Given that a, b, and 3a+b are unit vectors:
∣a∣=1
∣b∣=1
∣3a+b∣=1
Since 3a+b is a unit vector:
∣3a+b∣2=1
Expanding the magnitude:
∣3a+b∣2=(3)2∣a∣2+2(3a)⋅b+∣b∣2
=3∣a∣2+23(a⋅b)+∣b∣2
Substituting ∣a∣=1 and ∣b∣=1:
=3(1)2+23(a⋅b)+(1)2
=3+23(a⋅b)+1
=4+23(a⋅b)
Setting equal to 1:
4+23(a⋅b)=1
23(a⋅b)=−3
a⋅b=23−3
a⋅b=23−3×33
a⋅b=6−33
a⋅b=2−3
Using the dot product formula a⋅b=∣a∣∣b∣cosθ:
2−3=(1)(1)cosθ
cosθ=2−3
For angles between vectors in the range [0,π]:
θ=65π