Question 74 of 89
Q.Write the properties of scalar product of two vectors.
Tamil Nadu DgeTamil Nadu HSC First Year (DGE) Board 2023Subjective· 3mImportance★★★★★
83% · 74/89 Questions
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →The dot product A.B = AB cos(theta) is commutative, distributive over addition, gives A^2 for A.A, and is zero for perpendicular vectors.
The scalar (dot) product of two vectors A and B is defined as
A . B = A B cos(theta)
where A and B are the magnitudes of the vectors and theta is the angle between them. The result of a scalar product is always a pure scalar (a number), not a vector.
Properties of the scalar product:
- Commutative: A . B = B . A (order doesn't matter).
- Distributive over vector addition: A . (B + C) = A . B + A . C.
- Self dot-product gives the square of the magnitude: A . A = A A cos(0) = A^2.
- For two perpendicular (non-zero) vectors, theta = 90 degrees, so cos(90) = 0, giving A . B = 0.
- For two parallel vectors, theta = 0 degrees, so A . B = AB (its maximum value).
- For two anti-parallel vectors, theta = 180 degrees, so A . B = -AB (its minimum value). …
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