Find the volume of the parallelepiped defined by the vectors
Find the volume of the parallelepiped defined by the vectors u = 2j - 2k, v = 3i - 5j + k, and w = 3i + j + k.
Solution
The volume of the parallelepiped is:
V = |u.(v x w)|
Thus:
v x w = (3 -5 1) x (3 1 1) = (-6 0 18)
u . (v x w) = (0 2 -2).(-6 0 18) = 0(-6) + 2(0) - 2(18) = -36
So the volume is:
V = |-36| = 36
