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Applied Physics

Submitted By: Hamza Yousuf &


Fatima Shuaib

Direction Cosine
Definition
The direction (or directional) cosines of a vector are defined as
cosines of the angles that the vector makes from the coordinate
axes. They explain the direction of a vector along each axis.
The number of direction cosines is equal to the total number of
dimensions in the system.

Direction Cosines in Three Dimensions:


A vector OP with coordinates (x, y, z) is shown in the following
diagram of three-dimensional coordinate system. Assume that
the angle made by the vector OP from X, Y and Z axis
be , and respectively, then the values of cos , cos and
cos are known as direction cosines in three dimensional
coordinate system.

Formula
Let a vector r in 3D be given by:

r =xi+ yj+ zk

Then, its direction cosines are given by:

cos =

x
x
= 2 2 2
|r| x + y + z

cos =

cos =

y
y
= 2 2 2
|r| x + y + z

z
z
= 2 2 2
|r| x + y + z

Where, , and are the angles formed by the vector at X, Y


and Z axis.
Also, i, j and k are the basis vectors in three directions.
Note: The sum of the squares of all the direction cosines of a
vector is equal to one.
2

cos + cos + cos =1

Distinction between Direction and Orientation


The direction cosines are not independent of each other, they
are related by the equation cos2+cos2+cos2=1, so direction
cosines only have two degrees of freedom and can only
represent direction and not orientation.
What this means is that direction cosines do not define how
much an object is rotated around the axis of the vector.

Direction Cosines and Direction Ratios


The direction cosines of a vector are the values of cosines of
the angle between the given vector and the directional axes.
Thus, it is evident that cosines of angle between vector and X,
Y and Z axis in three dimensions are known as direction cosines
of that vector.
On the other hand, direction ratio is a much simpler concept.
Direction ratios define position of a vector in space; i.e. if the
position of a vector A be defined as

^
^
= x i + y j in two

dimensions then, x and y will be the direction ratios of


Similarly, if the position of vector A is denoted by

A .
^
=x i +

^
^
y j + z j in three dimensional coordinate systems then, x, y

and z will determine the direction ratios of

A .

Example
^
^
^
Compute the direction cosines of a vector i + 2 j -3 k .
Also, prove that the sum of their squares is unit?

Solution:
Let

V =

^
^
+ 2 j -3 k

i^

Here, we have x = 1, y = 2 and z = -3

| V

|=

x2 + y 2 + z 2

1 +2 +(3 )
2

= 1+ 4+9
= 14
Direction cosine are given by:
x

cos = |
V|
cos =

1
14

cos = |
V|
cos =

2
14

cos =

|
V|

cos =

3
14

Hence, the dc's are ( 14

, 14

, 14

Also, sum of squares, i.e.


cos2 +cos2 + cos2
1

= ( 14
1

= 14
14

= 14
=1

)2 + ( 14
4

+ 14 + 14

)2 + (, 14 )2

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