Thread: help with orthogonal vectors

the question says: Find a unit vector that is orthogonal to a= <-3,5>

I know that two vectors are orthogonal iff a dot b =0, but I'm not sure how to find the answer if it is a unit vector.

Originally Posted by cottekr

the question says: Find a unit vector that is orthogonal to a= <-3,5>

I know that two vectors are orthogonal iff a dot b =0, but I'm not sure how to find the answer if it is a unit vector.

You want to find such that

Originally Posted by cottekr

the question says: Find a unit vector that is orthogonal to a= <-3,5>

I know that two vectors are orthogonal iff a dot b =0, but I'm not sure how to find the answer if it is a unit vector.

In two dimensions, you can find a vector orthogonal to a given one by switching the coordinates and changing the sign of one of them. So a vector orthogonal to (–3,5) is (5,3).

That's not a unit vector, but you can convert it into one by dividing by its length, which is .

So a unit vector orthogonal to (–3,5) is .