Announcements

◮ Homework 2 is due.
Lecture 5: Lines and planes in space, II
http://www.math.columbia.edu/~dpt/F10/CalcIII/
September 16, 2010
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Lines in space: Parametric representation

We generalize the parametric representation of lines.

{~r0 + t~v | t ∈ R} ~r0 , ~v parameters
Two lines are parallel if direction vector for one is a multiple of direction vector for other.
Two lines that are not parallel may intersect.
If two lines do not intersect and are not parallel, they are skew.
If they do intersect, we can find the angle between them by using the dot product:
Line 1 : {~r1 + t~v1 | t ∈ R}
Line 2 : {~r2 + t~v2 | t ∈ R}

cos(θ) =
|~v1 · ~v2 |
k~v1 kk~v2 k
(Note: Angle should be between 0 and π/2.)
Lines in space: Example Counting degrees of freedom
Question
Do the two lines below intersect? What’s the angle? Will represent planes in space like implicit rep. of lines. E.g.,
{(1, 2, 3) + t (1, 1, 1) | t ∈ R} {(x , y , z ) | x + y + z = 1}.
{(2, 2, 2) + t (−2, 0, 2) | t ∈ R} Why does this represent a plane?
Answer The number of degrees of freedom of a system of equations is the dimension of the
To find whether they intersect, write out the equations, space of solutions.
using different parameters for the two lines:
General rule
x =1+t x = 2 − 2s Number of degrees of freedom = (number of variables) − (number of equations).
y =2+t y =2
Example
z =3+t z = 2 + 2s
There is a solution with t = 0, s = 0.5. So the lines do intersect. {(x , y ) | x + y = 1} Degrees of freedom = 2 − 1 = 1 Describes a line
Angle is determined by dot product: {(x , y , z ) | x + y + z = 1} Degrees of freedom = 3 − 1 = 2 Describes a plane

cos(θ) = = 0.
(1, 1, 1) · (−2, 0, 2)
k(1, 1, 1)kk(−2, 0, 2)k

Degrees of freedom: Meaning Degrees of freedom: Example

General rule General rule

Number of degrees of freedom = (number of variables) − (number of equations).
Number of degrees of freedom = (number of variables) − (number of equations).
If number of degrees of freedom (d.o.f.) is Example
◮ 1, expect a line (or other curve) Intersection of two lines.
◮ 2, expect a plane (or other surface) x =1+t x = 2 − 2s
◮ 0, expect a point (or collection of points) y =2+t y =2
◮ -1, expect no solutions. z =3+t z = 2 + 2s
But there are exceptions. Equations may be Number of variables is 5 (x, y , z, t).
◮ Redundant: One equation is determined by others. Number of equations is 6.
◮ Inconsistent: There are no solutions.
Expected d.o.f. is −1. But there is a solution!
Equations are redundant, since lines do intersect (not skew).
Vector equations Planes in space
For planes in space, most convenient is a generalization of implicit rep. of lines.
A vector equation counts for as many equations as the dimension.
Principle
Example Set of vectors perpendicular to fixed vector is a plane (through ~0).
Same intersection:
Fix vector ~n = (a, b, c ). Plane is
(Passing through ~0)
{(1, 2, 3) + t (1, 1, 1) | t ∈ R} ∩ {(2, 2, 2) + s (−2, 0, 2) | s ∈ R}
{~r | ~n · ~r = 0} = {(x , y , z ) | ax + by + cz = 0}
(1, 2, 3) + t (1, 1, 1) = (2, 2, 2) + s (−2, 0, 2)
{~r | ~n · ~r = ~n · ~r0 } = {(x , y , z ) | ax + by + cz = s } (General)
This counts as three equations: Equate each of the components.
Main problem is often to find the normal vector.
Expected degrees of freedom = 2 − 3 = −1 (but actually is 0).
General intersection of lines: Question
What is the plane through P = (1, 1, 0), Q = (0, 1, 1), and R = (1, 0, 1)?
{~r1 + t~v1 | t ∈ R} ∩ {~r2 + s~v2 | s ∈ R}
~r1 + t~v1 = ~r2 + s~v2 Answer −→ −→
Expected degrees of freedom = 2 − 3 = −1 (but is 0 if lines intersect). The vectors PQ = (−1, 0, 1) and PR = (0, −1, 1) lie on the plane.
−→ −→
Note: ~r1 , ~v1 , ~r2 , ~v2 are fixed, not variables. Normal vector is perpendicular to both: ~n = PQ × PR = (1, 1, 1).
Plane is {~r | ~n · ~r = ~n · ~r0 } = {~r | ~n · ~r = 2} = {(x , y , z ) | x + y + z = 2}.

Planes in space Planes in space: Angles

For planes in space, most convenient is a generalization of implicit rep. of lines. Angle between lines in R2 is angle between dir. vectors or between normal vectors.
Principle {~r1 + t~v1 | t ∈ R} {~r2 + t~v2 | t ∈ R}
Set of vectors perpendicular to fixed vector is a plane (through ~0). Direction vector ~v1 = (a1 , b1 ) Direction vector ~v2 = (a2 , b2 )
Fix vector ~n = (a, b, c ). Plane is Normal vector ~n1 = (−b1 , a1 ) Normal vector ~n2 = (−b2 , a2 )
(Passing through ~0)
cos(θ) = =
{~r | ~n · ~r = 0} = {(x , y , z ) | ax + by + cz = 0} ~v1 · ~v2 ~n1 · ~n2
{~r | ~n · ~r = ~n · ~r0 } = {(x , y , z ) | ax + by + cz = s } (General) k~v1 kk~v2 k k~n1 kk~n2 k
Main problem is often to find the normal vector. For angles between planes in R3 , use angle between normal vectors.
Question {~r ∈ R3 | ~n1 · ~r = ~n · ~r1 } {~r ∈ R3 | ~n2 · ~r = ~n · ~r2 }
What is the plane through (6, 0, −2) and containing the line Normal vector ~n1 Normal vector ~n2
(x , y , z ) = (4 − 2t , 3 + 5t , 7 + 4t )?
cos(θ) =
~n1 · ~n2
k~n1 kk~n2 k

◮ Parallel if ~n1 is parallel to ~n2 (i.e., ~n2 = a~n1 )

◮ Perpendicular if ~n1 is perpendicular to ~n2 (i.e., ~n1 · ~n2 = 0)
Planes in space: Angles, cont. Distance to lines and planes
For a line in R2 , distance is given by For a plane in R3 , distance is given by
dot product with normal: dot product with normal:
For angle between line and plane in R3 , look at angle between L = {~r ∈ R2 | ~n · ~r = ~n · ~r0 } P = {~r | ~n · ~r = ~n · ~r0 }
◮ direction vector ~vL of line and dist(~p , L) = comp~n (~p − ~r0 ) dist(~p , P ) = comp~n (~p − ~r0 )
◮ normal vector ~nP of plane. = =
~n · (~p − ~r0 ) ~n · (~p − ~r0 )
k~nk k~nk
◮ Perpendicular if ~vL is parallel to ~nP . ~n
◮
In both cases, sometimes easier to look at unit normal vector .
Parallel if ~vL is perpendicular to ~nP . k~nk
◮ In general, Question
cos(θ + π/2) = .
~vL · ~nP
What’s the distance from (5, 6, 7) to the plane through (1, 0, 0), (0, 1, 0), and (0, 0, 1)?
k~vL kk~nP k
Answer
We computed the normal vector earlier: ~n = (1, 1, 1).
(1, 1, 1) · (4, 6, 7) 17
Distance = comp~n ((5, 6, 7) − (1, 0, 0)) = =√ .
k(1, 1, 1)k 3

Implicit lines Parametric planes

We can also give equations for lines in space, if we like. Now we need two equations.
{(2, 2, 2) + s (−2, 0, 2) | t ∈ R}
x = 2 − 2t y = 2 z = 2 + 2t We can also treat planes parametrically. Now we need two parameters:
2− x
Eliminate t from the equations by t = 2 :
{(x , y , z ) | x + y + z = 1} = {(1, 0, 0) + t (−1, 1, 0) + s (−1, 0, 1) | s , t ∈ R}
= {~r0 + t~v1 + s~v2 | s , t ∈ R}
y =2 z =2+2
2−x
2 Idea: start at point (1, 0, 0), step t units in one direction and s units in another.
 
= 4 − x.

More generally: We won’t do much with this now, but this is useful if (e.g.) you want to describe a
square or a triangle in space: Can restrict range of s and t.
x = x0 + at y = y0 + bt z = z0 + ct

(t =) = =
x − x0 y − y0 z − z0
a b c
Book calls this the symmetric form of line. But please don’t memorize it.
Problem solving techniques Some challenge problems

There are lots of things you can do with normal vectors and direction vectors, probably
too many for you to memorize.
Question
Principles What is the line of intersection between the planes x + y + z = 1 and x − 2y + 3z = 3
◮ If looking for a line: what is the direction vector of the line? Maybe you can find it in parametric form?
(Find the direction vector. What is it perpendicular to?)
directly, or maybe you can say something about it.
◮ If looking for a plane: What is the normal vector? Again, maybe you can only say Question
something about it; maybe you know it’s perpendicular to something else. What is the distance between the lines (x , y , z ) = (1 + t , 2 + t , 3 + t ) and
◮ If looking for a distance: Is there a vector whose length is the distance? (x , y , z ) = (3 + t , 3, 3 − t )?
◮ If looking for an angle: What two vectors have an angle equal to what you’re (Find a vector whose length is the distance.)
looking for?