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The cross product with respect to a right-handed coordinate system. In mathematics, the cross product or vector product (occasionally directed area product, to emphasize its geometric significance) is a binary operation on two vectors in a three-dimensional oriented Euclidean vector space (named here ), and is denoted by the symbol .
As the name implies, the divergence is a (local) measure of the degree to which vectors in the field diverge. The divergence of a tensor field of non-zero order k is written as =, a contraction of a tensor field of order k − 1. Specifically, the divergence of a vector is a scalar.
The following are important identities in vector algebra.Identities that only involve the magnitude of a vector ‖ ‖ and the dot product (scalar product) of two vectors A·B, apply to vectors in any dimension, while identities that use the cross product (vector product) A×B only apply in three dimensions, since the cross product is only defined there.
Unlike three dimensions, there are many tables because every pair of unit vectors is perpendicular to five other unit vectors, allowing many choices for each cross product. Once we have established a multiplication table, it is then applied to general vectors x and y by expressing x and y in terms of the basis and expanding x × y through ...
In this sense, the unit dyadic ij is the function from 3-space to itself sending a 1 i + a 2 j + a 3 k to a 2 i, and jj sends this sum to a 2 j. Now it is revealed in what (precise) sense ii + jj + kk is the identity: it sends a 1 i + a 2 j + a 3 k to itself because its effect is to sum each unit vector in the standard basis scaled by the ...
In mathematics and physics, the right-hand rule is a convention and a mnemonic, utilized to define the orientation of axes in three-dimensional space and to determine the direction of the cross product of two vectors, as well as to establish the direction of the force on a current-carrying conductor in a magnetic field.
[1] [2] The term normalized vector is sometimes used as a synonym for unit vector. A unit vector is often used to represent directions, such as normal directions. Unit vectors are often chosen to form the basis of a vector space, and every vector in the space may be written as a linear combination form of unit vectors.
The cross product in relation to the exterior product. In red are the unit normal vector, and the "parallel" unit bivector. For example, torque is generally defined as the magnitude of the perpendicular force component times distance, or work per unit angle.