1 Equations of Lines and Planes in Space

Basically, in order to uniquely determine a plane in space, one needs either: a

point in the plane and two non-collinear vectors which are parallel to the plane
(or contained in it, which is the same, taking into account that we are talking
about free vectors), or a point in the plane and a perpendicular (normal ) vector
to the plane.
Let fO, i,

,,

/g denote a Cartesian frame in space.

1.1 The plane containing a point and two directions
Let () be the plane which contains:
the point '(r
0
, j
0
, .
0
);
the non-collinear vectors
1
(|
1
, :
1
, :
1
) and
2
(|
2
, :
2
, :
2
) (we will say, two
directions, since it is only the direction of each of the two vectors which
matters).
Suppose that ',
1
and
2
are known. If 1(r, j, .) is an arbitrary (moving)
point in this plane, then the vectors
'1(r r
0
, j j
0
, . .
0
),
1
(|
1
, :
1
, :
1
),
2
(|
2
, :
2
, :
2
)
are coplanar. This is equivalent to the fact that the box product of these three
vectors vanishes, which is:

r r
0
j j
0
. .
0
|
1
:
1
:
1
|
2
:
2
:
2

= 0. (1)
(the equation of the plane through '(r
0
, j
0
, .
0
), containing
1
and
2
).
Another way of expressing the fact that '1,
1
and
2
are coplanar is to
write that they are linearly dependent:
'1 = c
1
+,
2
, c, , 2 R.
1
In Cartesian coordinates, this is equivalent to:
8
<
:
r = r
0
+c|
1
+,|
2
j = j
0
+c:
1
+,:
2
. = .
0
+c:
1
+,:
2
(the parametric equations of the plane ()).
Particular case: the equation of a plane through three non-collinear
points '
i
(r
i
, j
i
, .
i
), i = 1, 2, 3 :
Once we know three non-collinear points in a plane, we know two directions,
for instance,
'
1
'
2
(r
2
r
1
, j
2
j
1
, .
2
.
1
), '
1
'
3
(r
3
r
1
, j
3
j
1
, .
3
.
1
).
By using the point '
1
and these two directions, we can write the equation of
the plane ('
1
'
2
'
3
) :
('
1
'
2
'
3
) :

r r
1
j j
1
. .
1
r
2
r
1
j
2
j
1
.
2
.
1
r
3
r
1
j
3
j
1
.
3
.
1

= 0.
Exercise 1 Write the equation of the plane:
1. containing '(1, 1, 0) and the vectors
1
(1, 2, 3),
2
(0, 1, 2);
2. through the points '
1
(1, 0, 1), '
2
(2, 0, 1), '
3
(2, 1, 2).
3. containing the .-axis and the point '(1, 3, 2).
1.2 The plane through a point, having a given normal
direction
Let '(r
0
, j
0
, .
0
) be a known point in a plane () and

(, 1, C) a perpendic-
ular (normal) vector to the plane. Then, for any point 1(r, j, .) in the plane,
the vector

is perpendicular to '1, which is equivalent to the fact that the
dot product

'1 is 0. In coordinates, this yields:
(r r
0
) +1(j j
0
) +C(. .
0
) = 0. (2)
2
The above equation is called the equation of the plane through '(r
0
, j
0
, .
0
),
with normal direction

(, 1, C). By doing the calculations in (2), we al-
ways get something like:
r +1j +C. +1 = 0, (3)
which is called the general equation of the plane. This name is motivated by
the fact that, no matter if we start from (1) or (2), the equation of a plane always
looks like above. Conversely, any equation of degree 1 in r, j, . geometrically
means a plane in three dimensional Euclidean space.
Example: the coordinate planes rOj, jO., rO..
The plane rOj contains the point O(0, 0, 0) and has as normal vector

/(0, 0, 1).
Hence, its equation is: (rOj) : 0(r 0) + 0(j 0) + 1(. 0) = 0, which is,
(rOj) : . = 0.
In a similar manner, we get
(jO.) : r = 0, (rO.) : j = 0.
Remark 2 The coecients of r, j and . in the general equation of a plane give
exactly the coordinates of the normal vector of the plane. For instance, the plane
r + 3j . + 5 = 0 has as normal vector

(1, 3, 1) etc.
Remark 3 Since two parallel planes have the same normal direction, the equa-
tion of any plane which is parallel to the plane () : r + 1j + C. + 1 = 0
diers from that of () only by its free term: r +1j +C. +1 = `, for some
` 2 R.
Exercise 4 Write the equation of the plane:
1. through (1, 2, 1) and having as normal vector

(2, 3, 4).
2. through (2, 3, 5) and parallel to the plane ('
1
'
2
'
3
), where '
1
(1, 0, 0),
'
2
(0, 1, 0), '
3
(0, 0, 1).
3. through (r
0
, j
0
, .
0
) and parallel to the plane: a) rOj; b) jO.; c)rO..
3
1.3 Equations of a straight line in space
Basically, a straight line (briey: a line) is uniquely dened by the intersection
of two non-parallel and distinct planes. This is, it can be described by a linear
system as follows:
(d) :

1
r +1
1
j +C
1
. +1
1
= 0

2
r +1
2
j +C
2
. +1
2
= 0
.
Another way of describing a line in space is by specifying a point '(r
0
, j
0
, .
0
)
on the line and a vector (|, :, :) which is parallel to the line (or contained in
it).
In this case, for any point 1(r, j, .), the vector '1(r r
0
, j j
0
, . .
0
)
is collinear to (|, :, :), which is equivalent to the fact that the components of
the two vectors are proportional:
r r
0
|
=
j j
0
:
=
. .
0
:
=: t (4)
(the canonical equations of a line in space).
Remark 5 The canonical equations provide useful information about the line:
namely, the denominators |, :, : are exactly the components of the directing
vector of the line, while the quantities subtracted from r, j and . in the nu-
merators give the coordinates of some point on the line. For instance, the line
r 1
1
=
j 3
2
=
. + 1
4
has the directing vector (1, 2, 4) and a point on the line is '(1, 3, 1)
If, in (4), we denote the common value of the ratios by t we get
8
<
:
r = r
0
+|t
j = j
0
+:t
. = .
0
+:t
(5)
(the parametric equations of a line).
Parametric equations are very useful in Mechanics (in this case, the para-
meter t usually denotes time).
Examples:
4
1. The equations of the axes Or, Oj, O. : For instance, on (Or) we know
the point O(0, 0, 0) and the vector i(1, 0, 0), hence, the canonical equations
are
(Or) :
r 0
1
=
j 0
0
=
. 0
0
= t
It is admitted to formally write 0 in the denominators! This does not
mean that we perform any division by 0, it is just a simpler way of writing
the fact that the numerators and the denominators are proportional. The
meaning of this can be more clearly seen from the parametric equations:
r 0 = 1 t = t
j 0 = 0 t = 0
. 0 = 0 t = 0.
Actually, 0 in a denominator means that also the corresponding numerator
is 0.
The line (Or) can be also described as the intersection of the planes (rOj)
and (rO.) :
(Or) :

j = 0
. = 0
.
The equations of the axes Oj and O. can be obtained in a similar manner.
2. Let (d) be a line described as the intersection of two planes
(d) :

r j = 0
r + 2. = 1.
Let us determine the canonical equations of this line.
First of all, let us notice that the two planes (
1
) : r j = 0 and (
2
) :
r+2. = 1 indeed determine a line: since their normal vectors

1
(1, 1, 0)
and

2
(1, 0, 2) are non-collinear, the planes can neither be parallel, nor
coincide, hence their intersection is a line.
The vector of this line is contained both in (
1
) and (
2
), consequently,
it is perpendicular to

1
and

2
. This means, it is collinear to the cross
product

2
. Since we are interested only in its direction, we can take
as directing vector of the line
=

2
=

i

,

/
1 1 0
1 0 2

= 2i 2

, +

/.
A point on the line can be obtained from any particular solution of the
linear system which describes (d). This can be performed by giving par-
ticular values to one of the unknowns. Let us take, for instance, r = 1.
We obtain j = 1, . = 0, this is, '(1, 1, 0).
5
The canonical equations of the line are, consequently:
r 1
2
=
j 1
2
=
.
1
.
Also, a useful notion is that of sheaf of planes. If a straight line (d) is
described as the intersection of two planes (1) and (Q) :
(d) :

1
1
r +1
1
j +C
1
. +1
1
= 0
Q
2
r +1
2
j +C
2
. +1
2
= 0
,
then the sheaf of planes through (d) (or determined by (1) and (Q))
is the set of all planes which contain (d). Its equation is
c1 +,Q = 0, c, , 2 R.
Equivalently, with ` =
,
c
, this can be written simply as
1 +`Q = 0, ` 2 R.
(the last form is simpler, still, it requires some attention: there we have
eliminated the case c = 0, this is, the plane Q. This is, in any discussion
involving the planes of the sheaf, we should take separately the case when
the plane is Q).
Exercise 6 Write the canonical and the parametric equations of:
- the line through (1, 3, 4), having the directing vector (2, 0, 1);
- the line 1, where (2, 1, 2), 1(0, 3, 1);
- the line which is parallel to (d) :
r 1
1
=
j
1
=
. + 1
4
and passes through
(4, 3, 2);
- the intersection line of the planes (1) : r +j = 3, (Q) : r j +. = 0.
6