Suppose the included angle between non-zero vectors and in the plane is . If form arithmetic sequence in order, find the value of .
China Mathematical Competition
Solution
Denote , , and then . Note that the included angle between and is , and we have
By the condition, we know that form arithmetic sequence in order. Then there is . Squaring and arranging the above equation gives . And since , it follows that , i.e., .
Therefore, .
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