Calculus 8th Edition

Published by Cengage
ISBN 10: 1285740629
ISBN 13: 978-1-28574-062-1

Chapter 12 - Vectors and the Geometry of Space - 12.4 The Cross Product - 12.4 Exercises - Page 861: 6

Answer

$i+(sint-tcost)j-(tsint+cost)k$ Yes, $a \times b$ is orthogonal to both $a$ and $b$.

Work Step by Step

$a=ti+cost j+sint k= \lt t,cost,sint \gt$ $b=i-sint j+cost k= \lt 1,-sint,cost \gt$ $a\times b= \begin{vmatrix} i&j&k \\ t&cost&sint\\1&-sint &cost\end{vmatrix}$ Expand along the first row: $a \times b=i+(sint-tcost)j-(tsint+cost)k$ To verify that it is orthogonal to $a$, we will compute: $(a\times b).a=t(1)+cost(sint-tcost)+sint(-tsint-cost)=0$ To verify that it is orthogonal to $b$, we will compute: $(a\times b).b=1(1)-sint(sint-tcost)+cost(-tsint-cost)=0$ Yes, $a \times b$ is orthogonal to both $a$ and $b$
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