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Geometry of Space
Section 7.5
Lines and Planes in Space
Written by Karen Overman
Instructor of Mathematics
Lines in Space
Previously you have studied lines in a two-dimensional coordinate system. These lines were
determined by a point and a direction or the slope.
Sebelumnya Anda telah mempelajari baris dalam sistem koordinat dua dimensi. Garis-garis ini
ditentukan oleh titik dan arah atau lereng.
In 3-dimensional space, a line will also be determined by a point and a direction, except in 3dimensional space the direction will be given by a parallel vector, called the direction vector.
Dalam ruang 3 dimensi, garis juga akan ditentukan oleh titik dan arah, kecuali di ruang 3-dimensi
arah akan diberikan oleh vektor paralel, yang disebut vektor arah.
Lines in Space
To determine the equation of the line passing through the point P x 0 , y 0 , z 0
and parallel to the direction vector, v a , b,c
knowledge that parallel vectors are scalar multiples. Thus, the vector
through P and any other point Q x , y , z on the line is a scalar multiple
of the direction vector, v a , b,c .
Untuk menentukan persamaan garis yang melewati titik P x 0 , y 0 , z 0
dan sejajar dengan vektor arah, v a , b,c , kita akan menggunakan kami
pengetahuan bahwa vektor paralel kelipatan skalar. Dengan demikian, vektor
melalui P dan titik Q lain pada baris merupakan kelipatan skalar
dari vektor arah,
v a , b,c
In other words,
x x 0 , y y 0 , z z 0 at , bt ,ct
x x 0 at , y y 0 bt and z z 0 ct
or
x x 0 at , y y 0 bt and z z 0 ct
These equations are called the parametric equations of the line.
If the components of the direction vector are all nonzero, each equation can be solved for
the parameter t and then the three can be set equal.
Jika komponen dari vektor arah semua nol, setiap persamaan dapat diselesaikan untuk
parameter t dan kemudian tiga dapat diatur sama.
x x0 y y0 z z 0
a
b
c
These equations are called the symmetric equations of the line.
y y 0 bt
and
z z 0 ct
And if all three components of the direction vector are nonzero, the line
is also represented by the symmetric equations:
x x0 y y0 z z 0
a
b
c
Example 1: Find the parametric and symmetric equations of the line passing
through the point (2, 3, -4) and parallel to the vector, <-1, 2, 5> .
Solution: Simply use the parametric and symmetric equations for any line given
a point on the line and the direction vector.
Parametric Equations:
x 2 t , y 3 2t and z 4 5t
Symmetric Equations:
x 2
1
y 3
2
z 4
5
Example 2: Find the parametric and symmetric equations of the line passing
through the points (1, 2, -2) and (3, -2, 5).
Solution: First you must find the direction vector which is just finding the
vector from one point on the line to the other. Then simply use the
parametric and symmetric equations and either point.
direction vector v 3 1, 2 2, 5 2 2, 4, 7
parametric equations : x 1 2t , y 2 4t and z 2 7t
symmetric equations :
x 1
2
y 2
4
z 2
7
Notes:
1. For a quick check, when t = 0 the parametric equations give the point
(1, 2, -2) and when t = 1 the parametric equations give the point (3, -2, 5).
2. The equations describing the line are not unique. You may have used the
other point or the vector going from the second point to the first point.
If the red line is down in the xyplane and the blue line is above the
xy-plane, but parallel to the xyplane the two lines never intersect
and are not parallel.
y 2 2t
z 4 t
Line 2 : x 5 2t
y 2 4t
z 1 2t
3 5 2t 2 2t t 1
Now let t=1 for Line 2 and the point (3, 2, -1) is produced. Since the zcoordinates are not equal, the lines are not identical.
Line 1 : x 3 2t
Line 2 : x 4 t
y 3 5t
z 2 t
y 2t
z 4 t
Solution: Direction vectors: v1 2,2,1
v2 1,5,1
Since v2 k v1 , the lines are not parallel. Thus they either intersect or
they are skew lines.
Keep in mind that the lines may have a point of intersection or a common
point, but not necessarily for the same value of t. So equate each
coordinate, but replace the t in Line 2 with an s.
x : 3 2t 4 s
y : 2t 3 5s
z : 4 t 2 s
cos
u v
, where is the angle between u and v
u v
Thus,
cos
cos
2,2,1 1,5,1
22 2 1
2
2 10 1
9 27
11
9 3
12 52 12
0.706
Planes in Space
In previous sections we have looked at planes in space. For example, we looked
at the xy-plane, the yz-plane and the xz-plane when we first introduced 3dimensional space.
Now we are going to examine the equation for a plane. In the figure below P,
x 0 , y 0 , z 0 , is a point in the highlighted plane and n a , b,c is the vector
normal to the highlighted plane.
n
to Q , PQ x x0 , y y 0 , z z 0
is also in the plane.
Planes in Space
Since the vector from P to Q is in the plane,
and their dot product must equal zero.
n PQ 0
a , b ,c x x 0 , y y 0 , z z 0 0
a x x 0 b y y 0 c z z 0 0
n
Q
P
is
a x x 0 b y y 0 c z z 0 0
Note: The equation can be simplified by using the distributive property and
collecting like terms.
This results in the general form:
ax by cz d 0
Example 5: Given the normal vector, <3, 1, -2> to the plane containing the
point (2, 3, -1), write the equation of the plane in both standard form and
general form.
Solution: Standard Form a x x 0 b y y 0 c z z 0 0
3x 2 1y 3 2z 1 0
To obtain General Form, simplify.
3x 6 y 3 2z 2 0
or
3x y 2z 11 0
Example 6: Given the points (1, 2, -1), (4, 0,3) and (2, -1, 5) in a plane, find the
equation of the plane in general form.
Solution: To write the equation of the plane we need a point (we have three) and
a vector normal to the plane. So we need to find a vector normal to the plane.
First find two vectors in the plane, then recall that their cross product will be a
vector normal to both those vectors and thus normal to the plane.
Two vectors: From (1, 2, -1) to (4, 0, 3): < 4-1, 0-2, 3+1 > = <3,-2,4>
From (1, 2, -1) to (2, -1, 5): < 2-1, -1-2, 5+1 > = <1,-3,6>
3 2 4 0i 14 j 7k 14 j 7k
1 3 6
Equation of the plane: 0x 1 14y 2 7 z 1 0
14y 7z 21 0
or
2y z 3 0
Solution: The intercepts are (6, 0, 0), (0, -3, 0) and (0, 0, 3). Plot each of
these and connect each pair with a straight line.
Intersecting Planes
Any two planes that are not parallel or identical will intersect in a line and to
find the line, solve the equations simultaneously.
For example in the figure above, the white plane and the yellow plane intersect
along the blue line.
1 x 3y 4z 0 x 3y 4z 0
x 3y 2z 0 x 3y 2z 0
6y 2z 0 or y
1
z
3
Back substitute y into one of the first equations and solve for x.
1
x 3 z 4z 0
3
x z 4z 0
x 3z
Finally if you let z = t, the parametric equations for the line are
x 3t , y
1
t
3
and z t
Let P be a point in the plane and let Q be a point not in the plane. We are
interested in finding the distance from the point Q to the plane that
contains the point P.
We can find the distance between the point, Q, and the plane by projecting
the vector from P to Q onto the normal to the plane and then finding its
magnitude or length.
n, normal
Q
Projection of PQ
onto the normal
to the plane
P
Thus the distance from Q to the plane is the length or the magnitude of the
projection of the vector PQ onto the normal.
PQ n
projn PQ
2
n
PQ n
projn PQ
2
n
PQ n
PQ n
n
n
2
n
D proj n PQ
PQ n
n
Example 9: Find the distance between the point Q (3, 1, -5) to the plane
4x + 2y z = 8.
Solution: We know the normal to the plane is <4, 2, -1> from the general
form of a plane. We can find a point in the plane simply by letting x and y
equal 0 and solving for z: P (0, 0, -8) is a point in the plane.
Thus the vector, PQ = <3-0, 1-0, -5-(-8)> = <3, 1, 3>
Now that we have the vector PQ and the normal, we simply use the formula
for the distance between a point and a plane.
D projn PQ
12 2 3
16 4 1
PQ n
n
11
2.4
21
3,1,3 4,2,1
42 22 1
Lets look at another way to write the distance from a point to a plane. If
the equation of the plane is ax + by + cz + d = 0, then we know the normal
to the plane is the vector, <a, b, c> .
Let P be a point in the plane, P = x1 , y1 , z 1 and Q be the point not in the
plane, Q = x 0 , y 0 , z 0 . Then the vector, PQ x 0 x1, y 0 y1 , z 0 z1
So now the dot product of PQ and n becomes:
PQ n a , b,c x 0 x1 , y 0 y1 , z 0 z1
a x 0 x1 b y 0 y1 c z 0 z1
ax 0 by 0 cz 0 ax1 by1 cz1
Note that since P is a point on the plane it will satisfy the equation of the
plane, so ax1 by1 cz1 d 0 or d ax1 by1 cz1 and the dot
product can be rewritten:
PQ n ax0 by0 cz 0 d
Thus the formula for the distance can be written another way:
D projn PQ
ax 0 by 0 cz 0 d
a 2 b2 c2
Now that you have two formulas for the distance between a point and a plane,
lets consider the second case, the distance between a point and a line.
Obviously,
sin
D
PQ
or D PQ sin
PQ u PQ u sin
or dividing both sides by u
PQ u
u
So if,
PQ sin
D PQ sin
PQ u
u
PQ u
u
where u is the direction vector of the line and P is a point on the line.
Example 10: Find the distance between the point Q (1, 3, -2) and the line
given by the parametric equations:
x 2 t , y 1 t
and z 3 2t
i j k
PQ u 1 4 5 3i 3 j 3k
1 1 2
PQ u
u
32 32 32
2
12 1 22
27
9
2.12
2