Answer to Question #206678 in Linear Algebra for Snakho

Question #206678

Prove that the dot between two vectors is commutative not associative


1
Expert's answer
2021-06-14T15:11:39-0400

The dot product of two Euclidean vectors a\vec a  and b\vec b  is defined by


ab=a bcosθ\vec a \cdot \vec b=||\vec a||\ ||\vec b|| \cos \theta

where θ\theta  is the angle between a\vec a and b.\vec b.


The dot between two vectors is commutative. This follows from the definition of the dot product


ab=a bcosθ =b acosθ=ba\vec a \cdot \vec b=||\vec a||\ ||\vec b|| \cos \theta\ =||\vec b||\ ||\vec a|| \cos \theta=\vec b \cdot \vec a

where θ\theta is the angle between a\vec a and b.\vec b.


The dot product between a scalar (ab)(\vec a \cdot \vec b) ) and a vector (c)(\vec c) is not defined, which means that the expressions involved in the associative property, (ab)c(\vec a \cdot \vec b)\cdot \vec c  or a(bc)\vec a \cdot (\vec b\cdot \vec c) are both ill-defined.

Hence the dot between two vectors is not associative.



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