Examples of Finding an Equation of a Plane

Example 1. Find an equation of the plane that passes through the point (1, 2, 3) and is parallel to the xy-plane.

We are given a point in the plane. The normal vector must be perpendicular to the xy-plane, so we can use the
direction vector for the z-axis, ~n = h 0, 0, 1 i. Thus, an equation of this plane is

0(x − 1) + 0(y − 2) + 1(z − 3) = 0

or
z−3=0
π
Example 2. Find an equation of the plane that contains the y-axis and makes an angle of 6 with the positive x-axis.

We can use any point on the y-axis, so (0, 0, 0) is as good as any. If the plane makes an angle of π6 with the positive
x-axis, then the normal vector must make an angle of π6 + π2 = 2π with the positive x-axis. The vector from the
√ √ 3
origin to the point (−1, 0, 3) is such a vector, so ~n = h −1, 0, 3 i. Thus, an equation of this plane is
√
−1(x − 0) + 0(y − 0) + 3(z − 0) = 0

or √
−x + 3z = 0

Example 3. Find an equation of the plane that passes through the points (1, −2, −1) and (2, 5, 6) and is parallel to
the x-axis.

We can use either of the given points. The vector between the points, ~u = h 2 − 1, 5 − (−2), 6 − (−1) i = h 1, 7, 7 i, is
in the plane, and a direction vector for the x-axis, ~v = h 1, 0, 0 i is also in the plane. So a normal vector for the plane
is

~n = ~u × ~v
 
 ı̂ ̂ k̂      
 7 7 1 7 1 7
= 1 7 7  = ı̂ 
 − ̂  + k̂ 
1 0 0 0  1 0  1 0
0
= ı̂(7 · 0 − 0 · 7) − ̂(1 · 0 − 1 · 7) + k̂(1 · 0 − 1 · 7) = h 0, 7, −7 i

Thus an equation of this plane is

0(x − 1) + 7(y + 2) − 7(z + 1) = 0
or
7y − 7z + 7 = 0