Table of contents
- 0. Review of College Algebra4h 43m
- 1. Measuring Angles39m
- 2. Trigonometric Functions on Right Triangles2h 5m
- 3. Unit Circle1h 19m
- 4. Graphing Trigonometric Functions1h 19m
- 5. Inverse Trigonometric Functions and Basic Trigonometric Equations1h 41m
- 6. Trigonometric Identities and More Equations2h 34m
- 7. Non-Right Triangles1h 38m
- 8. Vectors2h 25m
- 9. Polar Equations2h 5m
- 10. Parametric Equations1h 6m
- 11. Graphing Complex Numbers1h 7m
8. Vectors
Dot Product
Problem 7.61
Textbook Question
Find the angle between each pair of vectors. Round to two decimal places as necessary.
〈1, 6〉, 〈-1, 7〉
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1
Calculate the dot product of the vectors \( \langle 1, 6 \rangle \) and \( \langle -1, 7 \rangle \) using the formula: \( \mathbf{a} \cdot \mathbf{b} = a_1b_1 + a_2b_2 \).
Find the magnitude of each vector. For vector \( \langle 1, 6 \rangle \), use the formula: \( \| \mathbf{a} \| = \sqrt{a_1^2 + a_2^2} \).
Similarly, find the magnitude of vector \( \langle -1, 7 \rangle \) using the same formula: \( \| \mathbf{b} \| = \sqrt{b_1^2 + b_2^2} \).
Use the dot product and magnitudes to find the cosine of the angle \( \theta \) between the vectors with the formula: \( \cos \theta = \frac{\mathbf{a} \cdot \mathbf{b}}{\| \mathbf{a} \| \| \mathbf{b} \|} \).
Calculate the angle \( \theta \) by taking the inverse cosine (arccos) of the result from the previous step.
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Key Concepts
Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.
Dot Product
The dot product of two vectors is a scalar value that is calculated by multiplying their corresponding components and summing the results. It is given by the formula A·B = Ax * Bx + Ay * By. The dot product is crucial for finding the angle between vectors, as it relates to the cosine of the angle through the equation A·B = |A| |B| cos(θ).
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Introduction to Dot Product
Magnitude of a Vector
The magnitude of a vector is a measure of its length and is calculated using the formula |A| = √(Ax² + Ay²). Understanding how to compute the magnitude is essential for determining the angle between vectors, as it is used in the dot product formula to normalize the vectors and isolate the cosine of the angle.
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Finding Magnitude of a Vector
Cosine of the Angle
The cosine of the angle between two vectors can be derived from the dot product and the magnitudes of the vectors. Specifically, cos(θ) = (A·B) / (|A| |B|). This relationship allows us to find the angle θ by taking the inverse cosine (arccos) of the calculated cosine value, which is necessary for solving the problem of finding the angle between the given vectors.
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