5. Dot Product (aka Scalar Product) in 2 Dimensions
Also on this page:
If we have any 2 vectors P and Q, the dot product of P and Q is given by:
P • Q = |P| |Q| cos θ
where
|P| and |Q| are the magnitudes of P and Q respectively, and
θ is the angle between the 2 vectors.
The dot product of the vectors P and Q is also known as the scalar product since it always returns a scalar value.
The term dot product is used here because of the • notation used and because the term "scalar product" is too similar to the term "scalar multiplication" that we learned about earlier.
Examples
1. Find the dot product of the force vectors F1 = 4 N and F2 = 6 N acting at 40° to each other as in the diagram.
2. Find the dot product of the vectors P and Q if |P| = 7 units and |Q| = 5 units and they are acting at right angles to each other.
The second example illustrates an important point about how scalar products can be used to find out if vectors are acting at right angles, as follows.
Dot Product and Perpendicular Vectors
If 2 vectors act perpendicular to each other, the dot product (ie scalar product) of the 2 vectors has value zero.
This is a useful result when we want to check if 2 vectors are actually acting at right angles.
Dot Products of Unit Vectors
For the unit vectors i (acting in the x-direction) and j (acting in the y-direction), we have the following dot (ie scalar) products (since they are perpendicular to each other):
i • j = j • i = 0
Exercise
What is the value of these 2 dot products:
(a) i • i
(b) j • j
Alternative Form of the Dot Product
Recall that vectors can be written using scalar products of unit vectors.
If we have 2 vectors P and Q defined as:
P = a i + b j
Q = c i + d j,
where
a, b, c, d are constants;
i is the unit vector in the x-direction; and
j is the unit vector in the y-direction,
then it can be shown that the dot product (scalar product) of P and Q is given by:
P • Q = ac + bd
Example - Alternative Form of the Dot Product
Find P • Q if
P = 6 i + 5 j and
Q = 2 i − 8 j
Now we see another use for the dot product − finding the angle between vectors.
Angle Between Two Vectors
We can use the dot product to find the angle between 2 vectors. For the vectors P and Q, the dot product is given by
P • Q = |P| |Q| cos θ
Rearranging this formula we obtain the cosine of the angle between P and Q:
To find the angle, we just find the inverse cosine of the expression on the right.
So the angle θ between 2 vectors P and Q is given by
Example
Find the angle between the vectors P = 3 i − 5 j and Q = 4 i + 6 j.
Didn't find what you are looking for on this page? Try search:
The IntMath Newsletter
Sign up for the free IntMath Newsletter. Get math study tips, information, news and updates each fortnight. Join thousands of satisfied students, teachers and parents!
Math Lessons on DVD
Easy to understand math lessons on DVD. See samples before you commit.
More info: Math videos
Book mark this page
Add this page to Del.icio.us, Furl, Digg, StumbleUpon, Google, whatever...
Need a break? Play a math game. Well, they all involve math... No, really!
