1. Apr 14, 2014 #1

   onceinalifetim

   

   Vectors -- dot product and cross product?
   
   Hello
   
   may i know when to dot product and cross product?? both look to same to me..

    

   onceinalifetim, Apr 14, 2014
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3. Apr 14, 2014 #2

   NascentOxygen

   

   Staff: Mentor

   The formula will tell you which to use, so pay close attention.
   
   Basically, the dot product produces a scalar result---it has a magnitude and a + or - sign---but it isn't a vector. The cross product produces an answer which is itself a vector, and it's at right-angles to the plane containing the two vectors you multiplied.

    

   NascentOxygen, Apr 14, 2014
4. Apr 14, 2014 #3

   berkeman

   

   Staff: Mentor

   Dot products, cross products, and other basic vector operations are described here:
   
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euclidean_vector
   
   .

    

   berkeman, Apr 14, 2014

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