3 D Geometry

Direction Cosines of a line : The direction of a line is determined by the angles  ,  and 
which it makes with the axes. These angles are called the direction angles. The cosine of these
angles are called direction cosines and is usually represented by l, m and n
ie. l  cos  , m  cos  and n = cos

If we take the opposite direction of OP then angles with axes are    ,    and  - .In this
case the direction cosines are
l  cos       cos , m  cos       cos  and n = cos       cos 

Sum of the squares of the direction cosines of a line is always is 1.

If two lines are parallel then their direction cosines are equal

Direction Ratios: Any three numbers that are proportional to the direction cosines of aline are
called direction ratios of the line. If l, m and n are the direction cosines of a line , then a, b c are
its direction ratios such that l = a  , m = b  and n = c  where   0 and   R
Relation between direction cosines and direction ratios:
If l, m,n are the direction cosines of a line and a,b,c form a set of its direction ratios, then:
l/a = m/b = n/c = k (constant)
⇒ l = ak ...(1)
m = bk ...(2)
n = ck ...(3)
l2 + m2 + n2 = (a2k2 + b2k2 + c2k2)
⇒ l2 + m2 + n2 = k2 (a2 + b2 + c2)
We know that l2 + m2 + n2 = 1.
k2 (a2 + b2 + c2) = 1
1
⇒ k2 = √𝑎2 2 2
+𝑏 +𝑐
1
⇒ k = ± √𝑎2
+𝑏2 +𝑐 2
From equation (1), (2), (3)
𝑎
l = ± √𝑎2 2 2
+𝑏 +𝑐
𝑏
m = ± √𝑎2
+𝑏2 +𝑐 2
𝑐
n = ± √𝑎2
+𝑏2 +𝑐 2
Direction Cosines of a Line Passing through Two Given Points

Direction cosines of a line passing through two given points:

Let A= (x1,y1,z1) B = (x2,y2,z2)
Direction cosines of given line are cos α, cos β, cos γ
In right-angled ∆BAC:
cos β = AC/AB …(1)
AC = y2 - y1
AB = √(x2 − x1 )2 + (y2 − y1 )2 + (z2 − z1 )2
y2 −y1
⇒ cos β = 2 2 2
√(x2 −x1 ) +(y2 −y1 ) +(z2 −z1 )

Similarly:
x2 −x1
cos α =
√(x2 −x1 )2 +(y2 −y1 )2 +(z2 −z1 )2

z2 −x1
cos γ =
√(x2 −x1 ) +(y2 −y1 )2 +(z2 −z1 )2
2

Direction cosines of a line passing through (x1,y1,z1) and (x2,y2,z2)

x2 −x1
cos α (l) =
√(x2 −x1 )2 +(y2 −y1 )2 +(z2 −z1 )2

y2 −y1
cos β (m) =
√(x2 −x1 ) +(y2 −y1 )2 +(z2 −z1 )2
2

z2 −x1
Cos γ (n) =
√(x2 −x1 ) +(y2 −y1 )2 +(z2 −z1 )2
2

Direction ratios of a line passing through (x1,y1,z1) and (x2,y2,z2):

(x2 - x1), (y2 - y1), (z2 - z1) and (x1 - x2), (y1 - y2), (z1 - z2)
Angle between two lines :
If  is the angle between two lines with direction cosines l1,m1,n1 and l2,m2,n2 then
1) cos  l1l2  m1m2  n1n2
l m n
2) If the lines are parallel 1  1  1
l2 m2 n2
3) If the lines are perpendicular l1l2  m1m2  n1n2  0
If  is the angle between two lines with direction ratios a1,b1,c1 and a2,b2,c2 then
a1a2  b1b2  c1c2
1) cos  
a12  b12  c12 a2 2  b2 2  c2 2
a1 b1 c1
2) If the lines are parallel  
a2 b2 c2
3) If the lines are perpendicular a1a2  b1b2  c1c2  0

Straight line in Space:

A line is uniquely determined in space if
(i) it passes through a given point and has given direction( parallel to a vector) or
(ii) it passes through two given points.
A)To find the equation of a straight line passing through a fixed point A and parallel to a given
vector m :-
Let a be the position vector of the point A and r be the position vector of any point P on the line
. Then P is a point on the line if and only if AP is parallel to m ie. AP   m for some real number

But AP  OP  OA  r  a m
r - a  m
r  a   m (Vector equation) A P

a r
o

If A( x1, y1, z1) and the direction ratios of the line be a , b, c then r  a   m becomes
   
xiˆ  yjˆ  zkˆ  x1iˆ  y1 ˆj  z1kˆ   aiˆ  bjˆ  ckˆ
Comparing the coefficients of i, j, k we get the parametric equation of the line as x = x1 +  a ,
y = y1 + b and z= z1 + c
x  x1 y  y1 z  z1
Eliminating  we get the Cartesian equation of the line as  
a b c

B)To find the equation of a straight line passing through two foxed points A ( x1, y1, z1) and
B ( x2, y2, z2):
Let a and b be the position vector of A and B respectively. If r is the position vector of a point P
then P is a point on the line if and only if AP   AB

OP  OA   OB  OA 
 
r  a   b  a fig (2)
r  a    b  a  ( Vector Equation)
Substituting the values of a and b in terms of i, j and k components we get
   
xiˆ  yjˆ  zkˆ  x1iˆ  y1 ˆj  z1kˆ    x2  x1  iˆ   y2  y1  ˆj   z2  z1  kˆ
Comparing the coefficients of i,j and k we get the parametric equation of the line as
x = x1+   x2  x1  , y = y1 +   y2  y1  , z= z1 +   z2  z1 

x  x1 y  y1 z  z1
Eliminating  we get the Cartesian equation of the line as  
x2  x1 y2  y1 z2  z1
Angle between two lines :
Let r  a  b and r  a  b ' be two lines in space . These lines are in the directions of
b and b ' respectively. The angle  between these lines is defined as the angle between the
directions of b and b ' ie between the parallel vectors. But b  b '  b b ' cos  .
b  b'
cos 
b b'
In Cartesian form : If the equation of the lines are
x  x1 y  y1 z  z1 x  x '1 y  y '1 z  z '1
  and   then the angle between them is given by
b1 b2 b3 b '1 b '2 b '3
b1b '1  b2b '2  b3b '3
cos  
b12  b2 2  b32 b '12  b '2 2  b '32
= ll’ +mm’ +nn’ where l,m,n and l’, m’ n’ are the direction cosines of the lines
If the lines are perpendicular then the angle between them is 900.
b1b '1  b2b '2  b3b '3
 cos900 
b12  b2 2  b32 b '12  b '2 2  b '32

b1b '1  b2b '2  b3b '3

0 or 0  ll ' mm ' nn '
b  b2 2  b32 b '12  b '2 2  b '32
1
2

0  b1b '1  b2b '2  b3b '3 or 0  ll ' mm ' nn '

ie sum of the product of the direction ratios is zero or sum of the product of the direction
cosines is zero.
Two lines with direction ratios a1 , b1 , c1 and a2 , b2 , c2 are (i) perpendicular i.e. if   90 a1 a2 + b1 b2 +
0

a b c
c1 c2 = 0 (ii) parallel i.e. if   0 ie 1  1  1
0

a2 b2 c2
Shortest distance between two lines:There are lines in space which are neither intersecting nor
parallel. These lines are called Skew lines.Consider two skew lines l1 and l2 whose directions are
those of b1 and b2 and whose equations are r  a1   b1 and r  a2   b2 . If PQ is the shortest
distance vector between them, then being perpendicular to both b1 and b2 it must be parallel to
b1  b2 .
b1  b2
 The unit vector n along PQ ie n 
b1  b2
Let PQ = d n where d is the magnitude of PQ. Consider line segment ST, where S is a point on l1
with position vector a1 and T on l2 with position vector a2 . If  is the angle between ST and PQ

then PQ  ST cos . But cos 

PQ  ST


d n  a2  a1   b  b    a
1 2 2  a1 
PQ ST dST ST b1  b2

d  PQ  ST cos  
b  b    a
1 2 2  a1 
b1  b2
The shortest distance between the two lines r  a1   b1 and r  a2   b2 is

b  b    a
1 2 2  a1 
b1  b2

The two lines will intersect if and only if d = 0 .ie b1  b2  a2  a1  0   

If the lines l1 and l2 are parallel r  a1  b and r  a2  b then they are coplanar. The

shortest distance between them is given by


b  a2  a1 
b

OTHER IMPORTANT POINTS: ( Exam Point of View)

 If the lines r  a1  b1 and r  a2  b2 are coplanar then  a1 b1 b2    a2 b1 b2  and the

equation of the plane containing them is  r b1 b2   a1 b1 b2  OR r b1 b2   a2 b1 b2 

x  x1 y  y1 z  z1 x  x2 y  y2 z  z2
 In Cartesian form: If the lines   and   are
l1 m1 n1 l2 m2 n2
x2  x1 y2 -y1 z 2 -z1
coplanar then l1 m1 n1  0
l2 m2 n2
x  x1 y-y1 z-z1
 The equation of the plane containing them is l1 m1 n1  0 OR
l2 m2 n2
x  x2 y-y 2 z-z 2
l1 m1 n1  0
l2 m2 n2
 Method to find the image of a point w.r.to a given line :
 Two lines intersects and hence find the point of intersection