Vectors in Euclidean Space

MATH 1141-Introduction to Linear Algebra and Analytical

Geometry

Department of Mathematics and Statistics

The UWI

Vectors
Introduction

Roughly speaking linear algebra is the study of the linear

equation A~x = ~b, where A is a matrix and ~x and ~b are vectors.
In Physics a vector was an object both with a magnitude and a
direction and commonly represented by an arrow. In addition
a scalar was an object with only a magnitude but no direction.
Mathematicians however generalized this idea by extracting
the essential properties of how these vector objects behaved
and then redefining what a vector was in a more abstract
setting.
This abstract definition is called a Vector Space and is the
fundamental object in Linear Algebra.

Vectors
Preliminaries-Fields

The Real numbers, commonly denoted by R, and the Complex

numbers, commonly denoted by C are two examples of what
mathematicians call a Field. A field is just a non-empty set along
with two operations; addition, which we write with a plus sign +,
and multiplication which we write either are × or ·. To form a
field, these two operations must satisfy some conditions which are
called the field axioms.
Definition: A Field F is a non-empty set along with two
operations; + and ·, that satisfy the following properties:
Addition is commutative,
x +y =y +x
for all x and y in F .

Vectors
Preliminaries-Fields

Addition is associative,
x + (y + z) = (x + y ) + z
for all x, y , z in F .
There is a unique element 0 (zero) in F such that x + 0 = x,
for every x in F .
For each element x in F there corresponds a unique element
−x also in F such that x + (−x) = 0.
Multiplication is commutative,
xy = yx
for all x and y in F .
Multiplication is associative,
x(yz) = (xy )z
for all x, y , z in F .

Vectors
Preliminaries-Fields

There exists a unique element 1 (one) different from 0 in F

such that x1 = x for every x in F .
For each non-zero element x in F there corresponds a unique
element x −1 (or x1 ) in F such that xx −1 = 1.
Multiplication distributes over addition; that is,
x(y + z) = xy + xz, for all x, y , z in F .
You can easily verify that all of these conditions hold in R, C and
even the set of all rational numbers Q. However the set of natural
numbers N and the set of integers Z are not fields (can you think
of which of the above property fails for these sets?).

Vectors
Preliminaries-Cartesian Product of Sets

The Cartesian product gives us a way of forming new sets from

sets we already have.
Definition
The Cartesian Product of two sets A and B is denoted by A × B
and given by the set of all ordered pairs (a, b) where a ∈ A, b ∈ B.

Example: If we take the two sets to be R then we get that

R × R = {(a, b) : a, b ∈ R}. This set is more commonly written as
R2 . In a similar way we have that R3 = {(a, b, c) : a, b, c ∈ R}
and Rn = {(x1 , x2 , ..., xn ) : x1 , x2 , ..., xn ∈ R}. Some examples of
elements of R2 are (1,2), (-5,0),(0,0) and elements of R3 are
1
(1,2,0), (-2, 10 ,4). These are used to label points in a 2 and
3-dimensional space. This is why R2 and R3 are the most popular
Cartesian products.

Vectors
Vector Spaces

Definition
A vector is an element of a vector space

This definition isn’t really helpful until we know what is a vector

space. A vector space is the most general idea of how to describe
vectors mathematically.
You should not think of these two descriptions as different or that
one is more correct than the other. The description of a vector
from the point of view of a vector space is an algebraic description
whereas the arrow diagrams is a geometric one.

Vectors
Vector Spaces

Definition: A Vector Space (or Linear Space) consists of the

following:
(1) a field F of elements called scalars
(2) a non-empty set V of elements called vectors
(3) an operation called vector addition denoted by +, which
associates with each pair of vectors u~ and ~v in V a vector u~ + ~v in
V , called the sum of u~ and ~v , such that:
(a) addition is commutative, u~ + ~v = ~v + u~
(b) addition is associative, u~ + (~v + w
~ ) = (~v + u~) + w
~
~
(c) there is a unique vector 0 in V , called the zero vector, such
that u~ + ~0 = u~ for all u~ in V
(d) for each vector u~ in V there is a unique vector −~
u in V such
that u~ + (−~
u) = 0~

Vectors
Vector Spaces

(4) an operation called scalar multiplication denoted by ·, which

associates with each scalar c in F and vector u~ in V a vector c · u~
in V , called the product of c and u~, such that:
(a) 1 · u~ = u~ for every u~ in V
(b) (c1 c2 ) · u~ = c1 · (c2 · u~)
(c) c · (~
u + ~v ) = c · u~ + c · ~v
(d) (c1 + c2 ) · u~ = c1 · u~ + c2 · u~

Vectors
Vector Spaces

Thee definition of a vector space consists of 4 things:

1 a set V that contains the vectors
2 a field F that contains what are called scalars
3 a vector addition + that tells us how we are allowed to
combine two vectors together
4 a scalar multiplication · which you can think of the vector
being scaled larger or smaller by a certain factor given by the
scalar
Nowhere in the definition of a vector space did we mention
anything about the product of two vectors.
When it is not clear what the underlying scalar field is we shall say
V is a vector space over the field F .
For this course the underlying scalar field will be the field of real
numbers R.

Vectors
Vector Space R2

Example: If we let V = R2 then the elements of V are of the

form ~a = (a1 , a2 ) where a1 , a2 ∈ R. We can define a vector
addition and scalar multiplication as follows:

~a + ~b = (a1 , a2 ) + (b1 , b2 ) = (a1 + b1 , a2 + b2 )

k~a = k(a1 , a2 ) = (ka1 , ka2 )

Then this forms a vector space where the zero vector is given by
~0 = (0, 0) and the negative of a vector ~a is given by
−~a = −(a1 , a2 ) = (−a1 , −a2 ).
We refer to a1 and a2 as the components or coordinates of the
vector ~a.

Vectors
Vector Space R3

Example: We can define a vector addition and scalar

multiplication for R3 in a similar way to R2 to form a vector space.
Example: Let u~ = (2, 0, −3) and ~v = (1, −10, 4). Then:

u~ + ~v = (2 + 1, 0 + (−10), −5 + 4) = (3, −10, 1)

u = (5(2), 5(0), 5(−3)) = (10, 0, −15)
5~
−~v = −1(1, −10, 4) = (−1, 10, −4)
u − 3~v = (4, 0, −6) + (−3, 30, −12) = (1, 30, −18)
2~

Vectors
Remark

Often the vectors of R2 and R3 are written in the form

 
x1  
x2  x1
x2
x3
These are what we refer to as column vectors and of course their
row counterparts are called row vectors.
Two vectors u~ = (x1 , x2 , x3 ) and ~v = (y1 , y2 , y3 ) in R3 are equal if
their coordinates are respectively equal. x1 = y1 , x2 = y2 , x3 = y3 .
Rn is also a vector space and we can even replace R by any field F
and show in the same way that Fn is a vector space. But since this
course studies the interplay between linear algebra and geometry
we will only be interested in the vector spaces R2 and R3 .

Vectors
Norm on a Vector Space

The norm is a generalization of the idea of the ’length of a vector’

and is denoted by || · ||. A norm is just a function that assigns a
non-negative real number to a vector. You can think of the norm
as a black box, where vectors enter and out comes a number. The
norm however cannot be just any function, it must also satisfy
some properties. The norm which we can attach to a vector space
is not unique. There are many norms which are available and that
you can look up. However since out study is focused on Rn our
norm of choice will be what is called the Euclidean norm (or the
standard norm).

Vectors
The Euclidean Norm

Definition
The Euclidean norm of a vector ~x = (x1 , x2 , ..., xn ) in Rn is
defined to be
q
||~x || = x12 + x22 + · · · + xn2

In particular in R3 we have that

q
||~x || = x12 + x22 + x32

and in R2 we have that

q
||~x || = x12 + x22

Since the Euclidean norm is going to be the only norm we will be

using for the entire course I’ll just refer to it from now as simply
the norm.
Vectors
Euclidean Norm-Examples

Example 1
The norm u~ = (−1, 5) is given by
p of the vector √
u || = (−1)2 + 52 = 26
||~

Example 2
The norm of the vector ~x = ( √12 , √12 ) is given by
q q
||~x || = ( √12 )2 + ( √12 )2 = 12 + 12 = 1

Remark: Vectors like the one above whose norm is equal to 1 are
called unit vectors. The common or standard unit vectors in R3
are given by (1,0,0), (0,1,0) and (0,0,1). Typically we label them
~i, ~j, ~k.

Vectors
Geometric Interpretation of Vectors

In analytic geometry, one identifies 2-tuple (x1 , x2 ) of real

numbers with the points in 2-dimensional Euclidean plane.
A vector is usually defined as a directed line segment PQ ~ from
a point P in the space to another point Q.
The directed line segment PQ ~ from P = (x1 , x2 ) to
Q = (y1 , y2 ) has the same length and direction as the directed
line segment from the origin ~0 = (0, 0) to (y1 − x1 , y2 − x2 ).
This is the only segment from the origin which has the same
~ If we agree to treat only vectors
length and direction as PQ.
which emanate from the origin, there is exactly one vector
associated with each given length and direction.
So we can associate to every arrow vector from the origin to
any point P in the plane a unique algebraic vector in the
vector space R2 by simply defining it to be the coordinates of
the point P, i.e., the vector (x1 , x2 ) ∈ R2 .

Vectors
Vector Addition
To define vector addition of these arrow vectors we use what is
called the Parallelogram Rule
To add u~ and ~v first line them up so that the tail of each
vector meet at the same point O
Then use u~ and ~v as the two sides of a parallelogram
The sum u~ + ~v is then given by the vector running along the
diagonal of the parallelogram with its tail at O.

Vectors
Scalar Multiplication
Scalar multiplication is done by making the vector longer or shorter
by a factor of some number k.
If |k| > 1 then the resulting vector k u~ is longer than the
original vector
If k is positive the resulting vector k u~ points in the same
direction as u~ and if k is negative then k u~ points in the
direction of −~ u.
If u~ has its head at the point A = (a1 , a2 , a3 ) then the
resulting vector k u~ will have its head at the point
(ka1 , ka2 , ka3 )

Vectors
Position Vectors

Definition
Arrows starting at some point O which we call the origin and
ending at any point P are called position vectors.

They can be represented in coordinates by simply the coordinate of

the point P. For example if we had an arrow from the origin to the
~ from O to P can be
point P = (2, 0, −3) then the vector OP
~ = (2, 0, −3).
written as OP

Vectors
Triangle Rule
Suppose that we had a vector AB ~ from any point A to B where
neither A or B were the origin. How would we go about finding the
coordinate representation of such a vector?
The Triangle Rule simply says that OB ~ = OA~ + AB~
Rearranging this gives a formula for how to determine the vector
~ in terms of position vectors:
AB
~ = OB
AB ~ − OA~

Vectors
Triangle Rule-Examples
Example 1
~ from the point A = (0, 12, −1) to
Determine the vector AB
B = (9, −1, −1).
~ = (0, 12, −1) and
Solution: The position vectors are given by OA
~ = (9, −1, −1). Thus we have that
OB
~
AB = OB~ − OA~ = (9, −1, −1) − (0, 12, −1) = (9, −13, 0)

Example 2
Given the two position vectors u~ = (2, −3) and ~v = (0, 12 )
determine the vector from the point (0, 12 ) to the point (2, −3).
Solution: The formula AB ~ = OB ~ − OA ~ tells us that to get the
vector from A to B we take the vector going to the end point (B)
minus the vector going to the starting point (A). Thus the vector
from the point (0, 21 ) to the point (2, −3) is given by
~ = u~ − ~v = (2, −3) − (0, 21 ) = (2, − 72 ).
w

Vectors
Norm/Length of a Vector
Consider a vector u~ from the origin to a point (a, b, c). The length
of this vector is simply the length of the line segment which is
given by Pythagoras’ theorem:
√
u || = a2 + b 2 + c 2
||~
Of course if this was a vector in R2 the corresponding length would
be:
√
u || = a2 + b 2
||~

Vectors
Properties of the Norm

The norm/length of a vector has the following useful properties:

1 Positivity: ||~
u || ≥ 0
2 u || = 0 ⇔ u~ = ~0
Coincidence: ||~
3 Homogeneity: ||k u~|| = |k| ||~
u ||
4 Triangle Inequality: ||~
u + ~v || ≤ ||~
u || + ||~v ||

Proof (in Rq 2 ): Let u~ = (a1 , a2 ), ~v = (b1 , b2 ) ∈ R2 and k ∈ R.

(1) ||~u || = a12 + a22 ≥ 0 since a12 , a22 ≥ 0 (2) ||~ u || = 0 ⇔ ||~
u || =
q
a12 + a22 = 0 ⇔ a12 , a22 = 0 ⇔ a1 = a2 = 0 ⇔ u~ = (0, 0) = ~0
p q
(3) ||k u~|| = ||(ka1 , ka2 )|| = (ka1 )2 + (ka2 )2 = k 2 (a12 + a22 ) =
√ q q
k 2 a12 + a22 = |k| a12 + a22 = |k| ||~ u ||
(4) Follows from Minkowski’s inequality. So we’ll just take the
triangle inequality as true.
Vectors
Norm-Examples

Example 1
p of the vector u~ =√(−1, 3, 1)
Determine the length
u || = (−1)2 + 32 + 12 = 11
Solution: ||~

Example 2
If u~ and ~v are vectors such that ||~ u + ~v || = 0 then show that
~v = −~ u.
Solution: From the coincidence property of the norm we know that
u + ~v || = 0 ⇔ u~ + ~v = ~0 ⇔ ~v = −~
if ||~ u.

Vectors
Norm-Examples

Example 3
Let u~ = (3, −4), determine the length of the vector 6~
u and −6~
u.
Solution: From the Homogeneity property of the norm we have
that:
p √
||6~ u || = 6 32 + (−4)2 = 6 9 + 16 = 6(5) = 30
u || = |6| ||~

Also || − 6~
u || = | − 6| ||~
u || = 6||~
u || = 30.

The above example illustrates that a vector u~ and its negative −~

u
have the same length. This we can see by taking k = −1 in the
Homogeneity property of the norm above.

Vectors
Norm-Examples

Example 4
Let u~ = (−4, 0) and ~v = (3, a) where a is some constant. If
||~v || ≤ 5 determine p the range of values which a can take.
Solution: ||~ u || = (−4)2 + 0 = 4 and
u~ + ~v = (−4 + 3, 0 + a) = (−1, a). From the triangle inequality we
have:
p
||~
u + ~v || = (−1) 2 2
√ + a ≤ ||~ u || + ||~v || = 4 + ||~v ||
2
⇒ 1+a ≤4+5=9
⇒ 1 + a2 ≤ 81
√⇒ a2 ≤ 80 √
⇒ − 80 ≤ a ≤ 80

Vectors
Unit Vectors
Definition
A unit vector is simply a vector of length/norm 1, denoted by û.

To convert a given vector u~ into a unit vector all you do is just

divide u~ by its length:
u~
û =
||~
u ||
To see that this new vector û does indeed have a length of 1 we
take the norm of it to get:
u~
||û|| = || ||
||~
u ||
1
⇒ ||û|| = ||~
u || = 1
||~
u ||
By doing this we have obtained a unit vector û which is pointing in
the same direction as the vector u~. The process of converting a
vector into a unit vector is called normalizing the vector.
Vectors
Unit Vector-Example

Example
Determine the unit vector pointing in the same direction as
u~ = (2, −1) and the unit vector pointing in the opposite direction
as u~.
p √
u || = 22 + (−1)2 = 5. This gives the unit vector
Solution: ||~
as:
u~ 1
û = = √ (2, −1)
||~u ||
 2 5 −1 
⇒ û = √ , √
5 5
To determine the unit vector pointing in the opposite direction as
 2 1 
u~ we simply take −û = − √ , √ .
5 5

Vectors
Dot/Scalar Product of Vectors

Definition
The dot product or scalar product of two vectors
u~ = (a1 , a2 , ..., an ) and ~v = (b1 , b2 , ..., bn ) in Rn is denoted and
defined by:

u~ · ~v = a1 b1 + a2 b2 + ... + an bn

Vectors u~ and ~v are said to be orthogonal if u~ · ~v = 0

In particular, for R3 we have:

u~ · ~v = a1 b1 + a2 b2 + a3 b3

and in R2 we have:

u~ · ~v = a1 b1 + a2 b2

Vectors
Remarks

Unlike the norm || · || of a vector you only needed one vector,

the dot product of vectors needs two vectors.
The dot product is a function with two inputs that takes in
two vectors and outputs a number (more correctly it outputs
a scalar).
These two vectors do not have to be different. You can for
example determine the dot product u~ · u~.
The dot product is also called the inner product.

Vectors
Relationship between dot product and norm

In Rn there is a strong relationship between the dot product and

the norm. To see this we first look at the result of taking the dot
product of a vector u~ = (a1 , a2 , ..., an ) with itself:

u~ · u~ = a1 a1 + a2 a2 + ... + an an = a12 + a22 + ... + an2

This we should recognize as the norm of u~ squared:

q
u || = ( a12 + a22 + ... + an2 )2 = a12 + a22 + ... + an2
||~ 2

Therefore we have the following result:

u ||2 = u~ · u~
||~

Vectors
Properties of the Dot Product

~ in Rn and any scalar k ∈ R we have:

For any vectors u~, ~v , w
1 u + ~v ) · w
Distributive: (~ ~ = u~ · w
~ + ~v · w
~
2 (k u~) · ~v = k(~
u · ~v )
3 Commutative: u~ · ~v = ~v · u~
4 u~ · u~ ≥ 0
5 u~ · u~ = 0 ⇔ u~ = 0
Notice that there is no Associative property for the dot product.
That is, we do not have that (~u · ~v ) · w
~ = u~ · (~v · w
~ ) since the dot
product on three vectors does not make sense (Why?).

Vectors
Dot Product-Examples

Example 1
Let u~ = (1, 2, 3) and ~v = (0, −3, −1). Determine u~ · ~v , ~v · u~ and
(− 13 u~) · ~v
Solution:

u~ · ~v = 1(0) + 2(−3) + 3(−1) = −6 − 3 = −9

From the properties of the dot product we have that

u~ · ~v = ~v · u~ = −9 and (− 13 u~) · ~v = −1 u · ~v ) = −1
3 (~ 3 (−9) = 3

This shows that unlike the norm of a vector which is always a

non-negative number, the dot product of two vectors can be
positive, negative or even zero.

Vectors
Dot Product-Examples

Example 2
Determine which of the following vectors are orthogonal:
u~ = (1, −2, 3), ~v = (4, 5, −1), w
~ = (2, 7, 4).
Solution:

u~ · ~v = 1(4) − 2(5) + 3(−1) = 4 − 10 − 3 = −9

u~ · w
~ = 2 − 14 + 12 = 0
~v · w~ = 8 + 35 − 4 = 39

Therefore u~ and w
~ are orthogonal.

Vectors
Dot Product-Examples

Example 3
   
2 3
Let u~ =  3  and ~v = −1 Then u~ · ~v = 6 − 3 + 8 = 11
−4 −2

Example 4
Suppose u~ = (1, 2, 3, 4) and ~v = (6, k, −8, 2). Find k such that
the two vectors are orthogonal.
Solution: Since u~ and ~v are orthogonal we have that u~ · ~v = 0.
Using this gives

u~ · ~v = 6 + 2k − 24 + 8 = −10 + 2k = 0 ⇒ k = 5

Vectors
Dot Product-Examples

Example 5
Let u~, ~v , ~a, ~b ∈ Rn such that u~ = ~a + ~b and ~v = ~a − ~b. Simplify
the dot product of u~ and ~v .
Solution:

u~ · ~v = (~a + ~b) · (~a − ~b) = (~a + ~b) · ~a + (~a + ~b) · (−~b)

Where we made use of the distributive property of the dot product.

Now applying this property once more to each of the two terms on
the right hand side gives:

u~ · ~v = ~a · ~a + ~b · ~a + ~a · (−~b) + ~b · (−~b)
= ||~a||2 + ~a · ~b − ~a · ~b − ||~b||2
= ||~a||2 + ||~b||2

Vectors
Distance, Angles and Projections

Definition
The distance between two vectors u~ = (a1 , a2 , ..., an ) and
~v = (b1 , b2 , ..., bn ) in Rn is denoted and defined by:
p
u − ~v || = (a1 − b1 )2 + (a2 − b2 )2 + · · · + (an − bn )2
u , ~v ) = ||~
d(~

In particular we have for vectors in R3 :

p
d(~ u − ~v || = (a1 − b1 )2 + (a2 − b2 )2 + (a3 − b3 )2
u , ~v ) = ||~

and for vectors in R2 :

p
u , ~v ) = ||~
d(~ u − ~v || = (a1 − b1 )2 + (a2 − b2 )2

Vectors
Properties of the Distance

We can show that the distance between two vectors has the
following properties.
Let ~a = (a1 , a2 , ..., an ), ~b = (b1 , b2 , ..., bn ) and ~c = (c1 , c2 , ..., cn )
be three points in Rn , then the following properties hold:
1 Positivity: d(~ a, ~b) ≥ 0
2 Coincidence: d(~a, ~b) = 0 ⇔ ~a = ~b
3 Symmetry: d(~a, ~b) = d(~b, ~a)
4 Triangle inequality: d(~a, ~c ) ≤ d(~a, ~b) + d(~b, ~c )

The proof of these properties follow straight from the properties of

the norm || · ||.

Vectors
Remark

Positivity means that the distance is never negative which

from our intuition should make sense.
Coincidence means that if the distance between two points
(by point I really mean vectors but you can use those words
interchangeably) is zero then the two points must be the
same.
Symmetry means that the distance from say A to B is the
same as if we measured the distance from B to A.
The triangle inequality means that the distance between two
points A and C is always less than if you first went from A to
B and then from B to C. In other words you can think of this
as meaning that the shortest distance between two point is
simply a straight path from one of these points to the next.

Vectors
Angles between vectors
Definition
The angle θ between any two non-zero vectors u~, ~v ∈ Rn is
defined to be:
u~ · ~v
cos θ =
||~
u ||||~v ||

In R2 and R3 this definition of the angle between vectors can be

shown to be the same as the angle between two arrow vectors. We
use a convention to always take the angle to be the one between
0 ≤ θ ≤ π.

Vectors
Angles between vectors

If we rearrange the above formula for the angle gives us another

way to determine the dot product:

u~ · ~v = ||~
u ||||~v || cos θ

Both formulas give exactly the same answer so whichever you

decide on using may be dependent upon the information given.

Vectors
Perpendicular Vectors

Previously we had defined orthogonal vectors as those whose dot

product is zero.
π
If u~ · ~v = 0 this gives cos θ = 0 ⇒ θ = 2 or 90o

Orthogonal vectors in R2 and R3 are those vectors which are

perpendicular to each other. This is why the words orthogonal
and perpendicular are used interchangeably.

Vectors
Projection Vector
Definition
The projection of a vector u~ onto a non-zero vector ~v is the
vector denoted and defined by:
! !
u~ · ~v u~ · ~v
u , ~v ) =
proj(~ ~v = ~v
||~v ||2 ~v · ~v

The projection of u~ onto ~v is also denoted by proj~v u~.

Vectors
Projection Vector

The magnitude (length) of the projection vector w ~ can be found

by using some trigonometry to get ||~ w || = ||~ u || cos θ. Now we
know previously what cos θ is defined to be so we can substitute
that to get:
!
u~ · ~v u~ · ~v
||~
w || = ||~
u ||cosθ = ||~
u || =
||~
u ||||~v || ||~v ||

Next we need to determine its direction. But we know that it

points in the same direction as ~v so all we need to do is extract the
direction from ~v . Therefore the projection vector w ~ is given by:
!
~v u~ · ~v ~v u~ · ~v
~ = ||~
w w ||v̂ = ||~
w || = = ~v
||~v || ||~v || ||~v || ||~v ||2

Vectors
Projection Vector-Example
Example: Suppose u~ = (1, −2, 3) and ~v = (2, 4, 5). Then
p √
u − ~v || = (1 − 2)2 + (−2 − 4)2 + (3 − 5)2 = 41
u , ~v ) = ||~
d(~
To find the angle between these vectors θ we first determine:
u~ · ~v = 2 − 8 + 15 = 9
||~u ||2 = 1 + 4 + 9 = 14
||~v ||2 = 4 + 16 + 25 = 45
Then
u~ · ~v 9
cos θ = =√ √
||~
u ||||~v || ! 14 45
9
⇒ θ = cos −1 √ √ = 70.0o (1 d.p.)
14 45
And the project of u~ onto ~v is given by:
! !
u~ · ~v 9 2 4
proj(~u , ~v ) = ~v = (2, 4, 5) = , ,1
||~v ||2 45 5 5
Vectors
Projection Vector-Example cont.

and the length of this projection vector is given by:

!
√ 9 9
||proj(~ u || cos θ = 14 √ √
u , ~v )|| = ||~ =√
14 45 45

Example 2
Prove that proj(~ u+w ~ , ~v ) = proj(~ u , ~v ) + proj(~
w , ~v ).
Solution: Left as an exercise. Hint: Apply the formula for the
projection of a vector with u~ + w ~ as the first vector and ~v as the
second vector then apply the distributive property of the dot
product (~a + ~b) · ~c = ~a · ~c + ~b · ~c .

Vectors
Linear Combinations

Definition
Let u~1 , u~2 , ..., u~n be any vectors and c1 , c2 , ..., cn be any numbers.
An expression of the form

c1 u~1 + c2 u~2 + · · · + cn u~n

is called a linear combination of the vectors u~1 , u~2 , ..., u~n .

Suppose u~ 6= 0 and ~v 6= 0 such that their linear combination was

zero, i.e., c1 u~ + c2 ~v = 0, where both c1 , c2 6= 0. In such a case:
 −c 
2
u~ = ~v = λ~v
c1
−c2
where λ = 6= 0.
c1

Vectors
Linearly Dependent Vectors

Definition
Two non-zero vectors u~ and ~v are linearly dependent if there
exists some number λ 6= 0 such that u~ = λ~v .

If any two linearly dependent vectors lie on the same line. We call
such vectors co-linear.
Definition
Any three non-zero vectors u~, ~v and w
~ are said to be linearly
dependent if there exists numbers c1 , c2 , c3 which are not all zero,
such that

c1 u~ + c2 ~v + c3 w
~ =0

If any three vectors are linearly dependent where c1 , c2 , c3 6= 0 then

they must lie in the same plane. We call such vectors co-planar.

Vectors
Linearly Dependent Vectors-Examples

Example 1
Determine if the vectors u~ = (3, 5) and ~v = (−3, 7) are linearly
dependent.

Solution: Consider the equation u~ = λ~v which gives

(3, 5) = λ(−3, 7) = (−3λ, 7λ). For such an equation to hold we
must have that 3 = −3λ and 5 = 7λ. Solving 3 = −3λ gives
λ = −1, however when we use this value in the second equation
5 = 7λ we see that it does not hold. Therefore it is impossible to
find a number λ such that u~ = λ~v . This means that the two
vectors are not linearly dependent.
Definition
When vectors are not linearly dependent we say they are linearly
independent.

Vectors
Linearly Dependent Vectors-Examples

Example 2
Find the value of k such that the vectors u~ = (1, −1) and
~v = (3k, 6) are co-linear.

Solution: For these vectors to be co-linear there must exists some

number λ such that u~ = λ~v ⇒ (1, −1) = λ(3k, 6) = (3kλ, 6λ).
This gives us two equations: 1 = 3kλ and −1 = 6λ. Solving
1
−1 = 6λ gives λ = − which when substituted into the remaining
6
k
equation gives − = 1 ⇒ k = −2
2

Vectors
Basis vectors in R2
For any vector u~ = (a1 , a2 ) in R2 we can write it as the linear
combination:
u~ = (a1 , a2 ) = a1 (1, 0) + a2 (0, 1)
If we define two vectors ~i = (1, 0) and ~j = (0, 1) then this gives
u~ = a1~i + a2~j. Vectors ~i and ~j are called basis vectors for R2 since
we can write any vector in R2 as a unique linear combination of ~i
and ~j.

Vectors
Basis vectors in R3
For any vector u~ = (a1 , a2 , a3 ) in R3 we can write it as the linear
combination:
u~ = (a1 , a2 , a3 ) = a1 (1, 0, 0) + a2 (0, 1, 0) + a3 (0, 0, 1)
If we define three vectors ~i = (1, 0, 0), ~j = (0, 1, 0) and
~k = (0, 0, 1) then this gives u~ = a1~i + a2~j + a3 ~k. Vectors ~i, ~j and ~k
are called basis vectors for R3 since we can write any vector in R3
as a unique linear combination of ~i and ~j.

Vectors
The Standard Basis

Why use ~i, ~j and ~k as a basis?

All the vectors in a basis must be linearly independent to each
other
(1,0) and (0,1) are orthogonal (and analogously in R3 we have
that (1,0,0), (0,1,0) and (0,0,1) are orthogonal to each other).
Each of the vectors ~i, ~j and ~k has a length 1.
The vectors ~i, ~j and ~k lies nicely with the x, y and z axes.

Definition
The vectors ~i = (1, 0) and ~j = (0, 1) are referred to as the
standard basis in R2 while the vectors ~i = (1, 0, 0), ~j = (0, 1, 0)
and ~k = (0, 0, 1) are referred to as the standard basis in R3 .

Vectors
Properties of The Standard Basis

Let ~i = (1, 0, 0), ~j = (0, 1, 0) and ~k = (0, 0, 1) be the standard

basis for R3 . The following properties hold:
1 ~ i, ~j and ~k are all linearly independent
2 ~i, ~j and ~k are all perpendicular to each other (i.e.
~i · ~j = ~i · ~k = ~k · ~j = 0)
3 ~i, ~j and ~k are all unit vectors (i.e. ~i · ~i = ~j · ~j = ~k · ~k = 1)
All these properties hold of course for the standard basis vectors in
R2 as well.
Definition
Any basis where each vector is orthogonal (perpendicular) to every
other vector is called an orthogonal basis. In addition if the
orthogonal basis is such that every vector is a unit vector then it is
called an orthonormal basis.

Vectors
Example 1
Let u~ = (−7, 1, 2) be a vector in R3. We can write this vector in
−7
the following equivalent ways: u~ = 1  or u~ = −7~i + ~j + 2~k.

2

Example 2
Let u~ = 3~i + ~j − 4~k and ~v = −~j + 5~k. Then the dot product is
given by

u~ · ~v = (3~i + ~j − 4~k) · (−~j + 5~k)

⇒ u~ · ~v = 3(0) + 1(−1) − 4(5) = −21

Vectors
Direction Cosines

Definition
The direction cosines of u~ is the cosine of the angle made by u~
with each of the basis vectors.
Since in R2 and R3 the basis vectors lie on the axis of a Cartesian
coordinate system the direction cosines are equivalent to the cosine
of the angle made by by u~ with each of the axes.

Vectors
Direction Cosines

Consider any vector u~ = (a1 , a2 , a3 ) = a1~i + a2~j + a3 ~k in R3 with

the standard basis ~i, ~j and ~k. Let α, β and γ be the angles that u~
makes with the basis vectors ~i, ~j and ~k respectively. This gives the
direction cosine with respect to ~i as:

u~ · ~i a1
cos(α) = =
u ||||~i||
||~ ||~
u ||

since ||~i|| = 1 and u~ · ~i = (a1~i + a2~j + a3 ~k) · ~i =

a1 (~i · ~i) + a2 (~j · ~i) + a3 (~k · ~i) = a1 (1) + a2 (0) + a3 (0) = a1 .

Vectors
Direction Cosines

Similarly we have the direction cosine with respect to ~j as:

u~ · ~j a2
cos(β) = =
||~ ~
u ||||j|| ||~
u ||

and the direction cosine with respect to ~k as:

u~ · ~k a3
cos(γ) = =
u ||||~k||
||~ ||~
u ||

Vectors
Direction Cosines

We can obtain similar formulas for a vector

u~ = (a1 , a2 ) = a1~i + a2~j in R2 .
Since in R3 the basis vectors ~i, ~j and ~k lie on the x,y and z axes
respectively, we can also say that the angles α, β and γ are the
angles that u~ makes with the positive x, y and z axes respectively

Vectors
Direction Cosines-Examples

Example 1
Determine the angle which the vector u~ = −~i − 2~j + 3~k makes
with the positive x,y and z-axis in R3 .

Solution: From the formulas above we see that a1 = −1, a2 = −2

and a3 = 3. Next we determine the norm of u~.
p √
u || = (−1)2 + (−2)2 + 32 = 14
||~
−1
This gives cos(α) = √ ⇒ α = 105.5o or 1.84 rad.
14
−2
cos(β) = √ ⇒ β = 122.3o or 2.13 rad.
14
3
cos(γ) = √ ⇒ α = 36.7o or 0.64 rad.
14

Vectors