Examples of Finding an Equation of a Plane

Example 1. Find an equation of the plane that passes through the point (1, 2, 3) and is parallel to the xy-plane.

We are given a point in the plane. The normal vector must be perpendicular to the xy-plane, so we can use the
direction vector for the z-axis, ~n = h 0, 0, 1 i. Thus, an equation of this plane is

0(x 1) + 0(y 2) + 1(z 3) = 0

or
z3=0

Example 2. Find an equation of the plane that contains the y-axis and makes an angle of 6 with the positive x-axis.

We can use any point on the y-axis, so (0, 0, 0) is as good as any. If the plane makes an angle of 6 with the positive
x-axis, then the normal vector must make an angle of 6 + 2 = 2 with the positive x-axis. The vector from the
3
origin to the point (1, 0, 3) is such a vector, so ~n = h 1, 0, 3 i. Thus, an equation of this plane is

1(x 0) + 0(y 0) + 3(z 0) = 0

or
x + 3z = 0

Example 3. Find an equation of the plane that passes through the points (1, 2, 1) and (2, 5, 6) and is parallel to
the x-axis.

We can use either of the given points. The vector between the points, ~u = h 2 1, 5 (2), 6 (1) i = h 1, 7, 7 i, is
in the plane, and a direction vector for the x-axis, ~v = h 1, 0, 0 i is also in the plane. So a normal vector for the plane
is

~n = ~u ~v
 
 k      
 7 7 1 7 1 7
= 1 7 7  = 
  + k 
1 0 0 0  1 0  1 0
0
= (7 0 0 7) (1 0 1 7) + k(1 0 1 7) = h 0, 7, 7 i

Thus an equation of this plane is

0(x 1) + 7(y + 2) 7(z + 1) = 0
or
7y 7z + 7 = 0