F18XD2 Solutions 3: Geometry

3.1. The angle is given by

(2, 2, 1) (1, 1, 1) = (2.1 + 2.(1) + 1.1) = 1 = |(2, 2, 1)| |(1, 1, 1)| cos()
p
= 22 + 22 + 12 12 + (1)2 + 12 cos() = 3 3 cos() .
1
So cos() =
3 3
and = 1.377 (3DP).

3.2. (a) (1, 2, 3) (4, 5, 6) = 1.4 + 2.5 + 3.6 = 32;

 
 i j k
 
(1, 2, 3) (4, 5, 6) = 1 2 3  = (2.6 3.5)i (1.6 3.4)j + (1.5 2.4)k
4 5 6 
= 3i + 6j 3k.
(b) (1, 2, 3) (3, 1, 2) = 1.3 + (2).1 + 3.2 = 7;
 
 i j k
 
(1, 2, 3) (3, 1, 2) = 1 2 3  = ((2).2 1.3)i (1.2 3.3)j + (1.1 (2).3)k
3 1 2 
= 7i + 7j + 7k.
(c) (3, 1, 3) (4, 2, 1) = 3.4 + 1.2 + 3.1 = 17;
 
 i j k
 
(3, 1, 3) (4, 2, 1) = 3 1 3  = (1.1 3.2)i (3.1 3.4)j + (3.2 1.4)k
4 2 1 
= 5i + 9j + 2k.

3.3. (a) r = (1, 2, 3) + t((4, 5, 6) (1, 2, 3)) = (1, 2, 3) + t(3, 3, 3).

(b) r = (1, 2, 3) + t((1, 2, 3) (3, 1, 2)) = (1, 2, 3) + t(2, 3, 1).
(c) r = (3, 1, 3) + t((3, 1, 3) (4, 2, 1)) = (3, 1, 3) + t(1, 1, 2).

3.4.
 
 i j k
 
b c = 1 1 2  = ((1).1 2.1)i (1.1 2.3)j + (1.1 (1).3)k = 3i + 5j + 4k ,
3 1 1 
 
 i j k
 
a(bc) =  1 2 3  = (2.43.5))i(1.43.(3))j+(1.52.(3))k = 7i13j+11k .
3 5 4 

1
 b (a c) c (a b) = b (1.3 + 2.1 + 3.1) c(1.1 + 2.(1) + 3.2) = 8b 5c = 7i 13j + 11k .
The equality is therefore valid for this choice of a, b, c.

3.5. A normal is given by

 
i j k 
 
n = a b = 1 2 1 = (2.1 (1)(3))i (1.1 (1).2)j + (1.(3) 2.2)k

2 3 1 

= i 3j 7k .
The corresponding unit normal is

n i 3j 7k 1
=
n = = (i 3j 7k) .
|n| ((1) + (3) + (7) )
2 2 2 1/2
59

3.6. (a) We put a = (1, 2, 3) (0, 0, 0) = (1, 2, 3), b = (4, 5, 6) (0, 0, 0) = (4, 5, 6), so a
parametric equation is r = u(1, 2, 3) + v(4, 5, 6).
 
 i j k
 
A normal is n = a b = 1 2 3  = 3i + 6j 3k,
4 5 6 

so a non-parametric equation is 3x + 6y 3z = 0
(taking the point on the plane (0, 0, 0), so n (0, 0, 0) = 0).

(b) We put a = (1, 2, 3) (3, 2, 1) = (2, 0, 2), b = (4, 5, 6) (3, 2, 1) = (1, 3, 5), so a
parametric equation is r = (1, 2, 3) + u(2, 0, 2) + v(1, 3, 5).
 
 i j k
 
A normal is n = a b = 2 0 2  = 6i + 12j 6k,
 1 3 5

so a non-parametric equation is 6x + 12y 6z = (6, 12, 6) (1, 2, 3) = 0

(choosing the point on the plane (1, 2, 3)), or, more simply (dividing through by
2), x 2y + z = 0.

3.7. Using r n = a n we obtain:

(a) r n = 4x + 5y + 6z = (1, 2, 3) (4, 5, 6) = 32.

(b) r n = 3x + 2y + z = (4, 5, 6) (3, 2, 1) = 28.

2
3.8. We define
a = B A = (1, 2, 2) , b = C A = (2, 0, 2) .
Then the cosine of the angle between AB and AC can be obtained from the scalar
product
a b = |a||b| cos .
We have
a b = 2 + 0 + 4 = 2 ,
and
|a| = 9 = 3, |b| = 8 = 2 2.
Hence
1
cos = ,
3 2
and the angle in degrees is 76.

3.9. The normal vectors of the planes are

a = (2, 1, 2) , b(3, 6, 2) ,

with
|a| = 3 , |b| = 7 .
The angle between the planes is equal to the angle between its normal vectors. Hence
from the definition of the scalar product we have
ab
= cos ,
|a||b|
next
4
cos = .
21
The angle is approximately 79 degrees.

3.10.The normal vector to the plane is n = (2, 1, 2) and the direction vector of the line is
a = (1, 2, 5). We then can determine the angle from the scalar product as
an 6
cos = = ,
|a||n| 3 30
making 111 degrees.
A more sensible version of the angle between the line and the normal direction is then
= 180 69 degrees.
The angle between the line and the plane is 90 21 degrees.

3
3.11.(a) The planes normal can be taken to be n = d1 d2 = (2, 3, 4) (3, 2, 0) = ((3)(0)
(4)(2), (4)(3)(2)(0), (2)(2)(3)(3)) (write down the determinant and check!) = (8, 12, 5).
The plane is then n r = 8x + 12y 5z = d = n a = 16 36 5 = 57.
The distance from the origin is |d| if the equation of the plane is written in the form
r = d with n
n a unit normal vector. To get the planes equation
in this new form we
divide the earlier equation through by |n| = 64 + 144 + 25 = 233, since n = n/|n|.

Hence distance = |d| = |d/|n|| = 57/ 233.

(b) The planes normal can be taken to be n = d1 d2 = (3, 2, 2) (3, 1, 4) = ((2)(4)

(2)(1), (2)(3) (3)(4), (3)(1) (2)(3)) (write down the determinant and check!) =
(6, 18, 9) = 3(2, 6, 3). For simplicity we can take the normal as n = (2, 6, 3) instead.
The plane is then n r = 2x 6y + 3z = d = n a = 0 18 + 18 = 0.
The origin lies on the plane so the distance is 0.

3.12.The second plane has the same normal as the first, which can be written as n r =
n1 x + n2 y + n3 z = x + 2y + z = 6. Hence the normal is n = (1, 2, 1) and the second plane
can be written as

n r = x + 2y + z = d2 = n a = 3 + 4 + 1 = 8 .

The separation of the planes is the distance of the point a from the first plane. (a lies on
the second plane.) Hence the planes distance apart is
    r
 d1 n a   6 8 
  =  2
= = 2.
 |n|   1 + 4 + 1 6 3

(The distance between the planes is simply |d1 d2 |/|n|.)

3.13.(a) Normal vector of the plane is n = (1, 1, 1) and direction vector for the line is b =
(1, 2, 2).
n b = 1 + 2 + 2 = 3 6= 0 so the direction vector is not perpendicular to the normal, i.e.
L is not parallel to P .
Angle between b and n is given by cos = n b/(|b||n|) = 3/( 9 3) = 1/ 3, so
54.74.
Therefore the angle between L and P is 90 35.26 .
The point of intersection lies on both L and P . It must satisfy the equation for L so
x = t, y = 2t and z = 2t, and the equation for P so x + y + z = t + 2t + 2t = 3t = 2.
Hence t = 2/3 and the point of intersection is (x, y, z) = (2/3, 4/3, 4/3).

(b) Normal vector of the plane is n = (1, 2, 3) and direction vector for the line is
b = (1, 1, 1).
n b = 1 + 2 3 = 0 so the direction vector is perpendicular to the normal, i.e. L is
parallel to P .

4
The distance between L and P is given by the distance of any point on L from P .
a = (1,
1, 1) lies on L
and its distance
p from P is given by |n a d|/|n| = |(1 + 2 +
3) 0|/ 1 + 4 + 9 = 6/ 14 = 3 2/7.

(c) Normal vector of the plane is n = (2, 1, 2) and direction vector for the line is
b = (1, 6, 4).
n b = 2 + 6 8 = 0 so the direction vector is perpendicular to the normal, i.e. L is
parallel to P .
The distance between L and P is given by the distance of any point on L from P .
a = (1, 1,
2) lies on L and
its distance from P is given by |n a d|/|n| = |(2 + 1
4) 1|/ 4 + 1 + 4 = | 6|/ 9 = 6/3 = 2.

(d) Normal vector of the plane is n = (2, 1, 2) and direction vector for the line is
b = (2, 2, 1).
n b = 4 + 2 2 = 4 6= 0 so the direction vector is not perpendicular to the normal,
i.e. L is not parallel to P .
Angle between b and n is given by cos = n b/(|b||n|) = 4/( 9 9) = 4/9, so
116.39. To get an acute angle, replace by = 180 63.61 .
Therefore the angle between L and P is 90 26.39 .
The point of intersection lies on both L and P . It must satisfy the equation for L so
x = 1 + 2t, y = 1 + 2t and z = 2 t, and the equation for P so 2x + y + 2z =
2(1 + 2t) + (1 + 2t) + 2(2 t) = 4t 5 = 1. Hence t = 3/2 and the point of
intersection is (x, y, z) = (2, 2, 1/2).