The unit vector $(a \hat{\imath}+b \hat{j})$ is perpendicular to $(\hat{\imath}+\hat{\jmath})$. The value of…

The unit vector $(a \hat{\imath}+b \hat{j})$ is perpendicular to $(\hat{\imath}+\hat{\jmath})$. The value of $^{\prime} b^{\prime}$ is
  1. $+\frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}$
  2. $-\frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}$
  3. $+\frac{1}{2}$
  4. $-\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}$

Solution

$\begin{array}{l} \hat{\mathrm{n}}=a \hat{\mathrm{i}}+b \hat{\mathrm{j}} \\ \overrightarrow{\mathrm{r}}=\hat{\mathrm{i}}+\hat{\mathrm{j}} \end{array}$ If $\hat{n}$ is perpendicular to the vector $\vec{r}=\hat{i}+\hat{j}$ $\hat{n} \cdot \vec{r}=0$ $a+b=0$ $b=-a . \ldots . .(1)$ The magnitude of unity vector is $1 .$ $\sqrt{a^{2}+b^{2}}=1$ $\sqrt{a^{2}+a^{2}}=\sqrt{2} a=1($ from equation 1) $a=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}$ $a=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}$ and from equation (1), we get $b=-\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}$ The correct option is D.

Asked in: MHT CET 2020 (12 Oct Shift 1)

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