Cross Product of Two Vectors - Calculator
An online calculator that calculates the cross product of two vectors, given by their components, is presented.
Definition of Cross Product of two Vectors
Let u and v be two vectors given by their 3 components as follows
u = < a , b , c > and v = < d , e , f >
The cross product of the two vectors u and v, given above, is another vector w given by
w = u × v = < a , b , c > × < d , e , f > = < x , y , z >
with the components x, y and z of vector w given by:
x = b×f - c×e
y = c×d - a×f
z = a×e - b×d
Example 1
Let u = < 2 , 2 , 0 > and v = < 2 , - 2 , 0 >
w = u × v = < x , y , z >
x = 2×0 - 0×(-2) = 0
y = 0×2 - 2×0 = 0
z = 2×(-2) - 2×2 = -8
Hence
w = < 0 , 0 , -8 >
Below are shown the plots of vectors u , v and w = u ×v
Use of Cross Product Calculator
1 - Enter the components of each of the two vectors, as real numbers in decimal from and press "Calculate Cross Product". The answer is a vector w.
No characters other than real numbers are accepted by the calculator.
Applications of the Cross Product
The cross product of two vectors has applications in mathematics, physics, engineering, ... Some examples are presented below.Example 2
One of the formulas to find the area of a triangle with sides having lengths |u| and |v| and an angle between then equal to θ is
(1 / 2) |u| . |v| sin(θ)
Also, it can be shown that that
| u × v | = |u||v| sin(θ)
We can therefore conclude that the area of a parallelogram spanned by vectors U and v is equal to the magnitude of the cross product of vectors u and v.
Example 3 - Application of Cross Product in Physics
When a particle of charge q is moving at a velocity v in a magnetic field B, a force F acts on this charge and is given by
F = q (v × B)
q is a scalar , v and B are vectors, v × B is the cross product of v and B.
More References and Links
vectors .Cross Product of 3D Vectors .
