What is the cross product of <4 , 5 ,-9 > and <4, 8 ,-2 >?

1 Answer
Dec 27, 2016

The answer is =〈62,-28,12〉

Explanation:

The cross product of 2 vectors, 〈a,b,c〉 and d,e,f〉

is given by the determinant

| (hati,hatj,hatk), (a,b,c), (d,e,f) |

= hati| (b,c), (e,f) | - hatj| (a,c), (d,f) |+hatk | (a,b), (d,e) |

and | (a,b), (c,d) |=ad-bc

Here, the 2 vectors are 〈4,5,-9〉 and 〈4,8,-2〉

And the cross product is

| (hati,hatj,hatk), (4,5,-9), (4,8,-2) |

=hati| (5,-9), (8,-2) | - hatj| (4,-9), (4,-2) |+hatk | (4,5), (4,8) |

=hati(-10+72)-hati(-8+36)+hatk(32-20)

=〈62,-28,12〉

Verification, by doing the dot product

〈62,-28,12〉.〈4,5,-9〉=248-140-108=0

〈62,-28,12〉.〈4,8,-2〉=248-224-24=0

Therefore, the vector is perpendicular to the other 2 vectors