How to find if a vector is parallel to another

  • Thread starter Thread starter dark_omen
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Parallel Vector
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
3 replies · 78K views
dark_omen
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Okay, so I have two vectors a = <-6, 9, -3> and b = <2, -3, 1>. How can I test to see if these two vectors are parallel or not?
Thanks
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Vectors a and b are parallel if there exists a real number c such that a=cb. In your case it is pretty obvious.
 
What if it is not so obvious like the one I presented. Is there another approach to it (cross product of dot product ??)
Thanks
 
Think about the definition of the cross product, and see what happens. :smile: Btw, just use axb=[tex]det \left(\begin{array}{ccc}\vec{i} & \vec{j} & \vec{k}\\a_{1} & a_{2} & a_{3}\\b_{1} & b_{2} & b_{3}\end{array}\right)[/tex] for a=cb.