Equations of Lines and

12.5 Planes

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Lines
A line in the xy-plane is determined when a point on the
line and the direction of the line (its slope or angle of
inclination) are given.

The equation of the line can then be written using the

point-slope form.

Likewise, a line L in three-dimensional space is determined

when we know a point P0(x0, y0, z0) on L and the direction
of L. In three dimensions the direction of a line is
conveniently described by a vector, so we let v be a vector
parallel to L.
2
Lines
Let P(x, y, z) be an arbitrary point on L and let r0 and r be
the position vectors of P0 and P (that is, they have
representations and ).

If a is the vector with representation as in Figure 1,

then the Triangle Law for vector addition gives r = r0 + a.

Figure 1 3
Lines
But, since a and v are parallel vectors, there is a scalar t
such that a = t v. Thus

which is a vector equation of L.

Each value of the parameter t gives the position vector r

of a point on L. In other words, as t varies, the line is traced
out by the tip of the vector r.

4
Lines
As Figure 2 indicates, positive values of t correspond to
points on L that lie on one side of P0, whereas negative
values of t correspond to points that lie on the other side
of P0.

Figure 2
5
Lines
If the vector v that gives the direction of the line L is written
in component form as v = 〈a, b, c〉, then we have
t v = 〈t a, t b, t c〉.

We can also write r = 〈x, y, z〉 and r0 = 〈x0, y0, z0〉, so the

vector equation (1) becomes
〈x, y, z〉 = 〈x0 + t a, y0 + tb, z0 + t c〉
Two vectors are equal if and only if corresponding
components are equal.

6
Lines
Therefore we have the three scalar equations:

where t ∈

These equations are called parametric equations of the

line L through the point P0(x0, y0, z0) and parallel to the
vector v = 〈a, b, c〉.

Each value of the parameter t gives a point (x, y, z) on L.

7
Lines

8
Example 1
(a) Find a vector equation and parametric equations for the
line that passes through the point (5, 1, 3) and is
parallel to the vector i + 4j – 2k.

(b) Find two other points on the line.

Solution:
(a) Here r0 = 〈5, 1, 3〉 = 5i + j + 3k and v = i + 4j – 2k, so
the vector equation (1) becomes
r = (5i + j + 3k) + t(i + 4j – 2k)

or r = (5 + t) i + (1 + 4t) j + (3 – 2t) k 9
Example 1 – Solution cont’d

Parametric equations are

x=5+t y = 1 + 4t z = 3 – 2t

(b) Choosing the parameter value t = 1 gives x = 6, y = 5,

and z = 1, so (6, 5, 1) is a point on the line.

Similarly, t = –1 gives the point (4, –3, 5).

10
Lines
The vector equation and parametric equations of a line are
not unique. If we change the point or the parameter or
choose a different parallel vector, then the equations
change.

For instance, if, instead of (5, 1, 3), we choose the point

(6, 5, 1) in Example 1, then the parametric equations of the
line become

x=6+t y = 5 + 4t z = 1 – 2t

11
Lines
Or, if we stay with the point (5, 1, 3) but choose the parallel
vector 2i + 8j – 4k, we arrive at the equations

x = 5 + 2t y = 1 + 8t z = 3 – 4t

In general, if a vector v = 〈a, b, c〉 is used to describe the

direction of a line L, then the numbers a, b, and c are called
direction numbers of L.

Since any vector parallel to v could also be used, we see

that any three numbers proportional to a, b, and c could
also be used as a set of direction numbers for L.
12
Lines
Another way of describing a line L is to eliminate the
parameter t from Equations 2.

If none of a, b, or c is 0, we can solve each of these

equations for t:

Equating the results, we obtain

These equations are called symmetric equations of L.

13
Lines
Notice that the numbers a, b, and c that appear in the
denominators of Equations 3 are direction numbers of L,
that is, components of a vector parallel to L.

If one of a, b, or c is 0, we can still eliminate t. For

instance, if a = 0, we could write the equations of L as

This means that L lies in the vertical plane x = x0.

14
Lines
In general, we know from Equation 1 that the vector
equation of a line through the (tip of the) vector r0 in the
direction of a vector v is r = r0 + t v.

If the line also passes through (the tip of) r1, then we can
take v = r1 – r0 and so its vector equation is
r = r0 + t(r1 – r0) = (1 – t)r0 + tr1
The line segment from r0 to r1 is given by the parameter
interval 0 ≤ t ≤ 1.

15
Planes
Although a line in space is determined by a point and a
direction, a plane in space is more difficult to describe.

A single vector parallel to a plane is not enough to convey

the “direction” of the plane, but a vector perpendicular to
the plane does completely specify its direction.

Thus a plane in space is determined by a point P0(x0, y0, z0)

in the plane and a vector n that is orthogonal to the plane.
This orthogonal vector n is called a normal vector.

16
Planes
Let P(x, y, z) be an arbitrary point in the plane, and let
r0 and r be the position vectors of P0 and P.

Then the vector r – r0 is represented by

(See Figure 6.)

Figure 6 17
Planes
The normal vector n is orthogonal to every vector in the
given plane. In particular, n is orthogonal to r – r0 and so
we have

which can be rewritten as

Either Equation 5 or Equation 6 is called a vector equation

of the plane.
18
Planes
To obtain a scalar equation for the plane, we write
n = 〈a, b, c〉, r = 〈x, y, z〉, and r0 = 〈x0, y0, z0〉.

Then the vector equation (5) becomes

〈a, b, c〉 • 〈x – x0, y – y0, z – z0〉 = 0
or
a(x – x0) + b(y – y0) + c(z – z0) = 0

19
Example 4
Find an equation of the plane through the point (2, 4, –1)
with normal vector n = 〈2, 3, 4〉. Find the intercepts and
sketch the plane.

Solution:
Putting a = 2, b = 3, c = 4, x0 = 2, y0 = 4, and z0 = –1 in
Equation 7, we see that an equation of the plane is
2(x – 2) + 3(y – 4) + 4(z + 1) = 0
or 2x + 3y + 4z = 12
To find the x-intercept we set y = z = 0 in this equation and
obtain x = 6.
20
Example 4 – Solution cont’d

Similarly, the y-intercept is 4 and the z-intercept is 3. This

enables us to sketch the portion of the plane that lies in the
first octant (see Figure 7).

Figure 7

21
Planes
By collecting terms in Equation 7 as we did in Example 4,
we can rewrite the equation of a plane as

where d = –(ax0 + by0 + cz0).

Equation 8 is called a linear equation in x, y, and z.

Conversely, it can be shown that if a, b, and c are not all 0,
then the linear equation (8) represents a plane with normal
vector 〈a, b, c〉.

22
Planes
Two planes are parallel if their normal vectors are parallel.

For instance, the planes x + 2y – 3z = 4 and

2x + 4y – 6z = 3 are parallel because their normal vectors
are n1 = 〈1, 2, –3〉 and n2 = 〈2, 4, –6〉 and n2 = 2n1.

If two planes are not parallel,

then they intersect in a straight
line and the angle between the
two planes is defined as the
acute angle between their
normal vectors Figure 9
(see angle θ in Figure 9). 23
Example 8
Find a formula for the distance D from a point P1(x1, y1, z1)
to the plane ax + by + cz + d = 0.

Solution:
Let P0(x0, y0, z0) be any point in the given plane and let b
be the vector corresponding to Then
b = 〈x1 – x0, y1 – y0, z1 – z0〉

From Figure 12 you can see that

the distance D from P1 to the plane
is equal to the absolute value of
the scalar projection of b onto the
normal vector n = 〈a, b, c〉. Figure 12
24
Example 8 – Solution cont’d

Thus

25
Example 8 – Solution cont’d

Since P0 lies in the plane, its coordinates satisfy the

equation of the plane and so we have

ax0 + by0 + cz0 + d = 0.

Thus the formula for D can be written as

26