Referred to the origin OO, the points AA and BB have position vectors a\mathbf{a} and b\mathbf{b} respectively such that ∣a∣=5|\mathbf{a}| = 5 and ∣b∣=3|\mathbf{b}| = 3.

  1. (i)

    It is given that ∣2b−a∣=7|2\mathbf{b} - \mathbf{a}| = 7. Using a suitable scalar product, show that a⋅b=3\mathbf{a}\cdot\mathbf{b} = 3.

  2. (ii)

    Deduce the length of projection of OA→\overrightarrow{OA} onto OB→\overrightarrow{OB}.

  3. (iii)

    The point PP lies on ABAB such that AP:PB=1:kAP:PB = 1:k, where kk is a positive constant.
    Write down the position vector of PP in terms of kk, a\mathbf{a} and b\mathbf{b} and show that the area of triangle OAPOAP is 36k+1\frac{3\sqrt{6}}{k+1}.

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Worked solution

8(i)

1. Relate the magnitude of the vector to its scalar product with itself.

∣2b−a∣2=72|2\mathbf{b} - \mathbf{a}|^2 = 7^2
(2b−a)⋅(2b−a)=49(2\mathbf{b} - \mathbf{a}) \cdot (2\mathbf{b} - \mathbf{a}) = 49

2. Expand the scalar product, substitute the known magnitudes, and solve for $\mathbf{a}\cdot\mathbf{b}$.

4(b⋅b)−2(a⋅b)−2(b⋅a)+(a⋅a)=494(\mathbf{b}\cdot\mathbf{b}) - 2(\mathbf{a}\cdot\mathbf{b}) - 2(\mathbf{b}\cdot\mathbf{a}) + (\mathbf{a}\cdot\mathbf{a}) = 49
4∣b∣2−4(a⋅b)+∣a∣2=494|\mathbf{b}|^2 - 4(\mathbf{a}\cdot\mathbf{b}) + |\mathbf{a}|^2 = 49

Substituting ∣a∣=5|\mathbf{a}| = 5 and ∣b∣=3|\mathbf{b}| = 3:
4(3)2−4(a⋅b)+(5)2=494(3)^2 - 4(\mathbf{a}\cdot\mathbf{b}) + (5)^2 = 49
36−4(a⋅b)+25=4936 - 4(\mathbf{a}\cdot\mathbf{b}) + 25 = 49
61−4(a⋅b)=4961 - 4(\mathbf{a}\cdot\mathbf{b}) = 49
4(a⋅b)=124(\mathbf{a}\cdot\mathbf{b}) = 12
a⋅b=3 (shown)\mathbf{a}\cdot\mathbf{b} = 3 \text{ (shown)}

Answer

\mathbf{a}\cdot\mathbf{b} = 3 \text{ (shown)}

8(ii)

1. Evaluate the length of projection of $\overrightarrow{OA}$ onto $\overrightarrow{OB}$ by substituting the value of $\mathbf{a} \cdot \mathbf{b}$ from part (i) into the projection formula.

Length of projection=∣a⋅b∣∣b∣=33=1\text{Length of projection} = \frac{|\mathbf{a} \cdot \mathbf{b}|}{|\mathbf{b}|} = \frac{3}{3} = 1

Answer

11

8(iii)

1. Find the position vector of $P$ using the ratio theorem.

Using the ratio theorem, since the point PP divides ABAB in the ratio AP:PB=1:kAP:PB = 1:k,
OP→=kOA→+1OB→1+k=ka+bk+1\overrightarrow{OP} = \frac{k\overrightarrow{OA} + 1\overrightarrow{OB}}{1+k} = \frac{k\mathbf{a} + \mathbf{b}}{k+1}

2. Find the sine of the angle $\theta$ between $\mathbf{a}$ and $\mathbf{b}$.

From part (i), we have a⋅b=3\mathbf{a} \cdot \mathbf{b} = 3. Let θ\theta be the angle between vectors a\mathbf{a} and b\mathbf{b}.
∣a∣∣b∣cos⁡θ=3|\mathbf{a}||\mathbf{b}|\cos\theta = 3
(5)(3)cos⁡θ=3  ⟹  cos⁡θ=15(5)(3)\cos\theta = 3 \implies \cos\theta = \frac{1}{5}
Since θ\theta is the angle between two vectors (0≤θ≤π0 \le \theta \le \pi), sin⁡θ≥0\sin\theta \ge 0.
sin⁡θ=1−cos⁡2θ=1−(15)2=2425=265\sin\theta = \sqrt{1 - \cos^2\theta} = \sqrt{1 - \left(\frac{1}{5}\right)^2} = \sqrt{\frac{24}{25}} = \frac{2\sqrt{6}}{5}

3. Express the area of triangle $OAP$ using the vector product and simplify.

The area of triangle OAPOAP is given by 12∣a×p∣\frac{1}{2} |\mathbf{a} \times \mathbf{p}|.
Area=12∣a×(ka+bk+1)∣\text{Area} = \frac{1}{2} \left| \mathbf{a} \times \left( \frac{k\mathbf{a} + \mathbf{b}}{k+1} \right) \right|
Using the distributive property of the vector product and the fact that a×a=0\mathbf{a} \times \mathbf{a} = \mathbf{0}:
Area=12(k+1)∣k(a×a)+(a×b)∣=12(k+1)∣a×b∣\text{Area} = \frac{1}{2(k+1)} |k(\mathbf{a} \times \mathbf{a}) + (\mathbf{a} \times \mathbf{b})| = \frac{1}{2(k+1)} |\mathbf{a} \times \mathbf{b}|

4. Evaluate the magnitude of the vector product and show the final area.

We evaluate ∣a×b∣|\mathbf{a} \times \mathbf{b}|:
∣a×b∣=∣a∣∣b∣sin⁡θ=(5)(3)(265)=66|\mathbf{a} \times \mathbf{b}| = |\mathbf{a}||\mathbf{b}|\sin\theta = (5)(3)\left(\frac{2\sqrt{6}}{5}\right) = 6\sqrt{6}
Substituting this back into the area equation:
Area of OAP=12(k+1)(66)=36k+1 (shown)\text{Area of } OAP = \frac{1}{2(k+1)}(6\sqrt{6}) = \frac{3\sqrt{6}}{k+1} \text{ (shown)}

Answer

OP→=ka+bk+1\overrightarrow{OP} = \frac{k\mathbf{a} + \mathbf{b}}{k+1}

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