
distance formula, the magnitude of

In practice, the position vectors of points A, B, C, etc.,

with respect to the origin O are denoted by
respectively (Fig 10.2 (ii)).
Direction Cosines
Consider the position vector OP (or r) of a point
P(x, y,z) as in Fig 10.3. The angles α, β, γ made by the
vector r with the positive directions of x, y and z-axes
respectively, are called its direction angles. The cosine
values of these angles, i.e., cos α, cosβ and cos γ are
called direction cosines of the vector r, and usually
denoted by l, m and n, respectively.
one may note that the triangle OAP is right angled, and
in it, we have
Similarly, from the right angled triangles OBP and
OCP, we may write

Thus, the coordinates of the point P may also be

expressed as (lr, mr,nr). The numbers lr, mr and nr,
proportional to the direction cosines are called as
direction ratios of vector r, and denoted as a, b and c,
respectively.
Note One may note that l2 + m2 + n2 = 1 but
a2 + b2 + c2 ≠ 1, in general.
Types of Vectors
Zero Vector A vector whose initial and terminal points
coincide, is called a zero vector (or null vector), and
denoted as 0. Zero vector can not be assigned a
definite direction as it has zero magnitude. Or,
alternatively otherwise, it may be regarded as having
any direction. The vectors AA, BB represent the zero
vector
Unit Vector A vector whose magnitude is unity
(i.e., 1 unit) is called a unit vector. The unit vector in
the direction of a given vector
Coinitial Vectors Two or more vectors having the
same initial point are called coinitial vectors.
Collinear Vectors Two or more vectors are said to be
collinear if they are parallel to the same line,
irrespective of their magnitudes and directions.
Equal Vectors Two vectors a and b are said to be
equal, if they have the same magnitude and direction
regardless of the positions of their initial points, and
written as a = b.
Negative of a Vector A vector whose magnitude is the
same as that of a given vector (say, AB), but direction
is opposite to that of it, is called negative of the given
vector. For example, vector BA is negative of the
vector AB , and written as BA = − AB.
Remark The vectors defined above are such that any
of them may be subject to its parallel displacement
without changing its magnitude and direction. Such
vectors are called free vectors. Throughout this
chapter, we will be dealing with free vectors only.
Example 1 Represent graphically a displacement
of 40 km, 30° west of south.
Example 2 Classify the following measures as scalars
and vectors.

(i) 5 seconds
(ii) 1000 cm3
(iii) 10 Newton
(iv) 30 km/hr
(v) 10 g/cm3
(vi) 20 m/s towards north
Example 3 In Fig 10.5, which of the vectors are:
(i) Collinear
(ii) Equal
(iii) Coinitial
VECTOR ALGEBRA

Exercise 10.1

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01. Represent graphically a displacement of 40 km, 30°
east of north.
02. Classify the following measures as scalars and vectors.
(i) 10 kg
(ii) 2 meters north-west
(iii) 40°
(iv) 40 watt
(v) 10–19 coulomb
(vi) 20 m/s2
03. Classify the following as scalar and vector quantities.
(i) time period
(ii) distance
(iii) force
(iv) velocity
(v) work done
04. In Fig 10.6 (a square), identify the following vectors.
(i) Coinitial
(ii) Equal
(iii) Collinear but not equal
05. Answer the following as true or false.
(i) a and − a are collinear.
(ii) Two collinear vectors are always equal in
magnitude.
(iii) Two vectors having same magnitude are collinear.
(iv) Two collinear vectors having the same magnitude
are equal.
Addition of Vectors
A vector AB simply means the displacement from a
point A to the point B. Now consider a situation that a
girl moves from A to B and then from B to C
(Fig 10.7). The net displacement made by the girl
from point A to the point C, is given by the vector AC
and expressed as

This is known as the triangle law of vector addition.

In general, if we have two vectors a and b, then to add
them, they are positioned so that the initial point of
one coincides with the terminal point of the other
We have shifted vector b without changing its
magnitude and direction, so that it’s initial point
coincides with the terminal point of a. Then, the
vector a + b, represented by the third side AC of the
triangle ABC, gives us the sum (or resultant) of the
vectors a and b i.e., in triangle ABC, we have
This means that when the sides of a triangle are taken
in order, it leads to zero resultant as the initial and
terminal points get coincided
Construct a vector so that its magnitude is same as
the vector BC but the direction opposite to that of it

Then, on applying triangle law from the Fig 10.8 (iii),

we have

The vector AC′ is said to represent the difference of a

and b
If we have two vectors a and b represented by the two
adjacent sides of a parallelogram in magnitude and
direction (Fig 10.9), then their sum a + b is represented
in magnitude and direction by the diagonal of the
parallelogram through their common point. This is
known as the parallelogram law of vector addition.
Properties of vector addition

Commutative
property)
(Associative
property)
Remark The associative property of vector addition
enables us to write the sum of three vectors
without using brackets. Note that for any
vector a, we have

Here, the zero vector 0 is called the additive identity

for the vector addition.
Multiplication of a Vector by a Scalar
Let a be a given vector and λ a scalar. Then the
product of the vector a by the scalar λ, denoted as λ a
, is called the multiplication of vector a by the scalar λ.
Note that, λ a is also a vector, collinear to the vector a
.The vector λa has the direction same
(or opposite) to that of vector a according as the value
of λ is positive (or negative). Also, the magnitude of
vector λ a is |λ| times the magnitude of the vector a ,
i.e.,
When λ = –1, then λa = −a, which is a vector having
magnitude equal to the magnitude of a and direction
opposite to that of the direction of a . The vector – a is
called the negative (or additive inverse) of vector a
and we always have
So, λ a represents the unit vector in the direction of a .
We write it as
Note For any scalar k, k0 = 0.
Components of a vector
Let us take the points A(1, 0, 0), B(0, 1, 0) and
C(0, 0, 1) on the x-axis, y-axis and z-axis,
respectively. Then, clearly

The vectors OA, OB and OC , each having magnitude

1, are called unit vectors along the axes OX, OY and
OZ, respectively, and denoted by
The position vector of OP with reference to O is given
by
This form of any vector is called its component form.
Here, x, y and z are called as the scalar components of
are called the vector
Components of r along the respective axes. Sometimes
x, y and z are also termed as rectangular
components.
The length of any vector is readily
determined by applying the Pythagoras theorem
twice. We note that in the right angle triangle OQP1

and in the right angle triangle OP1P, we have

Hence, the length of any vector

The addition of vectors and the multiplication of a
vector by a scalar together give the following
distributive laws :
Let a and b be any two vectors, and k and m be any
scalars. Then
 Remarks
(i) One may observe that whatever be the value of λ, the
vector λa is always collinear to the vector a. In fact,
two vectors a and b are collinear if and only if there
exists a nonzero scalar λ such that b = λ a. If the
vectors a and b are given in the component form,

then the two vectors are collinear if and only if

(ii)

(iii) In case if it is given that l, m, n are direction cosines

of a vector, then
is the unit vector in the direction of that
vector, where α, β and γ are the angles which the
vector makes with x, y and z axes respectively.
Example 4 Find the values of x, y and z so that the
vectors
Example 5 Let
Are the vectors a and b equal ?
Example 6 Find unit vector in the direction of vector
Example 7 Find a vector in the direction of vector
that has magnitude 7 units.
Example 8 Find the unit vector in the direction of the
sum of the vectors,
Example 9 Write the direction ratio’s of the vector
and hence calculate its direction cosines.
Vector joining two points
If P1(x1, y1, z1) and P2(x2, y2, z2) are any two points,
then the vector joining P1 and P2 is the vector
Joining the points P1 and P2 with the origin O, and
applying triangle law, from the triangle OP1P2, we
have
Using the properties of vector addition, the above
equation becomes
Example 10 Find the vector joining the points P(2, 3, 0)
and Q(– 1, – 2, – 4) directed from P to Q.
Section formula
Let P and Q be two points represented by the position
vectors OP and OQ, respectively, with respect to the
origin O. Then the line segment joining the points P
and Q may be divided by a third point, say R, in two
ways – internally and externally. Here, we intend to
find the position vector OR for the point R with
respect to the origin O. We take the two cases one by
one.
Case I When R divides PQ internally
The position vector of the point R which divides P and
Q internally in the ratio of m : n is given by
Case II When R divides PQ externally. We leave it to
the reader as an exercise to verify that the position
vector of the point R which divides the line segment
PQ externally in the ratio
Remark If R is the midpoint of PQ , then m = n. And
therefore, from Case I, the midpoint R of
will have its position vector as
Example 11 Consider two points P and Q with position
vectors
Find the position vector of a point R which divides the
line joining P and Q in the ratio 2:1, (i) internally, and
(ii) externally.
Example 12 Show that the points

are the vertices of a right angled triangle.

VECTOR ALGEBRA

Exercise 10.2

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01. Compute the magnitude of the following vectors:
02. Write two different vectors having same magnitude.
03. Write two different vectors having same direction.
04. Find the values of x and y so that the vectors
05. Find the scalar and vector components of the vector
with initial point (2, 1) and terminal point (– 5, 7).
06. Find the sum of the vectors
07. Find the unit vector in the direction of the vector
08. Find the unit vector in the direction of vector PQ,
where P and Q are the points (1, 2, 3) and (4, 5, 6),
respectively.
09. For given vectors,
find the unit vector in the direction of the vector
10. Find a vector in the direction of vector
which has magnitude 8 units.
11. Show that the vectors
are collinear.
12. Find the direction cosines of the vector
13. Find the direction cosines of the vector joining the
points A (1, 2, –3) and B(–1, –2, 1), directed from
A to B.
14. Show that the vector is equally inclined to the
axes OX, OY and OZ.
15. Find the position vector of a point R which divides the
line joining two points P and Q whose position vectors
are respectively, in the ratio
2:1
(i) internally
(ii) externally
16. Find the position vector of the mid point of the vector
joining the points P(2, 3, 4) and Q(4, 1, –2).
17. Show that the points A, B and C with position vectors,

respectively form the vertices of a right angled triangle.

18. In triangle ABC (Fig 10.18), which of the following is
not true:
19. If a and b are two collinear vectors, then which of the
following are incorrect:
Product of Two Vectors
So far we have studied about addition and subtraction
of vectors. An other algebraic operation which we
intend to discuss regarding vectors is their product.
We may recall that product of two numbers is a
number, product of two matrices is again a matrix. But
in case of functions, we may multiply them in two
ways, namely, multiplication of two functions
pointwise and composition of two functions. Similarly,
multiplication of two vectors is also defined in two
ways, namely, scalar (or dot) product where the result
is a scalar, and vector (or cross) product where the
result is a vector.
In this section, we will discuss these two types of
products.
Scalar (or dot) product of two vectors
Definition 2 The scalar product of two nonzero vectors

0≤θ ≤ Π
. =
20.
In view of the Observations 2 and 3, for mutually
perpendicular unit vectors
6. The angle between two nonzero vectors a and b
is given by
7. The scalar product is commutative. i.e.
Two important properties of scalar product
Property 1 (Distributivity of scalar product over
addition) Let a, b, and c be any three vectors, then
Property 2 Let a and b be any two vectors, and λ be
any scalar. Then
Projection of a vector on a line
Suppose a vector AB makes an angle θ with a given
directed line l (say), in the anticlockwise direction (Fig
10.20). Then the projection of AB on l is a vector p
(say) with magnitude | AB | cosθ, and the direction of
p being the same (or opposite) to that of the line l,
depending upon whether cosθ is positive or negative.
The vector p is called the projection vector, and its
magnitude | p | is simply called as the projection of the
vector AB on the directed line l.
01.
Remark If α, β and γ are the direction angles of vector
direction cosines may be
given as

Also, note that | a | cosa , | a | cosb and | a |cosg are

respectively the projections of a along OX, OY and
OZ. i.e., the scalar components a1, a2 and a3 of the
vector a, are precisely the projections of a along
x-axis, y-axis and z-axis, respectively. Further, if a is a
unit vector, then it may be expressed in terms of its
direction cosines as
Example 13 Find the angle between two vectors a and
b with magnitudes 1 and 2 respectively and when
Example 14 Find angle ‘θ’ between the vectors
Example 15 If
then show that the vectors are
perpendicular.
Example 16 Find the projection of the vector
on the vector
Example 17 Find if two vectors a and b
are such that = =
Example 18 If a is a unit vector and
Example 19 For any two vectors we always
have (Cauchy Schwartz inequality).
Example 20 For any two vectors we always
have
Remark If the equality holds in triangle inequality
(in the above Example 20), i.e.

then
showing that the points A, B and C are collinear.
Example 21 Show that the points
are collinear.
Note In Example 21, one may note that although AB +
BC + CA = 0 but the points A, B and C do not form the
vertices of a triangle.
VECTOR ALGEBRA

Exercise 10.3

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01. Find the angle between two vectors a and b with
magnitudes 3 and 2 , respectively having
02. Find the angle between the vectors
03. Find the projection of the vector
04. Find the projection of the vector on the
vector
05. Show that each of the given three vectors is a unit
vector :

Also, show that they are mutually perpendicular to

each other.
06.
07.
08. Find the magnitude of two vectors a and b, having the
same magnitude and such that the angle between them
is 60o and their scalar product is
09.
10.
11.
for any two nonzero vectors
12. then what can be concluded
about the vector
13. are unit vectors such that
find the value of
14. If either vector
But the converse need not be true. Justify your answer
with an example.
15. If the vertices A, B, C of a triangle ABC are (1, 2, 3),
(–1, 0, 0), (0, 1, 2), respectively, then find ∠ABC.
[∠ABC is the angle between the vectors BA and BC].
16. Show that the points A(1, 2, 7), B(2, 6, 3) and
C(3, 10, –1) are collinear.
17. Show that the vectors
form the vertices of a right angled triangle.
18. If is a nonzero vector of magnitude ‘a’ and λ a
nonzero scalar, then λ is unit vector if
Vector (or cross) product of two vectors
In Section 10.2, we have discussed on the three
dimensional right handed rectangular coordinate
system.
In this system, when the positive x-axis is rotated
counterclockwise into the positive y-axis, a right
handed (standard) screw would advance in the
direction of the positive z-axis
In a right handed coordinate system, the thumb of the
right hand points in the direction of the positive z-axis
when the fingers are curled in the direction away from
the positive x-axis toward the positive y-axis
Definition 3 The vector product of two nonzero vectors
a and b, is denoted by a × b defined as
5. In terms of vector product, the angle between two
vectors a and b may be given as
6. It is always true that the vector product is not
commutative, as

form a right handed system, i.e., θ is traversed from

form a right handed system i.e. θ is

traversed from
If we assume to lie in the plane of the paper,
then will be perpendicular to the plane of the
paper. But, being directed above the paper while
directed below the paper. i.e.
7. In view of the Observations 4 and 6, we have
Area of parallelogram ABCD =
We now state two important properties of vector
product.
Property 3 (Distributivity of vector product over
addition): are any three vectors and λ
be a scalar, then
Let a and b be two vectors given in component form as
respectively. Then
their cross product may be given by
Example 22 Find
Example 23 Find a unit vector perpendicular to each
of the vectors
Example 24 Find the area of a triangle having the
points A(1, 1, 1), B(1, 2, 3) and C(2, 3, 1) as its
vertices.
Example 25 Find the area of a parallelogram whose
adjacent sides are given by the vectors
VECTOR ALGEBRA

Exercise 10.4

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01.
02. Find a unit vector perpendicular to each of the vector
03.

and an acute angle θ with k, then find θ and hence, the

components of a.
04. Show that
05.
06. . = What can you
conclude about the vectors
07.
08.
Is the converse true ? Justify your answer with an
example.
09. Find the area of the triangle with vertices A(1, 1, 2),
B(2, 3, 5) and C(1, 5, 5).
10. Find the area of the parallelogram whose adjacent
sides are determined by the vectors
11.

(A) π/6 (B) π/4 (C) π/3 (D) π/2

12. Area of a rectangle having vertices A, B, C and D with

position vectors

respectively is

(A) (B) 1

(C) 2 (D) 4
Miscellaneous Examples
Example 26 Write all the unit vectors in XY-plane.
Example 27 If
are the position vectors of points A, B, C
and D respectively, then find the angle between AB
and CD. Deduce that AB and CD are collinear.
Example 28 Let be three vectors such that
and each one of them being
perpendicular to the sum of the other two, find
Example 29 Three vectors satisfy the
condition Evaluate the quantity
Example 30 If with reference to the right handed
system of mutually perpendicular unit vectors
Miscellaneous Exercise on Chapter 10
01. Write down a unit vector in XY-plane, making an angle
of 30° with the positive direction of x-axis.
02. Find the scalar components and magnitude of the
vector joining the points P(x1, y1, z1) and Q(x2, y2, z2).
03. A girl walks 4 km towards west, then she walks 3 km
in a direction 30° east of north and stops. Determine
the girl’s displacement from her initial point of
departure.
04.
05. Find the value of x for which is a unit vector.
06. Find a vector of magnitude 5 units, and parallel to the
resultant of the vectors
07.
find a unit vector parallel to the vector
08. Show that the points A(1, – 2, – 8), B(5, 0, –2) and
C(11, 3, 7) are collinear, and find the ratio in which
B divides AC.
09. Find the position vector of a point R which divides the
line joining two points P and Q whose position vectors
are externally in the ratio 1 : 2.
Also, show that P is the mid point of the line segment
RQ.
10. The two adjacent sides of a parallelogram are
Find the unit vector
parallel to its diagonal. Also, find its area.
11. Show that the direction cosines of a vector equally
inclined to the axes OX, OY and OZ are
12.
which is
perpendicular to both
13. The scalar product of the vector with a unit
vector along the sum of vectors
is equal to one. Find the value of λ.
14. are mutually perpendicular vectors of equal
magnitudes, show that the vector is equally
inclined to
15.
Choose the correct answer in Exercises 16 to 19.
16.
17.
18.
(A) 0 (B) –1 (C) 1 (D) 3
19.
Summary
s Position vector of a point P(x, y, z) is given as
s The scalar components of a vector are its direction
ratios, and represent its projections along the respective
axes.
s The magnitude (r), direction ratios (a, b, c) and
direction cosines (l, m, n) of any vector are related as:
s The vector sum of the three sides of a triangle taken
in order is
s The vector sum of two coinitial vectors is given by the
diagonal of the parallelogram whose adjacent sides are
the given vectors.
s The multiplication of a given vector by a scalar λ,
changes the magnitude of the vector by the multiple
|λ|, and keeps the direction same (or makes it opposite)
according as the value of λ is positive (or negative).
s
s The position vector of a point R dividing a line
segment joining the points P and Q whose position
vectors are
s The scalar product of two given vectors
having angle θ between them is defined as
s
s