Brian Streit

Math 2451

Quiz 1 Solutions

1. A vector parallel to the given line is u = (2; 1; 1). A parameterized

vector pointing from (3; 1; 2) to our line is
v(t) = (2t + 2; t 1; t) (3; 1; 2) = (2t 1; t; t 2):
Now, u is perpendicular to v(t) if and only if
u v(t) = 0 , 4t 2 + t + t + 2 = 0 , t = 0:
So v(0) = ( 1; 0; 2) is perpendicular to u and, therefore, is in the direction
of our desired line. Since the direction of our desired line is v(0) = ( 1; 0; 2)
and (3; 1; 2) is a point on the line, the equation of our desired line is
l(s) = (3; 1; 2) + s( 1; 0; 2) = (3 s; 1; 2 2s):

2. To …nd the intersection of the lines 2x + 3y = 1 and 3x y = 5 is to the

solve the system of equations
2x + 3y = 1
3x y = 5
for x and y. But this system is equivalent to the matrix equation
2 3 x 1
= :
3 1 y 5
We compute
2 3
= 11
3 1
and
1
2 3 1 1 3
=
3 1 11 3 2
so
x 1 1 3 1 1 16
= = :
y 11 3 2 5 11 7
We can check our answer by observing that
16 7
2 +3 = 1:
11 11

3. a) r cos = z
b) sin ' cos = cos ' or sin ' cos = cos ' since a lack of in the latter
equality implies that there is no restriction on , which allows range over
[0; 1):