12.

Lines and Planes

Review: i j k
u  v   u2v3  u3v2  i   u1v3  u3v1  j   u1v2  u2v1  k  u1 u2 u3
u  v is orthogonal to both u and v. u  v  u v sin  v1 v2 v3

u and v are paralallel if and only if u  v  0

u  v  area of the parallelogram determined by u and v
1
2 u  v  area of the triangle having u and v as adjacent sides.

Volume of parallelepiped  u   v  w  determined by u and v and w

u1 u2 u3
Triple scalar product (u  v )  w  v1 v2 v3
w1 w2 w3

Vector equation of a line L: r  r0  tv r0 point on the line, direction v  a, b, c

Parametric  scalar  equation of a line L: x  x0  at , y  y0  bt , z  z0  ct

 Parametric equations of the line from P0 to P1 :
A  a point on the line, e.g. P0

B  a direction vector for the line: v  P0 P1  P1  P0

Vector equation of the line: r (t )  P0  t ( P1  P0 )

Notice: r (0)  P0 and r (1)  P0  ( P1  P0 )  P1

r (t )  P0  t ( P1  P0 ) with 0  t  1 is the line which goes from P0 to P1

 Problem: Determine whether the lines L1 and L2 are parallel, skew
or intersecting. If they intersect, find the point of intersection.
L1 : x  3  t , y  5  3t , z  1  4t L2 : x  8  2 s, y  6  4 s, z  5  s

Set the x coordinate equal to each other: 3  t  8  2s , or 2 s  t  5

Set the y coordinate equal to each other: 5  3t  6  4s , or 4s  3t  11

We get a system of equations: 2 s  t  5 or 4s  2t  10 t  1

4s  3t  11 4s  3t  11 s  2

1  4t  5  s Find the point of intersection using L1 :

1  4  1  5   2 
Check to make sure that the z
x  3   1

 4, 2,3
values are equal for this t and s.
y  5  3  1
3  3 check
z  1  4  1
 Planes
In order to find the equation of a plane, we need : this vector is called
A  a point on the plane P0  x0 , y0 , z0  the normal vector

B a vector that is orthogonal to the plane n  a, b, c to the plane

P0 P is orthogonal to n
n   r  r0   0
vector equation of the plane
n   r  r0   0 
a  x  x0   b  y  y0   c  z  z0   0

r0  OP0  x0 , y0 , z0 scalar (or component) equation of the plane

r  OP  x, y, z n  a, b, c ax  by  cz  ax0  by0  cz0

P0 P  r - r0  x  x0 , y  y0 , z  z0 Plane: ax  by  cz  d
Problem : Determine the equation of the plane that passes through
P  (1, 2, 3), Q  (3, 2,1) and R  ( 1, 2, 2)

For a point in the plane we can choose e.g. P = (1,2,3)

For a vector normal to the plane we can choose the cross product of two vectors in the plane:

For two vectors in the plane we can choose e.g. u  PQ  2, 0, 2 and v = PR  2, 4, 1

i j k
u v  2 0 2   0  8 i   4  2 j   8  0  k  8i  6 j  8k
2 4 1

n  4i  3 j  4k is normal to the plane

4( x  1)  3( y  2)  4( z  3)  0 4 x  3 y  4 z  10
Two distinct planes in 3-space either are parallel or intersect in a line.

Question: How do I decide if two planes are parallel?

Answer: The normal must be parallel. Are the planes 2 x  y  z  1

and  4 x  2 y  2 z  3 parallel?
Problem : Find the parametric form of the line of intersection of the two planes
x  2 y  z  0 and 2 x  3 y  2 z  0

2x  4 y  2z  0
2x  3y  2z  0
4x  y  0 y  4x
Take the first equation:
x  2 y  z  0 and plug in y  4 x
x  2  4x   z  0  z  7x

x can be anything and we have y and z as functions of x.

Let x  t then y  4t and z  7t
L : x  t , y  4t , z  7t
If two planes intersect, then you can determine the angle between them.
between planes  between their normal vectors

n2 n1


n1  n 2
cos  
n1 n 2

Example:
Find the angle between the planes
x  2y  z  0 n1  n 2 6
2x  3y  2z  0
cos      54
n1 n 2 102
 n1  1, 2,1 and n2  2,3, 2
n1  6 and n2  17  n1  n2  2  6  2  6
 Distance between a point and a plane:
Q
The point is given by Q D
b
The plane is given by a point P0 and a normal n
n
Project the vector b  P0Q onto the normal direction n :

| b n | P0
Distance D  | compnb | 
n
Example:
Find the distance from Q  (1, 2, 0) to the plane 2 x  y  1 | b n |
D
P0  (0,1, 0) n  2,1, 0 b = P0Q  1,1, 0 n
| 1,1, 0 . 2,1, 0 | 3
D 
4 1 5
 Distance between a point and a line:

The point is given by S

The line is given by a point P and a direction v

Distance D  | PS | sin( )  | PS  v |
|v|

Example:
| PS  v |
Find the distance from S  (1, 0,1) to the line containing D
P0  (1,1,1) and P1  (2, 1,1) |v|
i j k
1
P0 S  0, 1, 0 v  P0 P1  1, 2, 0 P0 S  v  0 1 0  k D
1 2 0
5