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MiscII · Q176

Q.If aˉ,bˉ\bar a,\bar b and cˉ\bar c are three non coplanar vectors, then show that (aˉ+bˉ+cˉ)⋅[(aˉ+bˉ)×(aˉ+cˉ)]=−[aˉ bˉ cˉ](\bar a+\bar b+\bar c)\cdot[(\bar a+\bar b)\times(\bar a+\bar c)]=-[\bar a\ \bar b\ \bar c].

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First expand (aˉ+bˉ)×(aˉ+cˉ)=aˉ×aˉ+aˉ×cˉ+bˉ×aˉ+bˉ×cˉ=aˉ×cˉ+bˉ×aˉ+bˉ×cˉ(\bar a+\bar b)\times(\bar a+\bar c)=\bar a\times\bar a+\bar a\times\bar c+\bar b\times\bar a+\bar b\times\bar c=\bar a\times\bar c+\bar b\times\bar a+\bar b\times\bar c (dropping aˉ×aˉ=0ˉ\bar a\times\bar a=\bar 0), which can be rewritten as −aˉ×bˉ+aˉ×cˉ+bˉ×cˉ-\bar a\times\bar b+\bar a\times\bar c+\bar b\times\bar c (using

bˉ×aˉ=−aˉ×bˉ\bar b\times\bar a=-\bar a\times\bar b).

Dot this with (aˉ+bˉ+cˉ)(\bar a+\bar b+\bar c):

(aˉ+bˉ+cˉ)⋅(−aˉ×bˉ+aˉ×cˉ+bˉ×cˉ).(\bar a+\bar b+\bar c)\cdot(-\bar a\times\bar b+\bar a\times\bar c+\bar b\times\bar c).

Expand into nine terms; every term with a repeated vector (e.g. aˉ⋅(aˉ×bˉ)\bar a\cdot(\bar a\times\bar b)) is zero.

The surviving terms are:

−cˉ⋅(aˉ×bˉ)+bˉ⋅(aˉ×cˉ)+aˉ⋅(bˉ×cˉ).-\bar c\cdot(\bar a\times\bar b)+\bar b\cdot(\bar a\times\bar c)+\bar a\cdot(\bar b\times\bar c). …

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