The cross product is a mathematical operation used in vector algebra. It takes two vectors, often represented in three-dimensional space, and produces a third vector that is perpendicular to both of the original vectors. The magnitude of this resulting vector is proportional to the area of the parallelogram formed by the two input vectors. To calculate the cross product, you can use the formula involving the components of the vectors. If you have vectors A = (Ax, Ay, Az) and B = (Bx, By, Bz), the cross product A × B results in a new vector with components determined by the determinant of a matrix formed by these vectors.