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1.4.

L INES AND P LANES , PART I

In two dimensions, there are numerous ways of presenting the equation of a line, such as m x x0 . In this form we are specifying a point on the line, point-slope form, y y0 x0 , y0 , and the slope of the line, m. In three dimensions, one way to specify a line is with a point, x0 , y0 , z0 , on the line, m1 , m2 , m3 . and the direction of the line, which we specify with a vector m

m L P0 x0 , y0 , z0

x, y, z

You should think of an equation for a line (or any other region, for that matter) as a point-testing procedure. If the equation holds for a point x, y, z , then x, y, z lies on the line, and otherwise x, y, z does not lie on the line. From this viewpoint, the point x, y, z lies on the line L if and only if the vector P0 P is parallel to the direction vector P m. Remembering that two vectors are parallel if and only if they are scalar multiples, we see that P lies on the line if and only if P0 P mt

for some scalar t. Expanding P0 P , we see that x, y, z lies on the line if and only if x or x, y, z mt x0 , y0 , z0 . This is called a vector-valued function, or simply a vector function, because it takes one number as input, t, and returns a vector, x, y, z . Geometrically, we think of a vector function as tracing out a curve consisting of all the points its vectors point to from the origin. x0 , y y0 , z z0 mt,

Vector Equation for a Line. The vector equation for the line through the point x0 , y0 , z0 parallel to the vector m is rt where t . mt x0 , y0 , z0 ,

By solving the vector equation for a line for x, y, and z, we obtain another form.

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Parametric Equations for a Line. The parametric equations for the line through the point x0 , y0 , z0 parallel to the vector m m1 , m2 , m3 are x m 1 t x0 , y m2 t y 0 , m3 t z0 , z where t .

Notice that unlike in the 2d case, where every line has a unique slope-intercept form (y mx b), in 3d it is always possible to give different equations for lines by using a x0 , y0 , z0 . different base points P0 Example 1. Give a vector equation for the line through the point 4, 0, 2 parallel to the vector 2, 1, 1 . Solution. We have been given everything we need. The vector equation rt species this line. 2, 1, 1 t 4, 0, 2

Example 2. Give a vector equation for the line through the points P 0, 1, 3 . Q Solution. This line is parallel to the vector P Q, PQ 0 3 ,1 2, 3 2 ,

3, 2, 2 and

3, 1, 1 , so the line is given by rt 3, 1, 1 t 3, 2, 2 . (Note that here we used the point P as our base point, but we could instead have chosen Q, or indeed, any other point on the line.)

Example 3. Determine whether the point P rt 0, 2, 2 t

3, 1, 4 lies on the line 3, 5, 9 .

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Solution. This point lies on the line if and only if we can nd a value of t satisfying 3, 1, 4 0, 2, 2 t 3, 5, 9 .

We try to solve these equations component-by-component. In the x-coordinate, we need 3 0t 3,

which is true for all values of t. In the y-coordinate, we need 1 which is true only for t 2t 5,

3. However, for this value of t, the z-coordinates do not match: 4 2 3 9.

Therefore the point P does not lie on the given line. In 2-space, every pair of lines is either parallel or intersecting. This is not the case in 3-space. If two lines are neither parallel nor intersecting, we call them skew. To check if two lines are parallel, you only need to see if their direction vectors are parallel (i.e., scalar multiples of each other). To check if two lines are intersecting, however, you need to solve a system of equations, as Example 5 shows. Example 4. Determine if the two lines L1 : x L2 : x 3t 2, y 6t 5, y t 3, z 2t, z 5t 3 10t 6

are parallel, intersecting, or skew. Solution. The lines L1 and L2 are parallel because their direction vectors, 3, 1, 5 and 6, 2, 10 are scalar multiples of each other.

Example 5. Determine if the two lines rt st are parallel, intersecting, or skew. Solution. First, r t and s t do not specify parallel lines because their direction vectors, 3, 1, 5 and 1, 2, 4 , are not scalar multiples of each other. To see if the lines intersect, we s t2 (note that t1 and need to determine if there are parameters t1 and t2 such that r t1 3, 1, 5 t 1, 2, 4 t 2, 3, 3 , 4, 0, 6

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t2 can be different!). This is what is known as an over-determined system, because there are 3 equations but only 2 unknowns. First, in the x-coordinate, we need 3t1 which implies that t2 3t1 t1 which forces us to have t1 unequal, 2 t2 4,

2. Plugging this into the y-coordinate, we need 3

15

2t2 and t2
15

2 3t1
7 5.

6t1

4,

However, this makes the z-coordinates

75

6.

This shows that the lines do not intersect, so since they also arent parallel, they are skew by denition.

P LANES
A plane is any at, 2-dimensional surface (think of the xy-plane). There are a great many ways to specify a plane: three points, two non-skew lines, a line and a point not on the line, a point and two vectors parallel to the plane (which arent parallel to each other), or a point and a vector orthogonal to the plane. It is the last of these that we use to write equations for planes. In all the other cases, we will nd the equation for the plane by rst nding a point on the plane and a vector orthogonal to the plane this we postpone until Section 1.6. A vector which is orthogonal to a plane is called a normal vector. Given a point P0 x0 , y0 , z0 and a vector n, what is the equation for the plane containing P0 and normal to n? Again, we think of this as a point-testing procedure. Suppose we are considering the point P x, y, z . The point P lies on the plane if and only if the whole line P0 P lies on the plane. Translating this to vectors, the point P lies on the plane if and only if P0 P is orthogonal to n, as shown in Figure 1.5. This is the vector equation for a plane. Vector Equation for a Plane. The vector equation for the plane through the point x0 , y0 , z0 normal to the vector n is x x0 , y y0 , z z0 n 0.

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n P0 x 0 , y0 , z 0

P0

x, y, z

Figure 1.5: The point P lies on the plane containing P0 and normal to n if and only if P0 P is orthogonal to n.

As with lines, we can expand this to get the component equation for a plane. Component Equation for a Plane. The vector equation for the plane through the point x0 , y0 , z0 normal to the vector n n1 , n2 , n3 is n1 x x0 n2 y y0 n3 z z0 0.

Example 6. Find the vector and component equations for the plane through 5, 2, 1 normal to the vector 2, 1, 2 . Solution. For the vector equation, we just have to write down what is given to us: x 5, y 2, z 1 2, 1, 2 0.

Now we expand this to get the component equation 2x 5 y 2 2z 1 0.

We could simplify this further to obtain 2x as well. y 2z 14

The Intersection of Lines and Planes. A line is parallel to a plane if its direction vector is orthogonal to the planes normal vector. If a line is not parallel to a plane, then it intersects the plane in a unique point.

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Example 7. Find the point where the line r t 4x y 7z 1.

2t

3, 3

t, 10

3t intersects the plane

Solution. To solve this example we simply substitute the x, y, and z values given by the equation of the line into the equation of the plane and solve for t. This shows that 4 2t 3 3 t 7 10 3t 1, which simplies to 28t 56, i.e., t 2. Substituting this value of t into the equation of the line gives the point of intersection, 7, 1, 4 . It is easy to test whether two planes are parallel. Parallel Planes. Two planes are parallel if and only if their normal vectors are parallel. When two planes happen to intersect, they generally form four angles, two obtuse and two acute (the other option is that they are orthogonal, in which case they form four right angles). By convention, when we talk about the angle between two planes we mean the acute (or right) angle they form. The angle between two planes is the same as the angle between their two normal vectors, so since the equations for planes allow us to easily read off the normal vectors, they also allow us to easily compute the angle between two planes via a dot product, as we show in our last example. Example 8. Compute the angle between the planes x 5y 2z 10 and x 2y 3z 2.

Solution. The two normal vectors in this case n1 1, 5, 2 and n2 have 1 1 5 2 2 3 3, n1 n2 n1 12 52 22 30, 2 2 2 n2 1 2 3 14. Now since n1 n2 cos , n1 n2 we have that arccos 3

1, 2, 3 . We then

. 30 14 Note that in the above we are substituting a negative number into arccos, so will be an obtuse angle. Therefore the angle between the given planes is actually .

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E XERCISES FOR S ECTION 1.4

In Exercises 110, determine if the given point lies on the specied line or plane. 1. Point: 1, 2, 2 1, 1, 1 , line: r t 2, 3, 1 t 4t, 2t, 2t 4y 2y x 2 z z 7 0 1 1 In Exercises 2124, give 3d vector equations for these lines. 21. The line y 22. The line y 2y 3x 1 in the xy-plane 19. The line through 1, 1, 1 orthogonal to the plane 3x 8y z 10 20. The line through 5, 2, 7 orthogonal to the plane 2x y 5z 10

2. Point: 2, 1, 1 , line: r t 3. Point: 3, 1, 5 , plane: 2x 4. Point: 4, 3, 2 , plane: 2x 5. Point: 2, 2, 2 , plane: 1, 1, 1 0

1, y, z

0 in the xy-plane 2y 2z 4 inter2z 5

6. Point: the origin, plane: 3 x 4z 1 0 7. Point: 0, 1, 0 , line: the x-axis 8. Point: 0, 1, 0 , line: the y-axis

23. The line where the plane x sects the xy-plane

24. The line where the plane 7x intersects the xy-plane

3y

9. Point: 3, 0, 2 , plane: the xz-plane 10. Point: 0, 1, 8 , plane: the xz-plane Give vector equations for the planes in Exercises 25 30. 25. The plane containing the point 2, 1, 4 and normal to i 9j 3k 26. The plane containing the point normal to 5, 3, 7 27. The plane containing the line rt 2, 1, 3 t j 3, 2, 5 k 3, 5, 2 and

Give vector equations for the lines in Exercises 11 20. 11. The x-axis 12. The y-axis 13. The line through 3, 2, 1 parallel to the x-axis 14. The line through 2, 3, 1 parallel to 2, 4, 4 15. The line through 0, 2, 1 parallel to the line given by x 9 t, y 2 3t, z 10 4t

and normal to the vector i

28. The plane containing both the y- and z-axes 29. The plane containing the origin which is parallel to 2x 4y 5z 12 30. The plane containing 4, 3, 2 which is parallel to 2x 4y 5z 12

16. The line through 1, 3, 1 parallel to the line given by x 4t, y 5 7t, z 2 4t

In Exercises 3132, nd the point at which the line intersects the plane. and 31. Line: 2, 3, 2 t 8, 12, 8 , plane: 2x 7y 5z 17 3, 1, 2 t 32. Line: plane: 4x y z 41 3, 3, 2 ,

17. The line through the points 2, 1, 3

2, 3, 4

18. The line through the points 9, 3, 5 and 2, 7, 4

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In Exercises 3334, nd any point on both planes. 33. 2x 34. x y y z 3z 10 and x 1 and 2x 2y 2y 3z z 5 8

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L1 : L2 : L1 : L2 : x x 3t, 7 t, y y 4 t, 2t 5, z z 2t 3t

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37. 38.

1, 2, 9 t 3, 1, 3 3, 0, 4 t 1, 2, 1

Determine if the lines in Exercises 3538 are parallel, intersecting, or skew. L1 : 2, 6, 10 t 1, 3, 2 35. L2 : 1, 3, 5 t 9, 7, 8 36. L1 : L2 : x x 2t 1, 1, y y 9 7, t, z z 5t 8t 2 1

In Exercises 39 and 40, describe the set of vectors which are orthogonal to both of the given lines. 39. 40. L1 : L2 : L1 : L2 : 3, 2, 1 t 2, 4, 2 t 2, 0, 4 t 5, 7, 1 t 3, 2, 2 2, 0, 3 9, 0, 0 4, 1, 3

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A NSWERS TO S ELECTED E XERCISES , S ECTION 1.4

1. No, to agree in x-coordinate we need t 3. Yes, 2 3 5. Yes, 1, 2, 1 41 5 7. 0. 1, 1, 1 0, but that gives the point 1, 2, 2 .

7. No, the x-axis consists of those points whose y- and z-coordinates are 0. 9. Yes, the xz-plane consists of those points whose y-coordinate is 0. 11. r t 13. r t 15. r t 17. r t 19. r t 21. r t 23. r t 1, 0, 0 t 1, 0, 0 t 1, 3, 4 t 0, 4, 1 t 3, 8, 1 t 1, 3, 0 t 2, 1, 0 t 3, 2, 1 0, 2, 1 2, 3, 4 1, 1, 1 0, 1, 0 4, 0, 0 x 2, y 1, z 4 1, 9, 3 0.

25. The vector equation is 27. Here we only use the line to get a point on the plane, equation x 3, y 2, z 5 29. To be parallel to 2x 4y by the vector equation 31.
34 35, 51 35, 34 35

3, 2, 5 . The plane is then given by the vector 1, 1, 1 0.

5z

12, we need to have normal vector 2, 4, 5 . The plane is then given x 0, y 0, z 0 2, 4, 5 0.

33. One such point is 0, 5 7, 25 7 . 35. The two direction vectors are scalar multiples of each other, so the lines are parallel. 37. The lines intersect at the point 9, 1, 6 . 39. All vectors parallel to 0, 1, 2 , or in other words, all vectors of the form 0, a, 2a for some number a.