finding out if two vectors are perpendicular or parallel












0












$begingroup$


I'm not sure if I quite get this. For example,



(1, -1) and (-3, 3)



take the cross product, you will end up with
-3 + (-3)



This doesn't equal 0, so it's not perpendicular. So that leaves me with it being parallel. When are two vectors parallel?










share|cite|improve this question









$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    You mean dot product, not cross product.
    $endgroup$
    – user26486
    Jun 13 '15 at 17:29










  • $begingroup$
    I think did you mean the "dot product".
    $endgroup$
    – Mann
    Jun 13 '15 at 17:29










  • $begingroup$
    Vectors $(a_1,a_2)$ and $(b_1,b_2)$ are parallel iff $frac{a_1}{b_1}=frac{a_2}{b_2}$
    $endgroup$
    – user26486
    Jun 13 '15 at 17:31
















0












$begingroup$


I'm not sure if I quite get this. For example,



(1, -1) and (-3, 3)



take the cross product, you will end up with
-3 + (-3)



This doesn't equal 0, so it's not perpendicular. So that leaves me with it being parallel. When are two vectors parallel?










share|cite|improve this question









$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    You mean dot product, not cross product.
    $endgroup$
    – user26486
    Jun 13 '15 at 17:29










  • $begingroup$
    I think did you mean the "dot product".
    $endgroup$
    – Mann
    Jun 13 '15 at 17:29










  • $begingroup$
    Vectors $(a_1,a_2)$ and $(b_1,b_2)$ are parallel iff $frac{a_1}{b_1}=frac{a_2}{b_2}$
    $endgroup$
    – user26486
    Jun 13 '15 at 17:31














0












0








0





$begingroup$


I'm not sure if I quite get this. For example,



(1, -1) and (-3, 3)



take the cross product, you will end up with
-3 + (-3)



This doesn't equal 0, so it's not perpendicular. So that leaves me with it being parallel. When are two vectors parallel?










share|cite|improve this question









$endgroup$




I'm not sure if I quite get this. For example,



(1, -1) and (-3, 3)



take the cross product, you will end up with
-3 + (-3)



This doesn't equal 0, so it's not perpendicular. So that leaves me with it being parallel. When are two vectors parallel?







calculus vectors






share|cite|improve this question













share|cite|improve this question











share|cite|improve this question




share|cite|improve this question










asked Jun 13 '15 at 17:27









Kevin R.Kevin R.

238148




238148












  • $begingroup$
    You mean dot product, not cross product.
    $endgroup$
    – user26486
    Jun 13 '15 at 17:29










  • $begingroup$
    I think did you mean the "dot product".
    $endgroup$
    – Mann
    Jun 13 '15 at 17:29










  • $begingroup$
    Vectors $(a_1,a_2)$ and $(b_1,b_2)$ are parallel iff $frac{a_1}{b_1}=frac{a_2}{b_2}$
    $endgroup$
    – user26486
    Jun 13 '15 at 17:31


















  • $begingroup$
    You mean dot product, not cross product.
    $endgroup$
    – user26486
    Jun 13 '15 at 17:29










  • $begingroup$
    I think did you mean the "dot product".
    $endgroup$
    – Mann
    Jun 13 '15 at 17:29










  • $begingroup$
    Vectors $(a_1,a_2)$ and $(b_1,b_2)$ are parallel iff $frac{a_1}{b_1}=frac{a_2}{b_2}$
    $endgroup$
    – user26486
    Jun 13 '15 at 17:31
















$begingroup$
You mean dot product, not cross product.
$endgroup$
– user26486
Jun 13 '15 at 17:29




$begingroup$
You mean dot product, not cross product.
$endgroup$
– user26486
Jun 13 '15 at 17:29












$begingroup$
I think did you mean the "dot product".
$endgroup$
– Mann
Jun 13 '15 at 17:29




$begingroup$
I think did you mean the "dot product".
$endgroup$
– Mann
Jun 13 '15 at 17:29












$begingroup$
Vectors $(a_1,a_2)$ and $(b_1,b_2)$ are parallel iff $frac{a_1}{b_1}=frac{a_2}{b_2}$
$endgroup$
– user26486
Jun 13 '15 at 17:31




$begingroup$
Vectors $(a_1,a_2)$ and $(b_1,b_2)$ are parallel iff $frac{a_1}{b_1}=frac{a_2}{b_2}$
$endgroup$
– user26486
Jun 13 '15 at 17:31










4 Answers
4






active

oldest

votes


















3












$begingroup$

You can find the angle between the two vectors
$$theta=cos^{-1}(frac{v_1.v_2}{|v_1||v_2|})$$
if $theta=0$or $180$ the two vectors are parallel



if $theta=90$ the two vetors are perpendicular






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    In OP's problem, you get $$ cos^{-1} left( frac{-6}{ sqrt{2} cdot 3 sqrt{2}} right) = cos^{-1} (-1) = 180º , $$ so you may want to mention the case of anti-parallelism. (Some folks do use "parallel" to refer to any vectors that are collinear.)
    $endgroup$
    – colormegone
    Jun 13 '15 at 19:39












  • $begingroup$
    @RecklessReckoner Thanks
    $endgroup$
    – E.H.E
    Jun 13 '15 at 19:53










  • $begingroup$
    @colormegone: Please don't confuse (°, U+00B0: DEGREE SIGN) and (º, U+00BA: MASCULINE ORDINAL INDICATOR)!
    $endgroup$
    – Andreas Rejbrand
    Feb 24 at 14:35



















3












$begingroup$

Two vectors $v1(x1,y1)$ and $v2(x2,y2)$ are parallel iff $x1y2 = x2y1$.






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$





















    1












    $begingroup$

    They are parallel if and only if they are different by a factor i.e. (1,3) and (-2,-6).
    The dot product will be 0 for perpendicular vectors i.e. they cross at exactly 90 degrees.



    When you calculate the dot product and your answer is non-zero it just means the two vectors are not perpendicular.






    share|cite|improve this answer









    $endgroup$





















      1












      $begingroup$

      Two vectors are parallel when they are scalar multiples of each other. In other words, if you can multiply one vector by a constant and end up with the other vector.



      The rough reason for this is that multiplying by a scalar doesn't rotate the vector at all (it can stretch or flip the vector, but it doesn't change the direction).






      share|cite|improve this answer









      $endgroup$














        Your Answer





        StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
        return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
        StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
        StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
        });
        });
        }, "mathjax-editing");

        StackExchange.ready(function() {
        var channelOptions = {
        tags: "".split(" "),
        id: "69"
        };
        initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

        StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
        // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
        if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
        StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
        createEditor();
        });
        }
        else {
        createEditor();
        }
        });

        function createEditor() {
        StackExchange.prepareEditor({
        heartbeatType: 'answer',
        autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
        convertImagesToLinks: true,
        noModals: true,
        showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
        reputationToPostImages: 10,
        bindNavPrevention: true,
        postfix: "",
        imageUploader: {
        brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
        contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
        allowUrls: true
        },
        noCode: true, onDemand: true,
        discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
        ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
        });


        }
        });














        draft saved

        draft discarded


















        StackExchange.ready(
        function () {
        StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f1324005%2ffinding-out-if-two-vectors-are-perpendicular-or-parallel%23new-answer', 'question_page');
        }
        );

        Post as a guest















        Required, but never shown

























        4 Answers
        4






        active

        oldest

        votes








        4 Answers
        4






        active

        oldest

        votes









        active

        oldest

        votes






        active

        oldest

        votes









        3












        $begingroup$

        You can find the angle between the two vectors
        $$theta=cos^{-1}(frac{v_1.v_2}{|v_1||v_2|})$$
        if $theta=0$or $180$ the two vectors are parallel



        if $theta=90$ the two vetors are perpendicular






        share|cite|improve this answer











        $endgroup$













        • $begingroup$
          In OP's problem, you get $$ cos^{-1} left( frac{-6}{ sqrt{2} cdot 3 sqrt{2}} right) = cos^{-1} (-1) = 180º , $$ so you may want to mention the case of anti-parallelism. (Some folks do use "parallel" to refer to any vectors that are collinear.)
          $endgroup$
          – colormegone
          Jun 13 '15 at 19:39












        • $begingroup$
          @RecklessReckoner Thanks
          $endgroup$
          – E.H.E
          Jun 13 '15 at 19:53










        • $begingroup$
          @colormegone: Please don't confuse (°, U+00B0: DEGREE SIGN) and (º, U+00BA: MASCULINE ORDINAL INDICATOR)!
          $endgroup$
          – Andreas Rejbrand
          Feb 24 at 14:35
















        3












        $begingroup$

        You can find the angle between the two vectors
        $$theta=cos^{-1}(frac{v_1.v_2}{|v_1||v_2|})$$
        if $theta=0$or $180$ the two vectors are parallel



        if $theta=90$ the two vetors are perpendicular






        share|cite|improve this answer











        $endgroup$













        • $begingroup$
          In OP's problem, you get $$ cos^{-1} left( frac{-6}{ sqrt{2} cdot 3 sqrt{2}} right) = cos^{-1} (-1) = 180º , $$ so you may want to mention the case of anti-parallelism. (Some folks do use "parallel" to refer to any vectors that are collinear.)
          $endgroup$
          – colormegone
          Jun 13 '15 at 19:39












        • $begingroup$
          @RecklessReckoner Thanks
          $endgroup$
          – E.H.E
          Jun 13 '15 at 19:53










        • $begingroup$
          @colormegone: Please don't confuse (°, U+00B0: DEGREE SIGN) and (º, U+00BA: MASCULINE ORDINAL INDICATOR)!
          $endgroup$
          – Andreas Rejbrand
          Feb 24 at 14:35














        3












        3








        3





        $begingroup$

        You can find the angle between the two vectors
        $$theta=cos^{-1}(frac{v_1.v_2}{|v_1||v_2|})$$
        if $theta=0$or $180$ the two vectors are parallel



        if $theta=90$ the two vetors are perpendicular






        share|cite|improve this answer











        $endgroup$



        You can find the angle between the two vectors
        $$theta=cos^{-1}(frac{v_1.v_2}{|v_1||v_2|})$$
        if $theta=0$or $180$ the two vectors are parallel



        if $theta=90$ the two vetors are perpendicular







        share|cite|improve this answer














        share|cite|improve this answer



        share|cite|improve this answer








        edited Jun 13 '15 at 19:53

























        answered Jun 13 '15 at 17:46









        E.H.EE.H.E

        16.1k11969




        16.1k11969












        • $begingroup$
          In OP's problem, you get $$ cos^{-1} left( frac{-6}{ sqrt{2} cdot 3 sqrt{2}} right) = cos^{-1} (-1) = 180º , $$ so you may want to mention the case of anti-parallelism. (Some folks do use "parallel" to refer to any vectors that are collinear.)
          $endgroup$
          – colormegone
          Jun 13 '15 at 19:39












        • $begingroup$
          @RecklessReckoner Thanks
          $endgroup$
          – E.H.E
          Jun 13 '15 at 19:53










        • $begingroup$
          @colormegone: Please don't confuse (°, U+00B0: DEGREE SIGN) and (º, U+00BA: MASCULINE ORDINAL INDICATOR)!
          $endgroup$
          – Andreas Rejbrand
          Feb 24 at 14:35


















        • $begingroup$
          In OP's problem, you get $$ cos^{-1} left( frac{-6}{ sqrt{2} cdot 3 sqrt{2}} right) = cos^{-1} (-1) = 180º , $$ so you may want to mention the case of anti-parallelism. (Some folks do use "parallel" to refer to any vectors that are collinear.)
          $endgroup$
          – colormegone
          Jun 13 '15 at 19:39












        • $begingroup$
          @RecklessReckoner Thanks
          $endgroup$
          – E.H.E
          Jun 13 '15 at 19:53










        • $begingroup$
          @colormegone: Please don't confuse (°, U+00B0: DEGREE SIGN) and (º, U+00BA: MASCULINE ORDINAL INDICATOR)!
          $endgroup$
          – Andreas Rejbrand
          Feb 24 at 14:35
















        $begingroup$
        In OP's problem, you get $$ cos^{-1} left( frac{-6}{ sqrt{2} cdot 3 sqrt{2}} right) = cos^{-1} (-1) = 180º , $$ so you may want to mention the case of anti-parallelism. (Some folks do use "parallel" to refer to any vectors that are collinear.)
        $endgroup$
        – colormegone
        Jun 13 '15 at 19:39






        $begingroup$
        In OP's problem, you get $$ cos^{-1} left( frac{-6}{ sqrt{2} cdot 3 sqrt{2}} right) = cos^{-1} (-1) = 180º , $$ so you may want to mention the case of anti-parallelism. (Some folks do use "parallel" to refer to any vectors that are collinear.)
        $endgroup$
        – colormegone
        Jun 13 '15 at 19:39














        $begingroup$
        @RecklessReckoner Thanks
        $endgroup$
        – E.H.E
        Jun 13 '15 at 19:53




        $begingroup$
        @RecklessReckoner Thanks
        $endgroup$
        – E.H.E
        Jun 13 '15 at 19:53












        $begingroup$
        @colormegone: Please don't confuse (°, U+00B0: DEGREE SIGN) and (º, U+00BA: MASCULINE ORDINAL INDICATOR)!
        $endgroup$
        – Andreas Rejbrand
        Feb 24 at 14:35




        $begingroup$
        @colormegone: Please don't confuse (°, U+00B0: DEGREE SIGN) and (º, U+00BA: MASCULINE ORDINAL INDICATOR)!
        $endgroup$
        – Andreas Rejbrand
        Feb 24 at 14:35











        3












        $begingroup$

        Two vectors $v1(x1,y1)$ and $v2(x2,y2)$ are parallel iff $x1y2 = x2y1$.






        share|cite|improve this answer











        $endgroup$


















          3












          $begingroup$

          Two vectors $v1(x1,y1)$ and $v2(x2,y2)$ are parallel iff $x1y2 = x2y1$.






          share|cite|improve this answer











          $endgroup$
















            3












            3








            3





            $begingroup$

            Two vectors $v1(x1,y1)$ and $v2(x2,y2)$ are parallel iff $x1y2 = x2y1$.






            share|cite|improve this answer











            $endgroup$



            Two vectors $v1(x1,y1)$ and $v2(x2,y2)$ are parallel iff $x1y2 = x2y1$.







            share|cite|improve this answer














            share|cite|improve this answer



            share|cite|improve this answer








            edited Jan 31 at 18:57









            paulmelnikow

            1032




            1032










            answered Jun 13 '15 at 17:38









            Amir NaseriAmir Naseri

            959516




            959516























                1












                $begingroup$

                They are parallel if and only if they are different by a factor i.e. (1,3) and (-2,-6).
                The dot product will be 0 for perpendicular vectors i.e. they cross at exactly 90 degrees.



                When you calculate the dot product and your answer is non-zero it just means the two vectors are not perpendicular.






                share|cite|improve this answer









                $endgroup$


















                  1












                  $begingroup$

                  They are parallel if and only if they are different by a factor i.e. (1,3) and (-2,-6).
                  The dot product will be 0 for perpendicular vectors i.e. they cross at exactly 90 degrees.



                  When you calculate the dot product and your answer is non-zero it just means the two vectors are not perpendicular.






                  share|cite|improve this answer









                  $endgroup$
















                    1












                    1








                    1





                    $begingroup$

                    They are parallel if and only if they are different by a factor i.e. (1,3) and (-2,-6).
                    The dot product will be 0 for perpendicular vectors i.e. they cross at exactly 90 degrees.



                    When you calculate the dot product and your answer is non-zero it just means the two vectors are not perpendicular.






                    share|cite|improve this answer









                    $endgroup$



                    They are parallel if and only if they are different by a factor i.e. (1,3) and (-2,-6).
                    The dot product will be 0 for perpendicular vectors i.e. they cross at exactly 90 degrees.



                    When you calculate the dot product and your answer is non-zero it just means the two vectors are not perpendicular.







                    share|cite|improve this answer












                    share|cite|improve this answer



                    share|cite|improve this answer










                    answered Jun 13 '15 at 17:30









                    user167289user167289

                    11911




                    11911























                        1












                        $begingroup$

                        Two vectors are parallel when they are scalar multiples of each other. In other words, if you can multiply one vector by a constant and end up with the other vector.



                        The rough reason for this is that multiplying by a scalar doesn't rotate the vector at all (it can stretch or flip the vector, but it doesn't change the direction).






                        share|cite|improve this answer









                        $endgroup$


















                          1












                          $begingroup$

                          Two vectors are parallel when they are scalar multiples of each other. In other words, if you can multiply one vector by a constant and end up with the other vector.



                          The rough reason for this is that multiplying by a scalar doesn't rotate the vector at all (it can stretch or flip the vector, but it doesn't change the direction).






                          share|cite|improve this answer









                          $endgroup$
















                            1












                            1








                            1





                            $begingroup$

                            Two vectors are parallel when they are scalar multiples of each other. In other words, if you can multiply one vector by a constant and end up with the other vector.



                            The rough reason for this is that multiplying by a scalar doesn't rotate the vector at all (it can stretch or flip the vector, but it doesn't change the direction).






                            share|cite|improve this answer









                            $endgroup$



                            Two vectors are parallel when they are scalar multiples of each other. In other words, if you can multiply one vector by a constant and end up with the other vector.



                            The rough reason for this is that multiplying by a scalar doesn't rotate the vector at all (it can stretch or flip the vector, but it doesn't change the direction).







                            share|cite|improve this answer












                            share|cite|improve this answer



                            share|cite|improve this answer










                            answered Jun 13 '15 at 17:31









                            ptrsinclairptrsinclair

                            38628




                            38628






























                                draft saved

                                draft discarded




















































                                Thanks for contributing an answer to Mathematics Stack Exchange!


                                • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                                But avoid



                                • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                                • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                                Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


                                To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                                draft saved


                                draft discarded














                                StackExchange.ready(
                                function () {
                                StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f1324005%2ffinding-out-if-two-vectors-are-perpendicular-or-parallel%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                                }
                                );

                                Post as a guest















                                Required, but never shown





















































                                Required, but never shown














                                Required, but never shown












                                Required, but never shown







                                Required, but never shown

































                                Required, but never shown














                                Required, but never shown












                                Required, but never shown







                                Required, but never shown







                                Popular posts from this blog

                                android studio warns about leanback feature tag usage required on manifest while using Unity exported app?

                                SQL update select statement

                                'app-layout' is not a known element: how to share Component with different Modules