What is the cross product of << -3,-6,-3 >> and << -5,2,-7 >>?

1 Answer
Oct 1, 2017

The vector is =〈48,-6,-36〉

Explanation:

The cross product of 2 vectors is calculated with the determinant

| (veci,vecj,veck), (d,e,f), (g,h,i) |

where 〈d,e,f〉 and 〈g,h,i〉 are the 2 vectors

Here, we have veca=〈-3,-6,-3〉 and vecb=〈-5,2,-7〉

Therefore,

| (veci,vecj,veck), (-3,-6,-3), (-5,2,-7) |

=veci| (-6,-3), (2,-7) | -vecj| (-3,-3), (-5,-7) | +veck| (-3,-6), (-5,2) |

=veci((-6*-7)-(2*-3))-vecj((-3*-7)-(-5*-3))+veck((-3*2)-(-6*-5))

=〈48,-6,-36〉=vecc

Verification by doing 2 dot products (inner products)

〈48,-6,-36〉.〈-3,-6,-3〉=-48*3+6*6+36*3=0

〈48,-6,-36〉.〈-5,2,-7〉=-48*5-6*2+36*7=0

So,

vecc is perpendicular to both veca and vecb