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Find a vector that has the opposite direction of u = (1,-2,4), but which has length square root of 3.

1 Answer

3 votes

Normalize
\vec u by dividing
\vec u by its magnitude:


(\vec u)/(\|\vec u\|)=((1,-2,4))/(√(1^2+(-2)^2+4^2))=((1,-2,4))/(√(21))

Multiply by -1 to reverse its direction, and again by
\sqrt3 to ensure this new vector has the magnitude we want. Notice that
\sqrt{\frac3{21}}=\frac1{\sqrt7}.


-\sqrt3(\vec u)/(\|\vec u\|)=((-1,2,-4))/(\sqrt7)

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