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Theory

Counter-clockwise

In any context, consider angles are measured in counter-clockwise manner.

Dot Product

Math

  • \((a, b) \cdot (x, y) = ax + by\)

  • \(a \cdot b = \lvert a\rvert \lvert b\rvert \cos(\theta)\)

Properties

  1. Can be used for checking acuteness or perpendicularity. Zero means perpendicular. Positive means acute, negative means obtuse.
  2. Squared length of a vector: \(a\cdot a = {\lvert a \rvert}^2\)
  3. Length of projection of \(a\) onto \(b\): \(\dfrac{a \cdot b}{\lvert b\rvert}\)
  4. Angle between vectors: \(\arccos\left(\dfrac{a\cdot b}{\lvert a\rvert \lvert b \rvert}\right)\)

Extra

The set of points which have a certain dot product with a given vector is forms a line.

Cross Product

Math

  • \((a, b) \times (x, y) = ay - bx\)

  • \(a \times b = \lvert a \rvert\lvert b \rvert\sin(\theta)\)

Properties

  1. Can be used to check for left, right or collinearity. If \(a \times b\) is zero, the vectors are collienar. Positive means \(b\) is to the left of \(a\). Negative means \(b\) is to the right of \(a\).

  2. Represents the area of the parallelogram with sides \(a\) and \(b\). Is pretty much the determinant.

  3. \(a\times b = -b\times a\)

  4. \((a + b)\times c = a\times c + b\times c\)