The projection of a vector b onto a line through vector a is found using the orthogonality condition, yielding both a scalar formula and a rank-one projection matrix.
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The projection onto a line
Write , impose the perpendicularity condition on the error , and solve it for .
The rank-one matrix
Recast the projection as , record that is a matrix while is a scalar, and state the symmetry and idempotency .
Scaling sanity checks on the formula
Record that doubling doubles the projection while doubling leaves it unchanged, and carry the cancellation of the extra factor through the formula for the second case.