The Angle between two Lines |
Problem: |
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A diagram of this is shown on the right. | is the vector to which one line is parallel. is the vector to which the other line is parallel. θ is the angle between the two lines. |
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The scalar (dot) product of two vectors is defined as; the product of their magnetude and the cosine of their included angle; The scalar (dot) product of and is therefore; . = | | × | |cosθ |
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Using . = | | × | |cosθ the required angle can be found. | The scalar (dot) product . = [1, -1, 1] . [-6, -4, 0] = 1 × -6 + -1 × -4 + 1 × 0 = -2 The product | | × | | = × = 2 We can now calculate the cosine of the angle between the two vectors using; . = | | × | |cosθ -2 = 2cosθ θ = = 1.73 radians The required angle is 1.73 radians. |
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