MATH2023 Multivariable Calculus Problem Set 1

L2/L3 (Fall 2019)

Extra Problem Set 1

Note: The extra problem sets serve as additional exercise problems for your own practice. Some
problems may be a bit more difficult than those you encounter in WeBWorK.

1. Find an equation that represents a sphere in ℝ3 , one of whose diameters has end-points
(5, 4, 3) and (1, 6, −9).
2. Consider the sphere in ℝ3 with radius 4 centered at (2, −6, 4). Describe the intersections
of the sphere with each of the coordinate planes.
3. Find (an) equation(s) that represent the circles in ℝ3 with radius 2 centered at the origin and
lying inside
(a) the 𝑥𝑦-plane,
(b) the 𝑥𝑧-plane, and
(c) the 𝑦𝑧-plane
respectively.
4. Let 𝐴(−1, 5, 3) and 𝐵(6, 2, −2) be points in ℝ3 . For each of the following sets of points,
find an equation describing the set and describe the geometric object represented by the set.
(a) The set of all points in ℝ3 equidistant from the points 𝐴 and 𝐵.
(b) The set of all points 𝑃 ∈ ℝ3 such that the distance from 𝑃 to 𝐴 is twice the distance
from 𝑃 to 𝐵.
5. A median of a triangle is a line that passes through a vertex of the triangle and the mid-point of
the edge of the triangle opposite the vertex. Prove that the three medians of a triangle are
concurrent, i.e. they pass through the same point.
Remark: This point of intersection of the three medians is called the center of gravity of the
triangle.
6. Let 𝐮 and 𝐯 be two vectors in ℝ2 such that ‖𝐮‖ = 4, ‖𝐯‖ = 3 and the angle between 𝐮
and 𝐯 is 60°.
(a) Find 𝐮 ⋅ 𝐯
(b) Find the real number 𝑘 such that the vectors 𝐮 + 𝑘𝐯 and 𝐮 − 2𝐯 are orthogonal.
7. Determine whether the following statements are true or false. In statements (b) – (f), 𝐮, 𝐯
and 𝐰 are arbitrary vectors of the same dimension.
(a) ℝ2 is a subset of ℝ3 .
(b) If ‖𝐮‖2 + ‖𝐯‖2 = ‖𝐮 + 𝐯‖2 , then 𝐮 and 𝐯 are orthogonal.
(c) If ‖𝐮‖2 + ‖𝐯‖2 = ‖𝐮 − 𝐯‖2 , then 𝐮 and 𝐯 are orthogonal.
(d) If 𝐮 ≠ 𝟎 and 𝐮 ⋅ 𝐯 = 𝐮 ⋅ 𝐰, then 𝐯 = 𝐰.
(e) If 𝐮 is orthogonal to 𝐯 and 𝐯 is orthogonal to 𝐰, then 𝐮 is orthogonal to 𝐰.
(f) If 𝐮 is parallel to 𝐯 and 𝐯 is parallel to 𝐰, then 𝐮 is parallel to 𝐰.
8. Prove that the three altitudes of a triangle are concurrent.

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MATH2023 Multivariable Calculus Problem Set 1
L2/L3 (Fall 2019)

9. Let 𝐚 = 〈𝑎1 , 𝑎2 , 𝑎3 〉 and 𝐛 = 〈𝑏1 , 𝑏2 , 𝑏3 〉.

(a) Show that the vector equation
(𝐫 − 𝐚) ⋅ (𝐫 − 𝐛) = 0
(about the variable vector 𝐫 = 〈𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧〉) represents a sphere in ℝ3 , and find the center and
the radius of the sphere.
(b) What geometric object does the vector equation
(𝐫 − 𝐚) ⋅ (𝐛 − 𝐚) = (𝐫 − 𝐛) ⋅ (𝐚 − 𝐛)
(about the variable vector 𝐫 = 〈𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧〉) represent in ℝ3 ?
10. (Parallelogram Law) Let 𝐮 and 𝐯 be vectors in the same dimension. Show that
‖𝐮 + 𝐯‖2 + ‖𝐮 − 𝐯‖2 = 2(‖𝐮‖2 + ‖𝐯‖2 ).
11. Find the area of the triangle in ℝ2 with vertices 𝐴(−3, 0), 𝐵(−1, 3) and 𝐶(5, 2).
12. Let 𝐴(3, −5, 1), 𝐵(0, 2, −2), 𝐶(3, 1, 1) and 𝑂(0, 0, 0) be points in ℝ3 . Are they coplanar?
13. Let 𝐮, 𝐯 and 𝐰 be three-dimensional vectors. Show that
𝐮 × (𝐯 × 𝐰) = (𝐮 ⋅ 𝐰)𝐯 − (𝐮 ⋅ 𝐯)𝐰.
14. Find the equations that represent each of the following planes in ℝ3 .
(a) The plane passing through (0, 2, −1) and perpendicular to the vector 3𝐢 − 2𝐣 − 𝐤
(b) The plane passing through (2, 4, 5) and orthogonal to the line with parametric equations
𝑥 = 5+𝑡
{𝑦 = 1 + 3𝑡.
𝑧 = 4𝑡
(c) The plane containing both of the lines
𝑥=𝑡 𝑥 = 2𝑡 + 2
{𝑦 = −𝑡 + 2 and {𝑦 = 𝑡 + 3 .
𝑧 =𝑡+1 𝑧 = 5𝑡 + 6
(d) The plane passing through (3, 5, −1) and containing the line with parametric equations
𝑥 = 4−𝑡
{𝑦 = 2𝑡 − 1.
𝑧 = −3𝑡
(e) The plane containing the line
𝑥 = 1+𝑡
{𝑦 = 2 − 𝑡
𝑧 = 4 − 2𝑡
and parallel to the plane with equation 5𝑥 + 2𝑦 + 𝑧 = 1.
(f) The plane passing through all the points (1, 1, −1), (2, 0, 2) and (0, −2, 1).
(g) The plane passing through both (2, 2, 1) and (−1, 1, −1) and perpendicular to the plane
with equation 2𝑥 − 3𝑦 + 𝑧 = 3.
(h) The plane passing through (3, 1, 4) and containing the line of intersection of the planes
𝑥 + 2𝑦 + 3𝑧 = 1 and 2𝑥 − 𝑦 + 𝑧 = −3.

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MATH2023 Multivariable Calculus Problem Set 1
L2/L3 (Fall 2019)

15. Find a vector equation and parametric equations for each of the following in ℝ3 .
(a) The line passing through (6, −5, 2) and parallel to 〈3, 9, −2〉.
(b) The line passing through (2, 4, 6) and perpendicular to the plane 𝑥 − 𝑦 + 3𝑧 = 7.
(c) The line segment with end-points (4, −6, 6) and (2, 3, 1).
(d) The line passing through (2, 1, 0) and perpendicular to both 𝐢 + 𝐣 and 𝐣 + 𝐤
(e) The line passing through (0, 1, 2), parallel to the plane 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 2 and perpendicular
to the line with parametric equations
𝑥 = 1 + 𝑡 and 𝑦 = 1 − 𝑡 and 𝑧 = 2𝑡.
(f) The line passing through (0, 1, 2) and orthogonally intersecting the line
𝑥 = 1 + 𝑡 and 𝑦 = 1 − 𝑡 and 𝑧 = 2𝑡.
(g) The line of intersection of the planes 𝑥 + 2𝑦 + 3𝑧 = 1 and 𝑥 − 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 1.
16. Show that the lines in ℝ3 with parametric equations
𝑥=𝑡 𝑥 =𝑡−1
{𝑦 = 𝑡 and {𝑦 = 2𝑡
𝑧=𝑡 𝑧 = 3𝑡
are skew, and find the distance between them.
17. Find the equations of the planes that are parallel to the plane 𝑥 + 2𝑦 − 2𝑧 = 1 and are 2
units away from this plane.
18. Let 𝐫1, 𝐫2 , 𝐯1 and 𝐯2 be given three-dimensional vectors, and let 𝐿1 and 𝐿2 be lines in ℝ3
with vector equations
𝐫 = 𝐫1 + 𝑡𝐯1 and 𝐫 = 𝐫2 + 𝑡𝐯2
respectively. Find the distance between 𝐿1 and 𝐿2 (in terms of 𝐫1, 𝐫2 , 𝐯1 and 𝐯2 )
(a) if 𝐿1 and 𝐿2 are parallel,
(b) if 𝐿1 and 𝐿2 are skew.

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