1: Vectors and the Geometry of Space
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- 1.3: The Dot Product
- The dot product essentially tells us how much of the force vector is applied in the direction of the motion vector. The dot product can also help us measure the angle formed by a pair of vectors and the position of a vector relative to the coordinate axes. It even provides a simple test to determine whether two vectors meet at a right angle.
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- 1.5: Equations of Lines and Planes in Space
- To write an equation for a line, we must know two points on the line, or we must know the direction of the line and at least one point through which the line passes. In two dimensions, we use the concept of slope to describe the orientation, or direction, of a line. In three dimensions, we describe the direction of a line using a vector parallel to the line. In this section, we examine how to use equations to describe lines and planes in space.
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- 1.6: Quadric Surfaces
- We have been exploring vectors and vector operations in three-dimensional space, and we have developed equations to describe lines, planes, and spheres. In this section, we use our knowledge of planes and spheres, which are examples of three-dimensional figures called surfaces, to explore a variety of other surfaces that can be graphed in a three-dimensional coordinate system.
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- 1.7: Cylindrical and Spherical Coordinates
- The Cartesian coordinate system provides a straightforward way to describe the location of points in space. Some surfaces, however, can be difficult to model with equations based on the Cartesian system. As the name suggests, cylindrical coordinates are useful for dealing with problems involving cylinders. Similarly, spherical coordinates are useful for dealing with problems involving spheres.
Contributors
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Gilbert Strang (MIT) and Edwin “Jed” Herman (Harvey Mudd) with many contributing authors. This content by OpenStax is licensed with a CC-BY-SA-NC 4.0 license. Download for free at http://cnx.org .