3D Geometry

September 26, 2009

We will learn 3D Geometry with the help of vectors. All derivation will go in sync with our understanding with Vectors. So I propose to do Vectors rst before starting to prepare 3D Geometry.

Abstract

NOTE : Another version of these notes is coming along where problems for each theory part will be included. Here right now only theory is being discussed.

Here we discuss the ow of topics which will be covered in this supplement and in what order. We divide the whole topic of 3D geometry into four parts. First part deals with the points in 3D geometry and associated concepts. Second part surfaces the relation in angles made with the axes and concept of direction in 3D geometry, (corresponding to slope concept in 2D geometry) Third part talks about the plane equation and some interesting combinations of planes with line and points and more than one planes Fourth part, comes with lines and its combinations with many lines and in reference with plane.

CONTENTS

Contents
1 Analogy of 2D with 3D 2 Points in 3D Geometry
2.1 Two points . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1.1 Distance between A & B . 2.1.2 Section formula . . . . . . 2.1.3 Midpoint of segment AB 2.1.4 Triangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5 5
5 5 5 5 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 8

3 Direction Cosines & Direction Ratios

3.1 Direction Cosine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1.1 Identities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Direction Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.1 Creating direction cosine from direction ratio 3.3 Summary of Direction cosine and Direction Ratio . . 3.4 Projection of a line segment onto another line . . . . 3.4.1 Projection of AB along coordinate axes . . . 3.5 Direction ratio of line joining two points . . . . . . .

4 Plane

4.1 Equation of a plane in dierent forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 4.1.1 General form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 4.1.2 Normal distance form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 4.1.3 Point Normal form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 4.1.4 A plane parallel to two lines and passing through a point 9 4.1.5 A plane containing two points and parallel to a line . . . 9 4.1.6 Three point form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 4.1.7 Intercept form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 4.1.8 Special cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 5.1 Position of a point with respect to a plane . . . . . . 5.1.1 same side of a line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.2 opposite side of a line . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.3 Origin side of the line . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 Point outside a plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2.1 Distance of a point from the plane . . . . . . 5.2.2 Perpendicular foot of a point onto the plane . 5.2.3 Image of a point in a plane . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 Angle between two planes . 6.1.1 Special Case . . . . 6.2 Distance between planes . . 6.3 Plane bisector of two planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5 Point & a Plane

10

10 10 10 10 11 11 11 11

6 Two planes

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11 11 12 13

CONTENTS

3 Direction of normal to a plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Origin containing region between two intersecting planes . Bisector containing the origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bisector of acute/obtuse angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 13 14 15

6.3.1 6.3.2 6.3.3 6.3.4

7 Projection of an Area 8 Linear combination of planes

15 16

8.0.5 Non-parallel planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 8.0.6 Parallel planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

9 Plane sects a line joining two points 10 Three planes

16 16

10.1 Normals are coplanar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 10.2 Normals are non-coplanar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 11.1 Two point form of a line . . . . . 11.2 Slope point form . . . . . . . . . 11.2.1 Special case . . . . . . . . 11.2.2 Unsymmetric form . . . . 11.3 Point and a line . . . . . . . . . . 11.3.1 Foot of perpendicular . . 11.3.2 Perpendicular distance . . 11.3.3 Image of a point in a line 11.4 Two lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.4.1 Skew lines . . . . . . . . . 11.4.2 Coplanar . . . . . . . . . 11.4.3 Angle between two lines 12.1 Angle between line & a plane . . 12.2 Projection of a line onto a plane 12.3 Image of a line in a plane . . . . 12.3.1 Line is parallel to plane . 12.4 Techniques in specic Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11 Equation of a line

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18 18 18 18 19 19 20 20 20 20 21 21 21 21 22 23 23

12 Line & a Plane

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CONTENTS

1 Analogy of 2D with 3D
Lets start with few learning from 2D Geometry, cartesian coordinate system. Any point at a distance of units from origin and making an angle with positive x axis. The polar form of the point is . Line joining this point with origin makes an angle with positive x axis and with positive y-axis. Hence the relation between the angles made by this vector with x & y . axes is If we try to think of something similar relation in 3D geometry. But the problem here lies that the angles are in 3D and hence may not form a supplementary or complementary. But surely there will be some relation between the angles make by a line in 3D space.

2 Points in 3D Geometry
2.1 Two points
Given two points Distance and in 3D space.

2.1.1 Distance between A & B 2.1.2 Section formula

If a point C divided line joining segment AB internally or externally in the ratio then

where joining

corresponds to internal or external section & divides the line

Problem 1. To nd the ratio in which the point

2.1.3 Midpoint of segment AB

3 Points are collinear Three points

&

are collinear then

3 DIRECTION COSINES & DIRECTION RATIOS

2.1.4 Triangle
1. Area of triangle Use vector cross product better or we will see another formula to get it going using 3D geometry 2. Formula for centroid(G), Incentre(I), Excentres ( and Circumcenter(O) use (a) Centroid : (b) Incenter : (c) Excenter : other excenter (d) Orthocenter : (e) Circumcenter : , Orthocenter

similarly for

3 Direction Cosines & Direction Ratios

3.1 Direction Cosine
Let us start with a point P . So the position vector of this point will be . Let us convert this point into polar form. Let makes an angle with x, y & z axis respectively and . Therefore Now the unit vector along the line joining origin and point P is Point P lies on the line passing through origin and point P. We have created a unit along this line. 1 is the unit vector along Now the terms which we have got line OP. So this unit vector helps in knowing the direction of this line. And any vector has one unique unit vector along its direction. This can be easily proved. Let two unit vectors be along the same lines. Hence they are collinear unit vectors. Taking modulus on both sides. . So along a line there is one unique unit vector the other is just its opposite direction. Notation : A direction cosine is denoted as
So we claim, direction cosine is unit vector along a line.

1 Direction

cosine in 3D is

In 3D geometry a vector is written as a

coordinate. So any vector

3.2 Direction Ratio

3.1.1 Identities
1. 2. 3. 4. Direction cosine of coordinate axes are &

3.2 Direction Ratio

Direction Ratio is dened as any scalar multiple of the direction cosine. In vector terms, as direction cosine is the unit vector similarly direction ratio is any vector along a particular line.
Note: Any vector direction ratio and

unit vector

direction cosine

3.2.1 Creating direction cosine from direction ratio

If we know the direction ratio say then we have any vector along its direction. To create the direction cosine along the same direction is to nd the unit vector along this direction. So just divide the direction ratio with the length of direction ratio.

3.3 Summary of Direction cosine and Direction Ratio

1. Direction cosine of a line in 3D geometry is Unit vector along that line in Vectors 2. Direction ratio along a line in 3D geometry is Any vector along that line in Vectors.

3.4 Projection of a line segment onto another line

Given a line segment joining points & and a line with direction cosines then the projection of the segment onto the line is

3.4.1 Projection of AB along coordinate axes

AB along 1. 2. 3. : : :

3 DIRECTION COSINES & DIRECTION RATIOS

Example 2. What is the direction cosine of

x-axis 1. To nd the direction cosine along x-axis we rst nd the unit vector along x-axis. is the unit vector along x-axis hence is the direction cosine along x-axis. 2. Another way is to nd the angle x-axis makes with positive x,y & z axis. So . Hence the direction cosine is bisector of x-z axes 1. The bisector of x-z axes will lie in the x-z plane. So we solve this problem by nding any vector along the direction of this bisector and then nding unit vector from that vector which then can be claimed as the direction cosine. Any vector along the bisector = . And unit vector along this direction is Hence the direction cosine = 2. Another way is through . Here the bisector makes an angle with both x & z axes. It makes a right angle with y axis. Hence direction cosine =

3.5 Direction ratio of line joining two points

Direction ratio of line joining two points P along this line. So vector vector that is direction ratio. Q is a vector . This is any

4 Plane
4.1 Equation of a plane in dierent forms
4.1.1 General form
General form of a plane equation is

4.1.2 Normal distance form

Given the direction cosine of the normal to a plane plane from origin then equation of the plane and distance of the

4.1.3 Point Normal form

Given a point lying on the plane and normal to the plane then the equation of the plane

4.1.4 A plane parallel to two lines and passing through a point

A plane parallel to two lines with direction cosines/ratios and passing through the point ( and

4.1.5 A plane containing two points and parallel to a line

Let & be two points on the required plane and a line parallel to the plane with direction cosine/ratio then the equation of the plane

4.1.6 Three point form

Given three points equation is , & lie on a plane whose

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5 POINT & A PLANE

4.1.7 Intercept form

A plane that makes intercepts & with the coordinate axes is

4.1.8 Special cases

1. 2. 3. : is the : is the : is the plane plane plane is is is

4. plane perpendicular to the 5. plane perpendicular to the 6. plane perpendicular to the

5 Point & a Plane

5.1 Position of a point with respect to a plane
5.1.1 same side of a line
If two points then & are on the same side of the plane

5.1.2 opposite side of a line

If two points then & are on the other side of the plane

5.1.3 Origin side of the line

To nd if a point is on the origin side of a line then rst step is to make positive in the line equation and substitute in the line equation to see its sign. From above deduction we get (d>0) then the point is on the origin side of the line else (d>0) then the point lies on the non-origin side of the line.

5.2 Point outside a plane

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5.2 Point outside a plane

There are three types of interesting problems which can arise if a point is outside a plane. Foot of the perpendicular of the point onto the plane, distance of the point from the plane & Image of the point in the plane.

5.2.1 Distance of a point from the plane

Distance of a point from a plane is

5.2.2 Perpendicular foot of a point onto the plane

Foot of the perpendicular of a point is given by onto the plane

5.2.3 Image of a point in a plane

Image of a point in the plane is given by

6 Two planes
6.1 Angle between two planes
Angle between two planes is same as angle between their normals and

6.1.1 Special Case

1. If they are parallel

i.e. As vectors they are collinear vectors 2. If they are perpendicular

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6 TWO PLANES

6.2 Distance between planes

Two plane in a 3D space always intersect. 1. If they are parallel Distance between they are parallel ) and is (as

2. If they are non-parallel The distance between the planes that intersect is zero.

6.3 Plane bisector of two planes

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6.3 Plane bisector of two planes

6.3.1 Direction of normal to a plane
Given a plane if we make the constant positive then what is the direction of the normal to this plane. Lets think in terms of vector geometry

where is the distance of the plane from the origin. The above equation (without loss of generality, d can be assumed to be negative) can be converted into the vector equation as

where So the direction of from origin. i.e. making plane. is away from the origin.

and is away on is away from origin towards the

So the nal conclusion : For the a plane equation,

positive the direction of normal

6.3.2 Origin containing region between two intersecting planes

Given two plane equations and such that then the green region containing the origin is positive for both the planes and and the other vertically opposite green region is negative for both and . So for the green region (where

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6 TWO PLANES

Now lets concentrate on the red region. Both the red region are such that either of or is negative2 . Hence (where So from the above discussion we know which region will have the origin lying in it. Now next we worry to nd a method to nd the acute anlge bisector from problem solving perspective and which angle (acute or obtuse) will contain the origin.

6.3.3 Bisector containing the origin

Here we are intereseted in knowing which angle bisector contains the origin. Any point on the bisector satises

The angle containing the origin (above diagram green region) has both & positive(in origin region) or both negative(vertically opposite to origin). Correspondingly, or one of these is negative in the red region. So,

(origin containing angle bisector)

(non-origin containing angle bisector)

2
is negative means plane's expression value at is negative i.e. and vice-versa for being positive

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6.3.4 Bisector of acute/obtuse angle

To nd the equation, of the acute angle bisector between the planes and . For this problem we rst locate the region of origin. Step I : Make and Step II : and are normals to planes starting from origin to these respective planes Step III : Angle between the normals : If then the normal between the planes is acute and that implies the angle between the planes not containing the origin is acute means angle containing the origin is obtuse. If then the normal between the planes is obtuse and that implies the angle between the planes not containing the origin is obtuse means angle containing the origin is acute.

Origin lies in Origin containing Angle bisector

; Obtuse Angle put + in the below formula

; Acute Angle put - in the below formula

The equation of angle bisector

7 Projection of an Area
Two inclined planes, with an area A lying on one of the planes then we nd the projection of A onto the other plane.

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10 THREE PLANES

If projection of areas of a plane y-z & z-x planes then

in 3D space is

onto the x-y,

8 Linear combination of planes

8.0.5 Non-parallel planes
Given two planes & then the equation of planes passing through intersection of these planes is given by

8.0.6 Parallel planes

Given two planes & linear combination represents family of parallel planes to these planes. then

9 Plane sects a line joining two points

Ratio in which a plane &B is given by divides the line joining A

10 Three planes
10.1 Normals are coplanar
If the normals to three planes are coplanar then there are two posibilities.

10.2 Normals are non-coplanar

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1. All the three pass through a common line of intersection( this will form a pencil of planes) To locate this case we need box product of the normals and show linear combination of any two is producing the third form unique values of the scalar 2. One of the planes is not passing through intersection of the other two (they will form a prism kind of structure) To locate this case we need box product of normals to be zero and show the any point on the intersection of any two planes is not satisfying the third plane.

10.2 Normals are non-coplanar

If the normals to three planes are not coplanar then the planes intersect in a unique point. see the diagram below

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11 EQUATION OF A LINE

11 Equation of a line
If two vectors are along the same line then they are collinear and hence they are scalar multiple of each other. If you know and can prove this then we can proceed to nd the 3D equation of a line.

11.1 Two point form of a line

We have a line that passes through two points we deduce the equation of this line as follows. Let be a point on this line (locus point) Therefore then the

This is the equation of the line in two point form

11.2 Slope point form

We have a line that passes through a point and parallel to the line with direction ratios then equation of this line is

11.2.1 Special case

Equation of line passing through the point and parallel to the line whose direction cosines are then equation of this line is

where r is the distance of between the points

&

11.2.2 Unsymmetric form

In 3D a line is uniquely determined by intersection of two planes. (1) (2) Direction of the line of intersection of planes is same as perpendicular to normals to these planes. Normal to the two planes are & , hence the vector along the line of intersection of the two planes is the vector that is perpendicular to the two normals. So the Direction cosines

11.3 Point and a line

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of the line is

Problem. Given asymmetric form of equation of a line

. What is symmetric form of the equation of this line? And parametric form of the equation of this line. Normal to the plane : & Normal to the second plane : . Direction cosine of the line of intersection of these two lines is Any point on this line of intersection is (this we get by trial in the above plane equations) So the symmetric equation of the line of intersection is (lambda is a constant) So the parametric form of any point on this line is

11.3 Point and a line

Given a point outside the line

11.3.1 Foot of perpendicular

Direction ratio of the line is . Let For a specic the foot of the perpendicular is Direction ratio of the perpendicular is So

Foot of perpendicular from given by

onto the line

is

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11 EQUATION OF A LINE

11.3.2 Perpendicular distance

You nd the foot of the perpendicular from the above formula and then use the distance formula to nd the distance between the foot and the point.

11.3.3 Image of a point in a line

Similarly from the above formula we get if then image is given by is the image of a point

11.4 Two lines

11.4.1 Skew lines
In 3D geometry, two lines can be non-parallel as well as non-intersecting. Such lines are called skew lines. Two lines and Shortest distance between them is

Converting given line equations into vector form : & Now from vectors we know if two vectors shortest distance between this skew lines is

Vector form of shortest distance

&

then the

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11.4.2 Coplanar
If lines are coplanar then the above mentioned

11.4.3 Angle between two lines

If direction cosines or direction ratios of two lines are known then angle between them Let & are the direction cosines of two lines then

Let (

&

are the direction ratios of the lines then

12 Line & a Plane

12.1 Angle between line & a plane
We make use of the normal's direction ratio that is available for us from equation of the plane. Angle made by the line with the plane is

where equation of plane is

and

12.2 Projection of a line onto a plane

Projection of a line onto a plane is worked out in the following steps.

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12 LINE & A PLANE

Step I : Find the intersection point of intersection of the plane and the line. say point M (intersection of a line and a plane from above) Step II : Now take the point on the given line and nd its foot of perpendicular onto the plane say (given a point outside a plane nd its foot of perpendicular) Step III : Now get the equation of the projection using the two point form of a line in 3D

12.3 Image of a line in a plane

There are two posibilities with a line and a plane. If the direction cosine of the line is perpendicular to the plane then the line is either parallel to the plane or is contained in the plane. If the line is not parallel to the plane then it must be intersecting.

12.4 Techniques in specic Problems

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12.3.1 Line is parallel to plane

Image of a line when parallel to the plane

two point form.

Step I : Take two points on the line and get their images in the plane. Step II : Using these two points write the equation of the image line using Step I : Find the intersection of the line with the plane Step II : Take the point which lies on the line from the formula and nd

Image of a line when intersecting the plane

its image point Step III : Using these two points write the equation of the line which is the image of the given line in the given plane.

12.4 Techniques in specic Problems

Problem 3. Given a line
& and a point of the perpendicular & image of this point in the given line and passing through ? nd the foot

Problem 4. Find the equation of a plane passing through intersection of planes

If we have two planes & then equation of family of planes passing through the intersection of these two planes is Using the above fact, the equation of the plane passing through intersection of the given planes is Now this plane passes through origin hence hence satises this implies

Substituing we get the equation of the plane.