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Chapter 1
1.1.5 A sailboat sails for 1 hr at 4 km/hr (relative to the water) on a steady compass heading
of 40◦ east of north. The saiboat is simultaneously carried along by a current. At the
end of the hour the boat is 6.12 km from its starting point., The line from its starting
point to its location lies 60◦ east of north. Find the x (easterly) and y (northerly)
components of the water velocity.
where
~vbw = 4 km/hr @ 50◦ = (2.57x̂ + 3.06ŷ) km/hr
~vbl = 6.12 km/hr @ 30◦ = (5.3x̂ + 3.06ŷ) km/hr
Thus
~vwl = ~vbl − ~vbw = 2.73x̂ km/hr
1.3.3 The vector ~r, starting at the origin, terminates at and specifies the point in space
(x, y, z). Find the surface swept out by the tip of ~r if
(a) (~r − ~a ) · ~a = 0
The vanishing of the dot product indicates that the vector ~r − ~a is perpendicular
to the constant vector ~a. As a result, ~r − ~a must lie in a plane perpendicular
to ~a. This means ~r itself must lie in a plane passing through the tip of ~a and
perpendicular to ~a
r−a
r
a
(b) (~r − ~a ) · ~r = 0
This time the vector ~r − ~a has to be perpendicular to the position vector ~r itself.
It is perhaps harder to see what this is in three dimensions. However, for two
dimensions, we find
r−a
a
r
which gives a circle. In three dimensions, this is a sphere. Note that we can also
complete the square to obtain
(~r − ~a ) · ~r = |~r − 12 ~a |2 − | 12 ~a |2
Hence we end up with the equation for a circle of radius |~a |/2 centered at the
point ~a/2
|~r − 12 ~a |2 = | 12 ~a |2
~ × B)
1.4.7 Prove that (A ~ · (A
~ × B)
~ = (AB)2 − (A
~·B
~ )2 .
we find
~×B
|A ~ |2 = (Ay Bz − Az By )2 + (Az Bx − Ax Bz )2 + (Ax By − Ay Bx )2
= A2x By2 + A2x Bz2 + A2y Bx2 + A2y Bz2 + A2z Bx2 + A2z By2
− 2Ax Bx Ay By − 2Ax Bx Az Bz − 2Ay By Az Bz
= (A2x + A2y + A2z )(Bx2 + By2 + Bz2 ) − (Ax Bx + Ay By + Az Bz )2
where we had to add and subtract A2x Bx2 +A2y By2 +A2z Bz2 and do some factorization
to obtain the last line.
However, there is a more elegant approach to this problem. Recall that cross
products are related to sin θ and dot products are related to cos θ. Then
~×B
|A ~ |2 = (AB sin θ)2 = (AB)2 (1 − cos2 θ) = (AB)2 − (AB cos θ)2
= (AB)2 − (A~·B~ )2
1.5.5 The orbital angular momentum L~ of a particle is given by L
~ = ~r × p~ = m~r ×~v where p~
is the linear momentum. With linear and angular velocity related by ~v = ω ~ × ~r, show
that
~ = mr2 [~
L ω − r̂(r̂ · ω
~ )]
~ = m~r × (~
L ω × ~r )
Because of the double cross product, this is the perfect opportunity to use the
“BAC–CAB” rule: A ~ × (B~ × C)
~ = B(
~ A~ · C)
~ − C(~ A
~ · B)
~
~ = m[~
L ω (~r · ~r ) − ~r(~r · ω ω r2 − ~r(~r · ω
~ )] = m[~ ~ )]
~ = mr2 [~
L ω − r̂(r̂ · ω
~ )] (1)
1.5.6 The kinetic energy of a single particle is given by T = 21 mv 2 . For rotational motion
this becomes 21 m(~
ω × ~r )2 . Show that
T = 12 m[r2 ω 2 − (~r · ω
~ )2 ]
ω × ~r )2 = 12 m[(ωr)2 − (~
T = 21 m(~ ω · ~r )2 ] = 12 m[r2 ω 2 − (~r · ω
~ )2 ]
T = 21 mr2 [ω 2 − (r̂ · ω
~ )2 ]
~ ·ω
T = 21 L ~
3.2.4 (a) Complex numbers, a + ib, with a and b real, may be represented by (or are
isomorphic with) 2 × 2 matrices:
a b
a + ib ↔
−b a
Show that this matrix representation is valid for (i) addition and (ii) multiplica-
tion.
which shows that the sum of matrices yields the proper representation of the
complex number (a + c) + i(b + d).
We now handle multiplication in the same manner. First, we have
We can find the matrix in two ways. We first do standard complex arithmetic
1 a − ib 1
(a + ib)−1 = = = 2 (a − ib)
a + ib (a + ib)(a − ib) a + b2
We begin with the statement that P~ commutes with Jx and Jy . This may be
expressed as [P~ , Jx ] = 0 and [P~ , Jy ] = 0 or equivalently as P~ Jx = Jx P~ and
P~ Jy = Jy P~ . We also take the hint into account and note that Jx and Jy satisfy
the commutation relation
[Jx , Jy ] = iJz
Note that we are able to pull the −i factor out of the commutator. From here,
we may expand all the commutators to find
[P~ , [Jx , Jy ]] = P~ Jx Jy − P~ Jy Jx − Jx Jy P~ + Jy Jx P~
= Jx P~ Jy − Jy P~ Jx − Jx P~ Jy + Jy P~ Jx
=0
To get from the first to the second line, we commuted P~ past either Jx or Jy as
appropriate. Of course, a quicker way to do this problem is to use the Jacobi
identity [A, [B, C]] = [B, [A, C]] − [C, [A, B]] to obtain
The right hand side clearly vanishes, since P~ commutes with both Jx and Jy .
det(A) = determinant of A
In this case all we need to do is to find a single counterexample. For example, for
an n × n matrix, the properties of the determinant yields
det(αA) = αn det(A)
This is not linear unless n = 1 (in which case A is really a single number and
not a matrix). There are of course many other examples that one could come up
with to show that det is not a linear operator.