Video Transcript
Consider the vector π five π’
minus two π£ minus four π€. Is the unit vector in the direction
of π the same as the unit vector in the direction of three π?
We know that vector π can be
rewritten in the form five, negative two, negative four. We are also asked to consider the
vector three π. This involves multiplying vector π
by the scalar or constant three. This involves multiplying each
component by the scalar three. Three multiplied by five is 15. Three multiplied by negative two is
negative six. And three multiplied by negative
four is negative 12. This means that three π is equal
to 15, negative six, negative 12.
The unit vector π hat is equal to
one over the magnitude of vector π multiplied by vector π. This is the same as dividing the
vector by its magnitude. We know that to calculate the
magnitude of any vector, we find the square root of the sum of the squares of each
component. The magnitude of vector π is equal
to the square root of five squared plus negative two squared plus negative four
squared. This is equal to the square root of
25 plus four plus 16. This simplifies to the square root
of 45, which in turn is equal to three root five.
The magnitude of vector π is three
root five. The unit vector in the direction of
vector π is therefore equal to one over three root five multiplied by five,
negative two, negative four. We could rewrite this as the vector
five over three root five, negative two over three root five, and negative four over
three root five.
Letβs now consider the unit vector
in the direction of three π. The magnitude of vector three π is
equal to the square root of 15 squared plus negative six squared plus negative 12
squared. This is equal to the square root of
405, which in turn simplifies to nine root five. The magnitude of vector three π is
equal to nine root five.
We might notice at this point that
this is three times the magnitude of vector π. This leads us to a general
rule. The magnitude of ππ is equal to
π multiplied by the magnitude of vector π. This means that three multiplied by
the magnitude of vector π is equal to three multiplied by three root five. The unit vector in the direction of
three π is therefore equal to one over nine root five multiplied by the vector 15,
negative six, negative 12.
Factoring out a three from the
vector gives us three over nine root five multiplied by the vector five, negative
two, negative four. This is the same as one over three
root five multiplied by the vector five, negative two, negative four. We can therefore conclude that the
answer is yes, the unit vector in the direction of π is the same as the unit vector
in the direction of three π.
This will be true of any vector
multiplied by a positive scalar. As long as our value of π is
positive, then the unit vector in the direction of π will be the same as the unit
vector in the direction of ππ.