Common Plane Calculator

Data ID
S&D from 2 a.d.
Linear 1
Cos(alpha)
-0.280
Theta
Angle(rad.s)
1.051
Cross-product
3D
Lower hemisphere

Linear 1
Azimuth
200.000

plunge
35.000

Linear 2
Azimuth
130.000
Linear 2
Cos(alpha)

plunge
25.000

Cos(beta)
Cos(gamma)
Cos(beta)
Cos(gamma)
-0.770
0.574
0.694
-0.583
0.423
Theta
Angle(deg.s)
60.243
Cos(alpha)
Cos(beta)
Cos(gamma)
Pole
Pole
0.010
0.595
0.804 Azimuth
Plunge
0.010
0.595
0.804
0.980
53.475

Plane
Strike azimuth
Dip
270.980

Quadrant
36.525 W

True Dip Vector

True Dip Vector True Dip Vector
Azimuth
Plunge
Cos(gamma)
180.980
36.525
0.595

Usage
This spreadsheet calculates the strike and dip of a plane given two non-parallel linear attitudes that lie
in the plane. To use the spreadsheet, arrange your data into pairs of azimuth and plunge attitudes,
and type in a pair under the columns headed by "Linear 1" and "Linear 2". Note that the blue cells are
intended for data entry, whereas the magenta cells should be "protected" from accidental overtyping since they
contain the calculation formulae or important labels.
The calculated strike and dip answer appears at the lower portion of the sheet in a green color,
as are the calculated pole to the plane azimuth and plunge values.

Calculation Method
The calculation method converts the entered linear azimuth and plunge data into to directional cosines.
The directional cosines are the components of the linear vector projected to
a system of X,Y,Z orthogonal axes. The +X direction should be visualized as due east and horizontal, +Y as due north
and horizontal, and +Z as vertical and increasing down toward the center of the earth. Both linear vectors are used
to take the cross-product, thereby producing the components of the vector perpendicular to the plane that contains the
original two linear vectors. This cross-product vector is also the pole to the plane whose strike and dip we wish to
find. The rest of the calculation involves converting the directional cosines into strike and dip. The theta angle is merely
the angle between the two apparent dip vectors, which must be known before the cross-product is taken. The dot-product
of two vectors yields the angle between them- theta_S.