Dot product: Component vs. Geometric definition

1 · Eli Bendersky · July 11, 2026, 2 a.m.
Summary
This blog post by Eli Bendersky explores the equivalence between two definitions of the vector dot product in Euclidean space: the component definition, which sums the products of corresponding vector components, and the geometric definition, which relates to the cosine of the angle between the vectors. It aims to clarify why these definitions lead to the same mathematical result.