Is it possible for the product of two non-zero vectors to be zero?

Skylar Greer

Skylar Greer

Answered question

2023-01-17

Is it possible for the product of two non-zero vectors to be zero?

Answer & Explanation

CredyBetCreta109

CredyBetCreta109

Beginner2023-01-18Added 11 answers

Any two orthogonal vectors' dot product is zero.
Any two collinear vectors have a cross product of zero or a zero length vector, depending on whether you're working with dimensions 2 or 3.
Note that for any two non-zero vectors, the dot product and cross product cannot both be zero.
There is a vector context in which the product of any two non-zero vectors is non-zero. It is known as Hamilton's Quaternions. Quaternions form a #4# dimensional vector space over the real numbers and their multiplication is a combination of dot product and cross product. Actually in the history of mathematics, quaternion multiplication predates dot product and cross product - it is where they came from.

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