Question 9
Find a vector of magnitude perpendicular to the plane spanned by and , with positive -component.
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Question 9 – Solution
Keep the component order and signs organized when expanding the determinant. After computing the cross product, use a dot-product check or the relevant magnitude formula to interpret it.
See the diagram in the original worksheet below.
A normal direction is .
Its magnitude is , and its -component is positive.
Scale it to length : .
The result follows from the defining vector formulas used above, and each component, magnitude, or scalar condition has been checked against the information in the question.
The cross product produces a vector perpendicular to both inputs. Its direction follows the right-hand rule, while its magnitude records the area of the spanned parallelogram.