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12 grade maths others

Write all the unit vectors in the XY plane.

Profile image of Aniket Singh
1 Year agoGrade
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1 Answer

Profile image of Askiitians Tutor Team
1 Year ago

A **unit vector** is a vector with a magnitude of 1. In the XY-plane, unit vectors can point in any direction, as long as their magnitude is 1. To determine all the unit vectors in the XY-plane, we use the following approach:

1. **General Representation of a Vector in the XY-Plane:**
Any vector in the XY-plane can be represented as:
```
v = x*i + y*j
```
where `i` and `j` are the unit vectors along the X and Y axes, respectively, and `x` and `y` are the scalar components of the vector.

2. **Magnitude of a Vector:**
The magnitude of the vector `v` is given by:
```
|v| = sqrt(x^2 + y^2)
```
For the vector to be a **unit vector**, its magnitude must be 1:
```
sqrt(x^2 + y^2) = 1
```

3. **Simplify the Condition:**
Squaring both sides of the equation:
```
x^2 + y^2 = 1
```

4. **Geometric Interpretation:**
The equation `x^2 + y^2 = 1` represents a circle centered at the origin (0, 0) with a radius of 1. Every point `(x, y)` on this circle corresponds to a unit vector.

5. **Parametric Representation of Unit Vectors:**
We can express the unit vectors using trigonometric functions:
```
x = cos(θ)
y = sin(θ)
```
where `θ` is the angle the vector makes with the positive X-axis, measured counterclockwise.

Substituting these into the vector equation:
```
v = cos(θ)*i + sin(θ)*j
```

6. **Conclusion:**
All unit vectors in the XY-plane are represented as:
```
v = cos(θ)*i + sin(θ)*j
```
where `θ` can take any value between `0` and `2π` (in radians).

This means the set of all unit vectors in the XY-plane forms a circle of radius 1 centered at the origin, and the direction is determined by the angle `θ`.