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jesuslovesu
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Homework Statement
The three vectors A, B, C point from the origin O to the three corners of a triangle. Show that the area of a triangle = 1/2 |( BxC + CxA + AxB )|
Homework Equations
1/2 |a x b| = 1/2 |a||b|sin(alpha)
The Attempt at a Solution
My initial attempt at this problem was to take the cross product like (Bx, By, Bz) x (Cx, Cy, Cz) and seeing if anything canceled. Unfortunately nothing did (I also tried with a '2d' vector (Bx, By, 0) etc and nothing canceled either).
I believe I have to somehow use the equation I listed, but I'm not really sure what to do. It seems a little counterproductive to do the cross product three times. There aren't any simplifications that I can see. Anyone know where I should start?