[Math] Angle between two complex vectors

complex numberscomplex-analysisvectors

I'm trying to find the angle between $p = 2-2i$ and $q = 1-i\sqrt(3)$. I already got the answer as $\frac{\pi}{12}$ by subtracting the angles of $p$ and $q$ ($\frac{\pi}{3}-\frac{\pi}{4}$). I am trying to do the same using dot product, but Im not sure how to go about it.

Best Answer

Here is how to find the angle with the vector dot product. The two vectors are,

$$\vec{p}=(2,-2),\>\>\>\>\>\vec{q}=(1,-\sqrt 3)$$

Their dot product is

$$\vec{p}\cdot\vec{q} = pq\cos\theta$$

Then, $\cos\theta$ can be computed as below,

$$\cos\theta = \frac{\vec{p}\cdot\vec{q}}{pq} =\frac{2+2\sqrt 3}{\sqrt 8 \sqrt 4}=\frac{1+\sqrt 3}{2\sqrt 2}=\cos 15^\circ$$

Thus,

$$\theta =15^\circ$$