Minimizing a linear functional on a sphere (${\min }_{\Vert z\Vert =r}z\cdot w=-r\Vert w\Vert$)

For a nonzero Euclidean vector $w$, the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality gives $z\cdot w\ge -\Vert w\Vert$ when $\Vert z\Vert =1$. Equality is attained uniquely at $z=-w/\Vert w\Vert$. On a sphere of radius $r>0$ the minimizer is $-rw/\Vert w\Vert$, and the minimum is $-r\Vert w\Vert$. This turns many constrained vector problems into a normalization of one fixed vector. If $w=0$, every point minimizes the functional.