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Math241 12.5

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10 views4 pages

Math241 12.5

Uploaded by

Lemona Thompson
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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SECTION 12.

5 : EQUATIONS OF LINES AND PLANES

Lines
Let L be a line in R. Suppose (x0 , y0 , z0 ) is a point on L and v = ha, b, ci is a vector parallel to L.
Question If P (x, y, z) is any point on L, what must be true about the direction of the vector
w = hx x0 , y y0 , z z0 i?
The point P (x, y, z) lies on L if and only if w is a scalar multiple of v:
w = tv
for some real number t. That is,
hx x0 , y y0 , z z0 i = tha, b, ci
Solving for x, y, and z gives parametric equations for the line L:
x = x0 + at
y = y0 + bt
z = z0 + ct
Note that every value of t gives a point on the line, and every point on the line corresponds to
some value of the parameter t.
Vector Equation of L:
hx, y, zi = hx0 , y0 , z0 i + tha, b, ci
Symmetric Equations of L:
If a, b, and c are all nonzero
x x0 y y0 z z0
= =
a b c
Examples
1. 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.
2. Find parametric equations for the line through the point (6, 0, 2) and parallel to the line
x=4 3t y= 1 + 4t z = 6 + 5t
3. Find parametric and symmetric equations for the line though the points ( 5, 2, 5) and
(1, 6, 2).
4. Determine whether the lines
L1 : x = 1 + 1 y =2+t z=3 t
L2 : x = 2 s y= 3 + 2s z = 2s
are parallel, skew, or intersecting. If they intersect, find the point of intersection.

1
Planes
A plane - just like a line - is determined by a point and a vector. However, the set of vectors lying
in a given plane point in infinitely many directions. So how do we specify the direction of a plane?
Suppose a plane contains the point (x0 , y0 , z0 ). Let n = ha, b, ci be a vector normal to the plane. If
P (x, y, z) is any point in the plane, the vector hx x0 , y y0 , z z0 i must be orthogonal to n. Two
vectors are orthogonal if and only if their dot product is zero:
a(x x0 ) + b(y y0 ) + (z z0 ) = 0
which gives an equation of the plane.

Examples
Find an equation of the plane
1. through the point (1, 2, 3) with normal vector i 2j + 4k.
2. through the origin and perpendicular to the line
x=1 8t y= 1 7t z = 4 + 2t
3. through the point (2, 1, 0) and parallel to the plane z = 2x 3y.
4. containing the line
x=1+t y=2 t z=4 3t
and parallel to the plane 5x + 2y + z = 1.
5. through the points (3, 0, 1), ( 2, 2, 3), and (7, 1, 4).

Distances
The distance D from the point (x1 , y1 , z1 ) to the plane ax + by + cz + d = 0 is

|ax1 + by1 + cz1 + d|


D= p
a2 + b 2 + c 2

Example Find the distance between the parallel planes


2x 3y + z = 4, 4x 6y + 2z = 3.

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