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Physics - Grade XI or Standard XI

Dot Product or Scalar Product of Two Vectors

Dot product or scalar product of two vectors:

The product of magnitudes of two non-zero vectors and cosine of the angle θ between them is called a dot product or scalar product of two vectors. It is given by the following formula (bold letters denote vectors):

dot-product-or-scalar-product-of-two-vectors



Example 1 of dot product of two vectors:

Let P = 3 i - 4 j + 7 k and let Q = -5 i + 9 j + 6 k. Find the dot product of P and Q.

Solution:

If P = Px i + Py j + Pz k and Q = Qx i + Qy j + Qz k, then dot product of P and Q is given by:

PQ = (Px × Qx) + (Py × Qy) + (Pz × Qz)

The values of components of P and Q are as follows:

Px = 3, Py = -4, Pz = 7, Qx = -5, Qy = 9, and Qz = 6.

Put these values in the above given formula and we get:

PQ = (Px × Qx) + (Py × Qy) + (Pz × Qz)

PQ = (3 × -5) + (-4 × 9) + (7 × 6) = -9

PQ = -9 ----------------------(Answer)

Example 2 of dot product of two vectors:

Magnitude of vector P is 25 units, magnitude of vector Q is 30 units, and angle θ between them is 60o. Find the dot product of vectors P and Q.

Solution:

Dot product of two vectors P and Q can be computed using the formula:

PQ = P × Q × cosθ

Put the values in this formula and we get:

PQ = P × Q × cosθ = 25 units × 30 units × cos(60o)

PQ = 25 units × 30 units × 0.5000 = 375

PQ = 375 -------------------------(Answer)



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