MEI AS Further Mathematics Vectors

Topic assessment
1. Find:
 2   2
(i)   .   [2]
 3   4 
 2   1
  
(ii)  1  .  3  [2]
0  2 
  

2. Work out the angle between the vectors:

2  3
(i)   and   [3]
 1  2 
 2 1
   
(ii)  1  and  2  [3]
 4  3
   

3. The points A, B and C have coordinates (2, -1), (3, 2) and (-4, 0) respectively.
(i) Write down the vectors AB , AC and BC . [3]
(ii) Find BC . [2]
(iii) Find ABC . [3]

4. The points A, B and C have coordinates (2, -1, 3), (4, -2, 0) and (1, -5, 0)
respectively.
1 1
   
(i) Work out AB.  1 and BC.  1 . [4]
1 1
   
(ii) Find the Cartesian equation of the plane ABC. [3]

5. A plane has equation 2 x  2 y  z  5 .

(i) Write down a vector normal to the plane. [1]
(ii) Another plane has equation px  7 z  3 . The angle between the two planes is
60°. Find, in exact form, the possible values of p. [7]

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6. Three planes have equations 1 3x  2 y  4 z  5

2 2x  y  3
 3 x  y  12 z  1
(i) Show that the planes form a triangular prism. [3]
(ii) Find the angle between the planes 1 and  2 . [4]

Total 40 marks

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Solutions to topic assessment

 2  2
1. (i)   .    2  2  ( 3)  4  4  ( 12)  8 [2]
 3   4 
 2   1 
  
(ii)  1  .  3   2 ( 1)  1  3  0  2  2  3  1 [2]
0  2 
  

a.b
2. (i) Using the formula: cos  
a b
2
Let a     a  2 2  ( 1)2  4  1  5
 1 
 3 
and b     b  3 2  ( 2)2  9  4  13
 2 
2 3 
also a.b    .    2  3  ( 1) ( 2)  6  2  8
 1   2 
8
So cos    0.992...    7.13 to 3 s.f. [3]
5 13
2
 
(ii) Let a   1   a  2 2  1 2  42  4  1  16  21
 4
 
 1 
 
and b   2   b  1 2  ( 2)2  3 2  1  4  9  14
 3 
 
2  1 
  
also a.b   1  .  2   2  1  1 ( 2)  4  3  2  ( 2)  12  12
 4  3 
  
12
So cos    0.699...    45.6 to 3 s.f. [3]
14 21

3  2   1
3. (i) AB  OB  OA         
 2   1   3 
 4   2   6 
AC  OC  OA         
 0   1   1 

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 4   3   7 
BC  OC  OB          [3]
 0   2   2 

(ii) BC  ( 7)2  ( 2)2  49  4  53 [2]

(iii) ABC is the angle between BC and BA

 1 
BA   AB   
 3 
BC.BA
Using the formula: cos  
BC BA
 7   1 
BC.BA    .    ( 7) ( 1)  ( 2) ( 3)  7  6  13
 2   3 
BC  53 (from part (ii))
BA  ( 1)2  ( 3)2  1  9  10
13
So cos    0.564...    55.6 to 3 s.f. [3]
53 10

 4 2 2 
     
4. (i) AB  OB  OA   2    1    1 
 0   3   3 
     
 1  2  1 
    
AB.  1    1  .  1   2  1  3  0
 1   3   1 
    
 1   4   3 
     
BC  OC  OB   5    2    3 
 0   0   0 
     
 1   3   1 
    
BC.  1    3  .  1   3  3  0  0
 1   0  1 
    
[4]
 1 
 
(ii) The vector  1  is perpendicular to two lines on the plane and so it must be
 1 
 
perpendicular to the plane.

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The equation of the plane is r.n  a.n

 1  2  1 
     
r.  1    1  .  1   2  1  3  6
 1  3  1 
     
So the Cartesian equation of the plane is x  y  z  6 [3]

 2 
 
5. (i) Normal vector is  2  [1]
 1 
 

p
  2
(ii) Normal vector for second plane is n 2   0   n 2  p 2  49
7
 
 2 
  2
For first plane, n 1   2   n 1  441  9
 1 
 
n 1 .n 2  2 p  7
n .n
cos   1 2
n1 n2
1 2p  7

2 3 p 2  49

3 p 2  49  2(2 p  7)
Squaring both sides: 9( p 2  49)  4(2 p  7)2
9p 2  441  16 p 2  112 p  196
7 p 2  112 p  245  0
p 2  16 p  35  0
16  16 2  4  1  35 16  396
p   8  3 11
2 2

6. (i) (1) 3 x  2 y  4z  5
(2) 2 x  y  3
(3) x  y  12 z  1

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(1)+2(3)  5 x  20z  7  x  4z  7
5

(2)+(3)  3 x  12 z  4  x  4z  43
So the equations are inconsistent, and since no equation is a multiple of any
other, none of the planes are parallel. So they must form a triangular prism.

 3 
 
(ii) Angle between planes is angle between the normal vectors n 1   2  and
 4 
 
2
 
n 2   1 
0
 
n 1 .n 2  6  2  0  8
n1  9  4  16  29
n2  4  1  0  5
8
cos  
29 5
  48.4
The angle between the planes is 48.4° (3 s.f.)

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