Two vectors are orthogonal when their dot product is zero, and two subspaces are orthogonal when every vector in one is orthogonal to every vector in the other.
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The test
Write the dot product test for perpendicular vectors, then derive it from by expanding and cancelling.
Worked check with and
Carry this pair through both computations, the dot product and the squared lengths matching .
Perpendicularity between whole subspaces
State that every vector of must be orthogonal to every vector of , and record two planes in meeting along a line as the failing case.
The zero vector and shared nonzero vectors
Note that the zero vector is orthogonal to everything, that orthogonal subspaces share no nonzero vector, and that in only perpendicular lines through the origin qualify.