What is the scalar product of two perpendicular vectors?

The scalar product, also known as the dot product, of two vectors is calculated as the product of their magnitudes and the cosine of the angle between them. When two vectors are perpendicular, the angle between them is 90 degrees. The cosine of 90 degrees is zero. Therefore, when calculating the dot product of two perpendicular vectors, you multiply their magnitudes by zero, resulting in a scalar product of zero. This signifies that perpendicular vectors do not have any component in the same direction, leading to the scalar product being zero.

In contrast, for non-perpendicular vectors, their scalar product would yield a non-zero value, depending on the angle between them.