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Normally you use sine theta with the cross product and cos theta with the vector product, so that the cross product of parallel vectors is zero while the dot product of vectors at right angles is zero.
(A1) The dot product of two vectors is a scalar and the cross product is a vector? ================================== (A2) The cross product of two vectors, A and B, would be [a*b*sin(alpha)]C, where a = |A|; b = |B|; c = |C|; and C is vector that is orthogonal to A and B and oriented according to the right-hand rule (see the related link). The dot product of the two vectors, A and B, would be [a*b*cos(alpha)]. For [a*b*sin(alpha)]C to equal to [a*b*cos(alpha)], we have to have a trivial solution -- alpha = 0 and either a or b be zero, so that both expressions are zeroes but equal. ================================== Of course one is the number zero( scalar), and one is the zero vector. It is a small difference but worth mentioning. That is is to say if a or b is the zero vector, then a dot b must equal zero as a scalar. And similarly the cross product of any vector and the zero vector is the zero vector. (A3) The magnitude of the dot product is equal to the magnitude of the cross product when the angle between the vectors is 45 degrees.
multiply anything by zero and your product will be zero!
If you're including zero, the product is zero.
The product of zero and any number is always 0.