GREENBERG

VECTOR GEOMETRY

UNIT LINES AND PLANES INTRO: is Unit is about lines and planes: their equations, how they are determined by points and vectors, and some additional facts about them. In the discussions of this Unit, x, y and z will be variables, and a, b, c and d will be constants. . Lines It is very surprising to students that the equation y = mx + b, or equivalently, ax + by = c, is not necessarily the equation of a line, that is to say, the graph of the equation may not be a line. It is all a question of dimensions! Certainly, in two dimensions (in R ) the equation ax + by = c is the equation of a line. We also say that in the x-y plane it is the equation of a line. However, in three dimensions (in R ) it is the equation of a plane. In fact, in three dimensions any equation of the form ax + by + cz = d is the equation of a plane, including, for example, the case when c = , in which case the equation becomes ax + by = d, which in two dimensions would have been a line, but in three dimensions is a plane. We will study the equation of a plane in the next section. What, then, is the equation of a line in three dimensions? It is not possible to describe a line in three dimensions by a single Cartesian equation, meaning a single equation just in terms of x, y and z (although it is possible to specify a line as the intersection of two Cartesian equations). For this reason we prefer to give equations of lines in three dimensions as parametric equations. e equation of a line through the point P = (p , p , p ) going in the direction of the vector v = v , v , v is x = p +v t y = p +v t z = p +v t with < t < . We will consider this problem, where the direction v and a single point P on the line are given, as the model problem. For such a problem, we can write down the parametric equations of the line immediately, just as above. All other problems will be turned into the model problem. Since at least one point on the line is speci ed in all problems, the key to any line problem will be to nd the vector v. Some examples. To nd the equation of the line through the points Q = (q , q , q ) and R = (r , r , r ), choose v =QR

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VECTOR GEOMETRY

or, equivalently, v = R Q, and either of the given points as your point P. To nd the line through the point P = (p , p , p ) parallel to the line x = d + at, y = e + bt, z = f + ct, realizing that the coe cients of t give the vector v, use v = a, b, c and of course the speci ed point. To nd the line through the point P = (p , p , p ) perpendicular to the plane ax + by + cz = d, we need a fact proved in the next section: the vector n = a, b, c is perpendicular to the plane. But this is just the direction we need, so use v = a, b, c and again the speci ed point. Example: All examples use the same strategy nd a vector v in the direction of the line, and then use it and one point to write the equation of the line. For example, to nd the line through P = ( , , ) parallel to the line x= + t y= +t z = t. one sees that v = , , is the direction of the given line, whence it will also be used in the answer, and the desired line is x= + t y= +t z= t Example: Find the equations of a line through the points P = ( , , ) and Q = ( , , ). e direction vector can be taken as v = Q P = , , , so an answer is x = t + y= t z = t + Choosing v = P Q or using the point Q rather than P for the point on the line might lead to parametric equations which appear to be di erent, but, in fact, they are merely di erent parametrizations of the same line. (See the upcoming section on coincident planes and lines.) . Planes

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e equation of the plane through the point P = (p , p , p ) with normal vector n = a, b, c is ax + by + cz = n P Why is this the correct equation? Suppose (x, y, z) is any point in the plane. en x, y, z p , p , p will be lying at in the plane. But in that case, since n is perpendicular to the plane, n ( x, y, z p , p , p ) = . Multiplying out the dot product gives the equation ax + by + cz = n P. is then will be our model problem. All other problems seeking the equation of a plane will be turned into the problem of nding the equation of a plane through a speci ed point P with normal vector n, in which case we can immediately write down the equation above. So the key to all plane problems will be to nd the vector n. Some examples. To nd the equation of the plane through P = (p , p , p ) parallel to the plane ax + by + cz = d, take n = a, b, c and the point as given. To nd the equation of the plane through P = (p , p , p ), Q = (q , q , q ), and R = (r , r , r ), take n = (Q P) (R P) as we learned in Unit , and use any one of the given points. To nd the plane through P = (p , p , p ) with the line x = d + at, y = e + bt, z = f + ct perpendicular to it, we want a, b, c to be the direction perpendicular to the plane, since it is in the direction of the line, so we use n = a, b, c and the given point. Example: All examples use the same strategy nd a vector n normal to the plane, and then use it and one point to write the equation of the plane. For example, to nd the plane through P = ( , , ) parallel to the plane x y + z = , one needs to use the normal vector of the given plane n = , , as normal vector for the plane sought, whence the answer is x y + z = , where we have used the fact that n P = , , , , = . Example: Find the equation of a plane containing the points P = ( , , ), Q = ( , , ) and R = ( , , ). Let u = , , , , = , , and let v = , , , , = , , . en, a er a little computing, the normal for the plane can be taken as n = u v = , , and n P = , so the equation of the desired plane is x + y = or, equivalently, x y = .

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ere are a number of other choices which might have been taken for u and v, and n P might have been replaced with n Q or n R, but the nal result would have been the same. e result, incidentally, would be a line in two dimensions, but in three dimensions is, of course, a plane. . Coincident Planes and Lines How does one tell if two equations of a plane, or of a line, give the same plane or line? (One can also say the two planes or two lines are coincident.) For planes it is easy. Equations of planes will give coincident planes if and only if one equation is a multiple of the other. For example, the planes x+ y z= and are the same (coincident) planes. For lines it is more di cult. Certainly the direction of coincident lines is the same, which means that the coe cients of the parameter t must be multiples of each other. However, because di erent points along the line might have been used to obtain the constants which do not multiply t, these constants might be very di erent. One thing is certain, though. If these constants (the ones not multiplying t) are both points on the same line, their di erence must be in the direction of the line. erefore, one arrives at the rather unusual method of nding if two lines are coincident. First check that the coe cients of t in one answer (which will just be the vector v) will be a multiple of the ce cients of t in the other answer and then subtract the constants not multiplying t in one answer from the same constants in the second answer, and see if the di erence is a multiple of v, the coe cients of t in either answer. Of course, if the rst step fails, then there is no need to carry out the second step: the lines are going in di erent directions, so they certainly are not coincident. Note that the constants not multiplying t are just what is obtained when t is set equal to zero, so the second step in checking if lines are coincident just involves subtracting the values of x, y, z when t = . Example: Which of these is the same line as x= t+ y=t : z= t+ x y+ z=

(a)=

x= t+ y= t+ z= t+

or (b)=

x= t+ y= t z= t+

e coe cients of t in the given line are

, and the coe cients of t in both (a) and (b) are multiples

of this, so either (a) or (b) might be the same line as the given line. However, subtracting the constants

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gives

for (a) and

for (b). Since only (a) gives a multiple of

the coe cients of t in the given line, only (a) is the same line as the given line. . Parallel, Skew and Intersecting Lines Given two lines in a plane, it is obvious that either they are parallel or they intersect. In three dimensions, there is a third possibility they may be skew, which means they are not parallel but also not intersecting. Given the equations of two lines, how do we tell one case from another? For lines to be parallel, the coe cients of the parameter t must be multiples of each other, so that the direction of the lines will be the same. is is the rst thing to check, since it can be determined easily by inspection. However, it is still necessary to determine if the two lines are genuinely parallel, or are, in fact, the same line. To determine this, it is necessary to carry out the second step of the procedure outlined in the preceding section, to see if the lines are coincident, i.e., the same line. For the lines to be skew or intersecting, their directions must be di erent, i.e., the coe cients of t must not be multiples of each other. e determination of whether they are skew or are intersecting is the same as the determination of intersection points, as described in Unit . Reviewing that procedure, it is necessary to change one of the parametric equations by replacing t by s, say (since we are not looking for collision points) and then write a set of three simultaneous equations for t and s by setting x = x, y = y, z = z for the two sets of equations. As with any over-determined system, we can choose two of these equations to solve simultaneously for t and s and then plug the results into the third equation. If this equation is valid (for example, = or = ), then the equations are intersecting, and the point of intersection can be found by plugging the value of either parameter into its equations. If the third equation yields a contradiction, the lines were in fact skew. x = +t Example: y = t z= + t x= t y= + t z= t , are multiples of each other. But are they coincident, i.e., are they actually di erent parametrizations of the same line? To see, we subtract the constants, , = ese are parallel lines because the coe cients of t, namely and

and

which is not a multiple of

, so the lines are not coincident.

ey are parallel.

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VECTOR GEOMETRY

x= + t Example: y = + t z=t

and

x = t y= t z= t

Since the direction vectors are not multiples of each other, these lines are certainly not parallel. Write x = s the second parametric equation as y = s and set equal to the rst. One arrives at the three z= s equations: + t = s + t= s t= s t+s = which solves to t = , s = . Does this agree with, t+ s= or contradict, the third equation? Substituting into the third equation, we get = , so the lines do intersect. If the last substitution had led to a contradiction, we would have concluded that the lines were skew. e rst two equations can be rewritten If the lines do intersect, substituting either s or t back into its equations for the line will give the point of intersection (either substitution giving the same point, of course). In this example, substituting t = into the rst set of equations gives ( , , ) as the point of intersection. . Distance from a Point to a Plane An application which occurs with some frequency is nding the distance from a given point to a plane. e distance from a point to a plane refers to the shortest distance from the point to the plane. From geometric considerations, we know this distance will be the perpendicular distance from the point to the plane, i.e., the distance from the point to the plane along a line going through the point and perpendicular to the plane. Suppose a point P is speci ed and the equation of a plane is given, ax + by + cz = d We know already that the vector n = a, b, c is perpendicular to the plane. If Q is any point in the plane, then the scalar projection of Q P onto n is the projection of Q P onto the direction perpendicular to the plane, that is to say, up to a plus or minus sign, precisely the perpendicular distance from P to the plane, But this scalar projection is (Q P) n Q n P n d P n = = , n n n

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where we have used the fact that the right hand side of the equation of the plane is given by d = Q n. us, dPn dist(P, plane) = n is always the distance from a point P to the plane ax + by + cz = d. If P is the origin, P = , , , this simpli es to the expression dist(origin,plane) = d n

which may make it easier to remember the dist(P, plane) formula, i.e., the distance from P to the plane subtracts o from dist(origin,plane) the portion of the distance from the origin which would bring you just level with P. In fact, we can see from this the distance between parallel planes as well, which will be the di erence between their distances from the origin. Since they are parallel, they will have the same normal vector. If the equations of the parallel planes are written with the same normal vector displayed, as ax + by + cz = d and ax + by + cz = d , then dist(plane , plane ) = d d n

Naturally, if the planes are not parallel, the distance between them will be zero, since they will intersect. Example: What is the distance from the point P = ( , , ) to the plane x y + z = ? Since n = , , , n = , P n = and d = , we have dist(P, plane) = =

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APPENDIX: Quadratic surfaces

In Unit ellipses, hyperbolas and parabolas were given as the graphs of quadratic equations in dimensions. e graph of a quadratic equation in dimensions, i.e., a quadratic equation in the variables x, y and z, is called a quadratic surface. We will brie y discuss the graphs of ellipsoids, hyperboloids and paraboloids, as well as the special case of a cone. We recall that constants may be written as a , b , c , etc., to indicate that they are assumed to be positive. In this appendix, we will also assume that indicated constants are nonzero. e graphs of these equations are best visualized by setting each of the variables, in turn, equal to a constant, thereby obtaining the equations of the intersections of the quadratic surface with a plane parallel to one of the coordinate planes. e graph of the equation a x +b y +c z =d

is an ellipsoid (see graph A below). Setting, for example, x = will give the intersection of the y-z coordinate plane with the quadratic surface, yielding b y + c z = d , which is, of course, the equation of an ellipse. Every cross section of an ellipsoid is an ellipse. If the coe cients of the variables are all equal, then the ellipsoid is a sphere. A common mistake in engineering is to refer to a spherical object as a sphere. Its surface is a sphere the object as a whole is called a ball. e graph of an equation such as a x +b y c z =d or a x b y +c z =d

or, in fact, such that any or of the coe cients of the variables are negative, is called a hyperboloid, More precisely, if of the coe cients is negative, it is called a hyperboloid of one sheet and if of the coe cients are negative, it is called a hyperboloid of two sheets. e genesis of the names becomes evident if one examines the graphs. Consider, for example, a x + b y c z = d and let z = . en the intersection of the x-y plane with the surface is the ellipse a x + b y = d . On the other hand, setting x = leads to the hyperbola b y c z = d , and similarly for y = . e hyperboloid of one sheet a x + b y c z = d has elliptic cross sections parallel to the x-y plane, and a hyberbolic bend along its vertical surface: it has the shape of an elliptic cooling tower (see graph B below). Next, consider a x b y + c z = d . If z = , the equation a x b y = d has no solutions, so the x-y plane does not intersect the surface. On the other hand, if z = k for a constant k with k su ciently large, then c k d will be positive, and the intersection of either of the planes z = k or z = k with the surface will lead to the equation a x + b y = c k d of an ellipse. However, setting either x = or y = will lead to equations of hyperbolas. is hyperboloid of two sheets consists of two disconnected surfaces, in this case one above and one below the x-y plane, each of which has elliptic cross sections with respect to horizontal planes intersecting the surface, and hyperbolic curves

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with respect to the intersection with the remaining coordinate planes. Of course, the orientation with regard to which coordinate plane divides the two parts of the surface depends upon which variables have the negative coe cients (see graph C below). An equation with the three coe cients negative, a x b y c z = d , has no solutions. (In all of these, we have kept the right hand side a positive constant)

A. Ellipsoid

B. Hyperboloid of one sheet

C. Hyperboloid of two sheets

Next, consider if one of the constants is linear, such as a x + b y + cz = d or a x b y + cz = d

ese are called paraboloids. If the coe cients of the two quadratic terms have the same sign, it is an elliptic paraboloid and if the coe cients have di erent signs, it is a hyperbolic paraboloid. In these cases, d = does not change the result; in fact the value of d simply shi s the graph by an amount d in the direction of the linear variable. It is le to the reader to check that intersection with the planes z equal to a constant gives ellipses or hyperbolas, respectively, but intersection with any of the other coordinate planes gives parabolas. See graphs D and E below, where one can readily appreciate that a hyperbolic paraboloid is also called a saddle. e remaining standard quadratic surface arises when the signs of the coe cients of the quadratic terms di er, but the constant d is zero, for example, a x +b y c z = is will always be a cone (In mathematics, the term cone is somewhat ambiguous, sometimes used for a shape similar to an ice cream cone, more commonly applied, as here, to what you might think of as a b double cone) Setting, for example, x = and solving for z leads to the equations z = y, ie, two lines c through the origin in the y-z plane, symmetrically about the z-axis, and similarly with setting y = . e plane corresponding to z equals a constant leads to elliptic cross sections. e surface is an elliptic cone (see graph F below).

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D. Elliptic Paraboloid

E. Hyperbolic Paraboloid

F. Elliptic Cone

Just as with the graphs of quadratic curves in two dimensions, if the graphs are rotated so that they do not align with the coordinate axes, there will be additional quadratic terms, of the forms ax y, bxz, and c yz for some constants a, b, and c.