Recent content by Ajax354

  1. A

    Dot products, show that r'.r''=0

    To be fair, there is the added condition that r'' is orthogonal to r'. Okay. r(t) = ((x(t), y(t), z(t)) r't=((x'(t),y'(t),z'(t)) r't·r't=(x'(t)^2)+(y'(t)^2)+((z't)^2) d/dt (r'·r') = 2(x'(t))(x''(t))+2(y'(t))(y''(t))+(z'(t))(z''(t)) d/dt (r'·r') = 2(r'(t))·(r''(t)) r'·r' =...
  2. A

    Dot products, show that r'.r''=0

    Okay, the magnitude of the velocity is a constant. Therefore the magnitude of the acceleration is zero, |r''|=0, And certainly then r'.r'' =|r'||r''|cos(theta)=0 , because |r''|=0 Is this really all there is to it? Also getting a bit tripped up because while in circular motion the magnitude...
  3. A

    Dot products, show that r'.r''=0

    Thanks for your quick reply. The question is only given in general terms. And reads explicitly as: Let r(t)=(x(t),y(t),z(t)) be the position vector along some curve for -infinity to +infinity. Suppose t has been chosen so that 1=r'.r' for all t. Show that 0=r'.r''.
  4. A

    Dot products, show that r'.r''=0

    Homework Statement r(t)=(x(t),y(t),z(t)) t has been chosen so that r'.r'=1 show that r'.r''=0 Homework Equations v'.w'=|v||w|cos(theta) The Attempt at a Solution Clearly what is being described is circular motion about a unit circle. And using the equation for a unit circle its easy to...
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