Notes on lecture 2

Jiten Chandra Kalita and Shyamashree Upadhyay

1 The vector product

Consider two vectors ~a and ~b. Recall that ~a and ~b are orthogonal if and only
if ~a · ~b = 0. Suppose
~a =< a1 , a2 , a3 >
and
~b =< b1 , b2 , b3 > .

Suppose we are seeking a vector ~c =< c1 , c2 , c3 > such that ~c is orthogonal

to both ~a and ~b. Then we must have:

~a · ~c = 0 and ~b · ~c = 0.

That is, we must have:

a1 c 1 + a2 c 2 + a3 c 3 = 0

and
b1 c1 + b2 c2 + b3 c3 = 0.
We want to find out c1 , c2 , c3 . But since we have only two equations in three
unknowns, we cannot solve the above system of equations uniquely. However,
observe that the above system can be rewritten as

a1 c1 + a2 c2 = −a3 c3

b1 c1 + b2 c2 = −b3 c3 .
Suppose we are trying to solve these equations only for c1 and c2 . Then we
a1 a2
can simply use Cramer’s rule (provided 6= 0). So assuming that
b1 b2

1
 a1 a2
6= 0, we have:
b1 b2

−a3 c3 a2 a1 −a3 c3
−b3 c3 b2 b1 −b3 c3
c1 = and c2 = .
a1 a2 a1 a2
b1 b2 b1 b 2
This implies that
a2 a3 a3 a1
c c
b2 b3 3 b3 b1 3
c1 = and c2 = .
a1 a2 a1 a2
b1 b2 b1 b2
Or in other words, we have:
c1 c3 c2
= = = λ(say),
a2 a3 a1 a2 a3 a1
b2 b 3 b1 b2 b3 b1

where λ is some nonzero scalar [Nonzero because if λ = 0, then we will get ~c

to be the zero vector.]. Then

~c = λ[(a2 b3 − a3 b2 )î + (a3 b1 − a1 b3 )ĵ + (a1 b2 − a2 b1 )k̂].

If we take λ = 1, then we will get

~c = (a2 b3 − a3 b2 )î + (a3 b1 − a1 b3 )ĵ + (a1 b2 − a2 b1 )k̂,

which is going to be orthogonal to both ~a and ~b. The vector ~c (so obtained
by taking λ = 1) is called the vector product or the cross product of ~a
and ~b. It is denoted by ~a × ~b.
Remark 1.0.1. Observe that
î ĵ k̂
~a × ~b = a1 a2 a3 .
b1 b2 b3
This brings us to the concept of a right hand system. If we consider the right
hand as ~a and the right palm as ~b, then the vector ~a ×~b is a vector in the direction

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 of the thumb (You may refer to Figure 1.0.1.). If we invert the right hand, then
we are going to get a vector (along the thumb) which is in a direction opposite
to the direction of the vector ~a × ~b. Thus we have, ~a × ~b = −(~b × ~a) (although
~a · ~b = ~b · ~a).

Remark 1.0.2. If ~a and ~b are parallel, then ~b = µ~a for some scalar µ. Then

î ĵ k̂
~a × ~b = a1 a2 a3 = ~0.
µa1 µa2 µa3

Remark 1.0.3. Observe that ~a × ~b is always a vector, not a scalar.

Theorem 1.0.4. |~a × ~b| = |~a||~b| sin θ, where θ is the angle between ~a and ~b.

Proof: Let ~a =< a1 , a2 , a3 > and ~b =< b1 , b2 , b3 >. Then

~a × ~b =< a2 b3 − a3 b2 , a3 b1 − a1 b3 , a1 b2 − a2 b1 >

and
|~a × ~b|2 = (a2 b3 − a3 b2 )2 + (a3 b1 − a1 b3 )2 + (a1 b2 − a2 b1 )2
= (a21 + a22 + a23 )(b21 + b22 + b23 ) − (a1 b1 + a2 b2 + a3 b3 )2 (after simplification)
= |~a|2 |~b|2 − (~a · ~b)2
= |~a|2 |~b|2 − |~a|2 |~b|2 cos2 θ
= |~a|2 |~b|2 (1 − cos2 θ)
= |~a|2 |~b|2 sin2 θ.


Remark 1.0.5. Let n̂ denote a unit vector along ~a × ~b, then

~a × ~b = |~a × ~b|n̂ = (|~a||~b| sin θ)n̂.

Figure 1.0.1 explains this fact.

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 Figure 1.0.1: The vector product

1.1 Geometric interpretation of the vector product

Consider two vectors ~a and ~b. Using parallel dispalcement (if needed), we
can assume without loss of generality that both these vectors have the same
initial point. Complete the parallelogram formed by these two vectors. Then
the area of the parallelogram formed by the vectors ~a and ~b equals the length
of the vector ~a times the length (|~b| sin θ, where θ denotes the angle between
~a and ~b) of the perpendicular from the terminal point of ~b onto the vector ~a.
So we have:

The area of the parallelogram formed by ~a and ~b

= |~a||~b| sin θ = |~a × ~b|.

Figure 1.1.1 provides an illustration.

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 Figure 1.1.1: Geometric interpretation of the vector product

2 Scalar triple product

Consider 3 vectors ~a =< a1 , a2 , a3 >, ~b =< b1 , b2 , b3 > and ~c =< c1 , c2 , c3 >.
Then
~b × ~c =< b2 c3 − b3 c2 , b3 c1 − b1 c3 , b1 c2 − b2 c1 >

and

~a · (~b × ~c) = a1 (b2 c3 − b3 c2 ) + a2 (b3 c1 − b1 c3 ) + a3 (b1 c2 − b2 c1 )

a1 a2 a3
= b1 b2 b3 → This is a scalar.
c1 c2 c3
This scalar ~a · (~b × ~c) is called the scalar triple product of ~a, ~b and ~c.

2.1 Geometric interpretation of the scalar triple prod-

uct
We know that the area of the parallelogram formed by the vectors ~b and ~c
equals |~b × ~c|. Now, if we consider the parallelopiped whose edges are ~a, ~b, ~c,
then the volume of that parallelopiped is given by h|~b × ~c|, where h is the
length of the perpendicular from the terminal point of ~a over the plane in
which the vectors ~b and ~c lie. The cross product ~b×~c is a vector perpendicular
to both ~b and ~c. Look at Figure 2.1.1 for an illustration. Suppose n̂ is the

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 Figure 2.1.1: Geometric interpretation of the scalar triple product

unit vector along ~b ×~c. If θ is the angle between n̂ and ~a, then h = |~a|| cos θ|.
Then the volume of the parallelopiped equals
= h|~b × ~c|

= |~a||~b × ~c|| cos θ|

= |~a · (~b × ~c)|

3 Equation of a straight line in space

We want to find out the equation of a straight line L in space which passes
through a fixed point. Suppose P0 (x0 , y0 , z0 ) is that fixed point. Also, it is
given that the straight line which passes through the point P0 is parallel to
a given vector ~v . Figure 3.0.1 illustrates the scenario.
We will take a variable point P (x, y, z) on L and then we will join OP0 and
−−→ −→
OP (here O denotes the origin). Let OP0 = r~0 and OP = ~r. Let us assume
that ~v =< a, b, c >. From the triangle OP0 P , we can see that
−→ −−→ −−→
OP = OP0 + P0 P ,
or in other words,
−−→
~r = r~0 + t~v , (since P0 P is parallel to ~v )
where t is some scalar. The equation ~r = r~0 + t~v is the vector equation
of the required straight line L. In other words, the vector equation of

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 Figure 3.0.1: Equation of a straight line in space

the straight line L is given by < x, y, z >=< x0 , y0 , z0 > +t < a, b, c >. If

−−→
t > 0, then the direction of P0 P is going to be along the direction of ~v . In
that case, the point P is going to lie on the right side of the point P0 . If
−−→
t < 0, then the direction of P0 P is going to be opposite to the direction of
~v . In that case, the point P is going to lie on the left side of the point P0 . If
t = 0, then P = P0 .
The vector equation can be rewritten as the following set of equations:

x = x0 + at, y = y0 + bt, z = z0 + ct. (A)

The set of equations (A) is called the parametric form of the equation of
the straight line L. It is called the parametric form because the values of
x, y, z are dependent on the parameter t. Each value of the parameter t gives
a point (x, y, z) on the line L.

Now, if we eliminate t from the set of equations (A), we get:

x − x0 y − y0 z − z0
= = . (B)
a b c
You can see that there is a symmetry in all the 3 ratios in equation (B) above.
That’s why equation (B) is called the symmetric form of the equation of
the straight line L. Observe that in the symmetric form (B), the denomina-
tors of all those 3 ratios are a, b, c, which are nothing but the components of
the vector ~v to which the given straight line L is parallel to.

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 Let us now go back to what we had learnt earlier about direction angles
and direction cosines. Let α, β, γ be the angles made by the vector ~v with
the x, y and z-axes respectively. These angles α, β, γ are called the direction
angles of ~v . Then cos α, cos β, cos γ are the direction cosines of ~v . We also
know from earlier lectures that

< a, b, c >= |~v | < cos α, cos β, cos γ > . (C)

Since ~v is parallel to the straight line L, therefore the direction angles and
direction cosines of the straight line L are going to be the same as those of
~v .
Now consider the portion P0 P of the straight line L (see Figure 3.0.1). If we
−−→
make this portion of the line L into a vector (namely, the vector P0 P ), then
−−→
obviously (since L is parallel to ~v ) the vector P0 P is going to be a scalar
multiple of the vector ~v =< a, b, c >, say it is given by t < a, b, c >. Then
we have:

t < a, b, c >= t|~v | < cos α, cos β, cos γ > . (D)

Observe that the numbers a, b, c are not exactly the direction cosines of L,
but they are some scalar multiples of the direction cosines cos α, cos β, cos γ
of L. That is why the numbers a, b, c are called direction ratios of L.
Remark 3.0.1. The direction ratios of any two parallel lines are proportional.
Remark 3.0.2. Since any vector parallel to ~v could also be used for all the
above discussion, we say that any 3 numbers proportional to a, b, c can also be
used as a set of direction ratios of the straight line L.
Example 3.0.3. Find the equation of the straight line L passing through the
point P0 (5, 1, 3) and parallel to î + 4ĵ − 2k̂. Also find any two other points on
that straight line. Please see Figure 3.0.2 for an illustration. Here we have,
~v =< 1, 4, −2 > and the point P0 is given by (5, 1, 3). So the equation of the
straight line L is going to be

~r =< 5, 1, 3 > +t < 1, 4, −2 > .

In symmetric form, the same equation is given by:

x−5 y−1 z−3
= = .
1 4 −2

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 Figure 3.0.2: Figure for Example 3.0.3

Now, depending upon the value of the parameter t, we will be able to find
all points lying on the straight line L. If t > 0, then the point corresponding
to this value of t will lie on the right side of P0 . Similarly, if t < 0, then the
point corresponding to this value of t will lie on the left side of P0 . Please
see Figure 3.0.3 for an illustration.
Taking t = 1, we get ~r =< 6, 5, 1 >, which is a point on L. We can find one

Figure 3.0.3: Figure for Example 3.0.3

more point on L by taking t = −1 in a similar way. 

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4 Equation of a straight line in space passing
through 2 points
In the previous section, we had seen that the information given to us (for
finding the equation of a straight line L) was the following:

• A fixed point P0 on the straight line L.

• A vector ~v to which the straight line L is parallel to.

But now, we will be given 2 points P0 (x0 , y0 , z0 ) and P1 (x1 , y1 , z1 ) on the

straight line L instead.
With the information about one more extra point P1 on the straight line, we
will find out a vector ~v parallel to the straight line. If we consider the vector
−−→ −−→
P0 P1 , then this vector P0 P1 lies on the straight line (whose equation we are
−−→
seeking). This means that the vector P0 P1 itsef is parallel to the straight
−−→
line. So we can take ~v to be equal to the vector P0 P1 .
Take a variable point P (x, y, z) on the straight line. See Figure 4.0.1 for an
illustration.

Figure 4.0.1: Straight line passing through two points

Remark 4.0.1. It doesn’t matter where we take the variable point P on the
straight line. We can take this point P to be anywhere on the straight line L.
It doesn’t have to be on the right hand side of the points P0 and P1 .

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 −→ −−→ −−→
Join P0 , P1 and P with the origin O. Let ~r = OP , r~1 = OP1 and r~0 = OP0 .
It is then easy to see that
−→ −−→ −−→
OP = OP0 + P0 P .
−−→ −−→
But clearly the vector P0 P is a scalar multiple of the vector P0 P1 . So we
have:
−−→
~r = r~0 + tP0 P1 ,
−−→
for some scalar t. Since P0 P1 = r~1 − r~0 , we have (from the previous equation):

r1 − r~0 ).
~r = r~0 + t(~

Or, in other words,

~r = (1 − t)~
r0 + t~
r1 ,
where t is a real scalar.
Question: What is the equation of the portion of the straight line L that
lies between P0 and P1 ?
Answer: Basically, this means that we have to find out the locus of any
point on the line segment P0 P1 . The equation of the entire straight line is
given by:
~r = (1 − t)~
r0 + t~
r1 ,
where t is a real scalar. Then for the portion P0 P1 of the same straight line,
the value of the parameter t should be restricted. It is easy to see that the
value of the parameter t should then lie between 0 and 1 (The value t = 0
gives the vector r~0 , which corresponds to the point P0 and the value t = 1
corresponds to the point P1 in a similar way.). So the equation of the portion
P0 P1 of the same line is given by:

~r = (1 − t)~ r1 , 0 ≤ t ≤ 1.
r0 + t~

Remark 4.0.2. In many books, only the equation of the portion P0 P1 of the
straight line is given. If it is only this portion, then 0 ≤ t ≤ 1. If it is the entire
straight line, then t is any real number.

5 Equation of a plane
When we were trying to find out the equation of a straight line in space, we
had the information about a fixed point P0 on the straight line and a vector

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~v (which is known) to which the straight line is parallel to. Basically, the
vector ~v determined the direction of the straight line.
Now, when we come to finding the vector equation of a plane, definitely we
are going to take a fixed point lying on the palne (as an information given to
us). But what about the direction of the plane? We can have infinite number
of straight lines in the plane passing through the particular fixed point! All
those lines define infinitely many directions. But we need to find a unique
direction, which is going to give us some idea about the direction and the
equation of the plane. This unique direction will be given by a normal to
the plane. If you know about a normal to the plane at one point, then by
parallel displacement, you can make that normal vector to be a normal at
any point on that plane.
So the information that will be given to us (for finding the equation of a
plane) is the following:
• a fixed point P0 (x0 , y0 , z0 ) lying on the plane.
• the normal ~n to the plane at that particular point.
Please see Figure 5.0.1 for an illustration.
Let P (x, y, z) be a variable point on the plane. Let O denote the origin.

Figure 5.0.1: A plane in space

−→ −−→ −−→
Join OP and OP0 . Let OP = ~r and OP0 = r~0 . Then P0 P = ~r − r~0 is a
vector lying on the plane. Clearly then, the vector ~r − r~0 is perpendicular to
the vector ~n. So, from the property of dot product, we get:

(~r − r~0 ) · ~n = 0.

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If ~n =< a, b, c >, then the above equation becomes:

< x − x0 , y − y0 , z − z0 > · < a, b, c >= 0.

This implies that

a(x − x0 ) + b(y − y0 ) + c(z − z0 ) = 0.

This is the required equation of the plane. The above equation can be
rewritten as:
ax + by + cz = d, (∗)
where d = ax0 + by0 + cz0 .
Remark 5.0.1. Whenever you see an equation of a plane in the form (∗), you
can say that the components of the normal to the plane are the coefficients of
x, y and z in the equation (∗).
Remark 5.0.2. If we need to find the angle between two planes, then we
have to draw the normals to those two planes. The angle between those two
normals is going to be equal to the angle between the two planes. See Figure 5.0.2
for an illustration.

Figure 5.0.2: Angle between two planes

Example 5.0.3. Find the equation of the plane that passes through the
points P (1, 3, 2), Q(3, −1, 6) and R(5, 2, 0). See Figure 5.0.3 for an illustra-
tion. We can choose any one of P, Q, R as the fixed point on the plane. Let
us choose it to be P . [It doesn’t matter which point (out of P, Q, R) we

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 Figure 5.0.3: Figure for Example 5.0.3

choose as our fixed point on the plane. Whatever we choose, we are going to
end up with the same equation of the plane!]
Now we need to find out the components of the normal to the plane at
−→ −→
the point P . For doing this, consider the two vectors P Q and P R. Then
−→ −→
P Q =< 2, −4, 4 > and P R =< 4, −1, −2 >. If we consider the cross product
−→ −→
of P Q and P R, we will get a vector which is perpendicular to both of them.
−→ −→
But both the vectors P Q and P R lie on the same plane. So the cross product
vector is going to be normal to the plane at the point P . Let ~n denote the
cross product vector. Then we have:

~n =< 2, −4, 4 > × < 4, −1, −2 >

î ĵ k̂
= 2 −4 4 = 12î + 20ĵ + 14k̂.
4 −1 −2
Now we have P = (1, 3, 2) as the fixed point on the plane and ~n =<
12, 20, 14 > as the normal to the plane at P . So the equation of the plane
will be:
12(x − 1) + 20(y − 3) + 14(z − 2) = 0.
That is,
6x + 10y + 7z = 50.
If you take Q or R as the fixed point, and an appropriate combination of two
vectors on the plane, then you will get the same answer after simplification
(You can check this!). 

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Example 5.0.4. Find the angle between the two planes x + y + z = 1 and
x−2y+3z = 1. Also, find the symmetric equation of the line L of intersection
of these two planes. See Figure 5.0.4 for an illustration.
Let π1 and π2 denote the planes x+y+z = 1 and x−2y+3z = 1 respectively.

Figure 5.0.4: Figure for Example 5.0.4

Let n~1 and n~2 denote the normals to the planes π1 and π2 respectively. It
then follows from Remark 5.0.1 that n~1 =< 1, 1, 1 > and n~2 =< 1, −2, 3 >.
If θ is the angle between these two planes, then θ is also the angle between
the vectors n~1 and n~2 . Hence we have:
n~1 · n~2 = |n~1 ||n~2 | cos θ.
√ √
That is, 1 − 2 + 3 = 3 14 cos θ. So, θ = cos−1 ( √242 ).
The given two planes π1 and π2 are not parallel (because the components
of their normals are not scalar multiples of each other). Two planes which
are not parallel are going to intersect in a line. We now need to find the
symmetric equation of the line L of intersection of the planes π1 and π2 . To
find the equation of L, we need a fixed point on it, and we need the direction
ratios of L. The line L lies on both the planes π1 and π2 . So L must be
perpendicular to both n~1 and n~2 .
On the other hand, if ~n = n~1 × n~2 , then ~n is going to be perpendicular to
both n~1 and n~2 . That means, the directions of L and ~n are the same. So L
and ~n are going to have proportional direction ratios. Note that
î ĵ k̂
~n = n~1 × n~2 = 1 1 1 = 5î − 2ĵ − 3k̂.
1 −2 3

15
So ~n is a vector parallel to the line L.
Now, we have to find out a point on the line L. For that, first observe that
the line L intersects the xy-plane. That is, L is not parallel to the xy-plane.
This is because the direction ratios of L are proportional to < 5, −2, −3 >
(which are the direction ratios of ~n). And any line parallel to the xy-plane
will have direction ratios proportional to < 1, 1, 0 > (because: any line
parallel to the xy-plane will make angles 0, 0, π/2 with the x, y and z-axes
respectively, and cos(0) = 1, cos( π2 ) = 0.). But < 1, 1, 0 > and < 5, −2, −3 >
are not scalar multiples of each other!
Then the point of intersection of L with the xy-plane must have its z-
component 0. Putting z = 0 in the equations of the two planes, we get:

x+y =1

x − 2y = 1.
Solving these equations, we get, x = 1, y = 0. So, (1, 0, 0) is a point on
L. It is in fact, the point of intersection of L with the xy-plane. Hence the
symmetric equation of the line L is given by:
x−1 y−0 z−0
= = .
5 −2 −3
Figure 5.0.5 illustrates this. 

Figure 5.0.5: Figure for Example 5.0.4

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6 Vector functions
Recall the definition of a function: Consider two sets A and B. If to each
element of A, we can uniquely assign (via a rule) an element of B, and if we
call that rule f , then we say that f is a function from the set A to the set
B.
Now consider an interval I = [a, b] in the real line R. Let f, g, h be some
functions from I to R. Then corresponding to every point t ∈ I, we are
going to get the values f (t), g(t), h(t) in R. Let V3 denote the set of all 3
dimensional vectors. Let ~r be a particular vector in V3 . Clearly then, ~r has 3
components. Corresponding to each t ∈ I, if we choose these 3 components
as f (t), g(t), h(t), then in the 3 dimensional space, we will be able to define
a vector ~r(t), which is given by:

~r(t) =< f (t), g(t), h(t) > . (1)

So in this way, we have defined a function from I into V3 . The values of this
function ~r(t) depend upon the value of t ∈ I. Such a function is called a
vector function or a vector-valued function.
In terms of the unit vectors î, ĵ, k̂ along the x, y, z-axes respectively, we can
write ~r(t) as:
~r(t) = f (t)î + g(t)ĵ + h(t)k̂.
Example 6.0.1. ~r(t) =< sin t, 2 − cos t, t > (for all t ∈ [0, π]) is a vector
function. Observe that sin t, 2 − cos t and t are all functions from [0, π] to
R. If we define f (t) = sin t, g(t) = 2 − cos t, and h(t) = t, then ~r(t) is of the
form given by equation (1). 

6.1 Limit of a vector function

Suppose ~r(t) is a vector function, where t belongs to some interval I = [α, β].
Let a ∈ I and ~b ∈ V3 be a fixed vector.
Definition 6.1.1. We say that the limit of ~r(t) as t tends to a equals ~b if
given any  > 0, there exists a δ > 0 ( and δ are very small positive real
numbers) such that

|~r(t) − ~b| <  whenever 0 < |t − a| < δ.

We denote this by limt→a ~r(t) = ~b. 

17
Remark 6.1.2. Please see the analogy of the above definition with the concept
of limit of a function of a single variable (which you have learnt in the first half
of this course MA 101).

Remark 6.1.3. If ~r(t) =< f (t), g(t), h(t) > and ~b =< b1 , b2 , b3 >, then since

lim ~r(t) =< lim f (t), lim g(t), lim h(t) >,
t→a t→a t→a t→a

we get that:
lim f (t) = b1
t→a

lim g(t) = b2
t→a

lim h(t) = b3 .
t→a

Exercise: Show that limt→a ~r(t) = ~b if and only if for every  > 0, there
exists a number δ > 0 such that if 0 < |t − a| < δ, then |~r(t) − ~b| < .
A remark about the exercise: The “if” part of the above exercise is the
definition of limit itself. We only need to show that “only if” part of the
exercise. Note that this exercise gives a necessary and sufficient condition
for the existence of a limit.
Proof of the exercise: We will now prove the “only if” part.
Let us assume that limt→a ~r(t) = ~b. Let us also assume that ~r(t) =<
f (t), g(t), h(t) > and ~b =< b1 , b2 , b3 >. Then we have:

lim f (t) = b1
t→a

lim g(t) = b2 (2)

t→a

lim h(t) = b3 .
t→a

This set (2) of equations defines a limit for each of the functions f, g and h
at the point a.
If we go by the definition of limit for a function of one variable, the equations
in the set (2) imply that: Given any  > 0, there exists positive real numbers
δ1 , δ2 , δ3 such that

|f (t) − b1 | <  whenever 0 < |t − a| < δ1

|g(t) − b2 | <  whenever 0 < |t − a| < δ2 (∗)

18
 |h(t) − b3 | <  whenever 0 < |t − a| < δ3 .
Now we are going to do some mathematical manipulations. In (∗) above,
observe that it doesn’t matter if we replace  by 2 or 3 or 100 
or something
similar. This is because we want the expressions |f (t) − b1 |, |g(t) − b2 |,
|h(t) − b3 | to be as close to zero as possible! So in (∗), we can replace  by 3 .
Recall what we are supposed to prove: We are supposed to prove that given
the limit limt→a ~r(t) exists and equals ~b, we must have |~r(t) −~b| <  whenever
0 < |t−a| < δ for some δ > 0. Now, if we take δ = min(δ1 , δ2 , δ3 ), and replace
δ1 , δ2 , δ3 in (∗) by δ, then we get that the following holds true:

|f (t) − b1 | < whenever 0 < |t − a| < δ
3

|g(t) − b2 | < whenever 0 < |t − a| < δ (∗∗)
3

|h(t) − b3 | < whenever 0 < |t − a| < δ.
3
Now if we look at the expression |~r(t) − ~b| and look at the components of the
vector ~r(t) − ~b, we will get that:

|~r(t) − ~b| =
p
|f (t) − b1 |2 + |g(t) − b2 |2 + |h(t) − b3 |2 .

It is a general fact that for any 3 positive real numbers a, b, c, we have:

p
|a|2 + |b|2 + |c|2 ≤ |a| + |b| + |c|.

Hence we get:

|~r(t) − ~b| =
p
|f (t) − b1 |2 + |g(t) − b2 |2 + |h(t) − b3 |2

≤ |f (t) − b1 | + |g(t) − b2 | + |h(t) − b3 |

  
< + + whenever 0 < |t − a| < δ
3 3 3
=  whenever 0 < |t − a| < δ.
So we proved what we wanted.

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6.2 Continuity of a vector function at a point
Definition 6.2.1. Let I = [α, β] be an interval in R. Let a be a fixed point
in I. We say that a vector function ~r(t) is continuous at a if

lim ~r(t) = ~r(a).

t→a

7 Space curves
Recall from the previous section that when we were considering the functions
f, g and h, we were considering them as a function of a single variable t. We
could have used any symbol other than t. But we intentionally use the symbol
t because it generally represents “time”.
Let ~r(t) =< f (t), g(t), h(t) > be a vector function. For any fixed value of t,
we can relate ~r(t) to the point in the 3 dimensional space whose coordinates
are (f (t), g(t), h(t)).
The interval I on which the vector function ~r(t) is defined, is generally (in
the real world) taken as [0, tF ], where tF is some real number > 0. This is
because if t denotes time, then we are going to consider something that is
happening from time t = 0 to a subsequent time.
Now, suppose we are trying to track the motion of a particle in space. If at
each time t, we trace the position of the particle, then we are going to get a
curve in the space. That means, if for all values of t in the interval [α, β], we
are going to consider the location of the particle. The set of all points in space
corresponding to the location of the particle at different times t (t ∈ [α, β]),
is going to generate a curve C. And for each point on the curve C, one can
define a vector (see Figure 7.0.1). So a space curve is constructed in this
way.

Remark 7.0.1. Observe that by varying t, we are extracting a curve C in the

above mentioned procedure. Therefore, t is a parameter. That’s why, a space
curve is also known as a parametric curve.

Example 7.0.2. Suppose we have a curve given by

~r(t) =< cos t, sin t, t >, t ∈ [0, 2π].

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 Figure 7.0.1: A space curve

Now if we consider the 3 dimensional space, then at time t = 0, the location of

the particle in the 3 dimensional space is given by (cos 0, sin 0, 0) = (1, 0, 0).
Similarly, at t = π2 , we get the point 0, 1, π2 ) in space.
If we consider the first 2 components of ~r(t), they are given by cos t and sin t.
Since cos2 t + sin2 t = 1, therefore it will define a circle of radius 1.
For the vector function ~r(t) in this example, we are going to obtain a curve
as shown in Figure 7.0.2. This is the way we can construct space curves. 

Figure 7.0.2: The space curve for Example 7.0.2

Example 7.0.3. Describe the curve defined by the vector function

~r(t) =< 1 + t, 2 + 5t, −1 + 6t > .

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If we look at the components of ~r(t), we can see that they are in a specific
form (namely, the form of an equation of a straight line). The curve is
therefore going to be a straight line passing through the point (1, 2, −1) and
the straight line will have (1, 5, 6) as direction ratios. See Figure 7.0.3. 

Figure 7.0.3: The space curve for Example 7.0.3

Now suppose a 3 dimensional curve is given in terms of x, y, z, not in

terms of the parameter t. There are some ways to parametrize such a curve.
For this, please see the example below.

Example 7.0.4. Find a vector function that represents the curve of inter-
section of the cylinder x2 + y 2 = 1 and the plane y + z = 2.
Observe that if the cylinder x2 + y 2 = 1 is cut by a plane parallel to the
xy-plane, then the curve of intersection is a circle of radius 1. But here the
plane is y + z = 2, which is not parallel to the xy-plane. So the curve of
intersection is not going to be a circle of radius 1. It is going to be an ellipse
in this case, see Figure 7.0.4 for an illustration. But how can we parametrize
this curve (ellipse)?

22
 Figure 7.0.4: The curve of intersection for Example 7.0.4

Look at the equation of the cylinder. If we use the parameter t, then

x + y 2 = 1 can be easily seen to be parametrized by x = cos t, y = sin t. So
2

we can write:

~r(t) =< cos t, sin t, 2 − sin t >, where t ∈ [0, 2π].

—————-END——————

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