Chapter 9 – Vectors

9.7 LINES, PLANES AND ANGLES

x 1 y  3 z  2
Example 1 : A plane 2x  y  z  3 and three lines L1 :   ,
2 1 3
x  2 y z 1 x y5 z3
L2 :   , L3 :   are given. Identify which of the lines is in the
1 2 5 1 4 2
plane, parallel to the plane or intersecting the plane at a point and find the coordinates of the
point.

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 x y 1 z  2
Example 2: Find the value of the real parameter m such that the line   is
m 2 4
parallel to the plane 2x  my  3z  1

Example 3: Show that a line is parallel to a plane if the scalar product between the direction
vector of the line and normal vector of the plane is 0.

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TWO PLANES

Example 4: Find the angle in radians between the planes 1 : x  2y  2z  1 and

2 : 2x  3y  6z  17 correct to 3 significant figures.

Example 5: Show that the planes ax  az  c and bx  by  d, where a, b, c, d  , a, b  0 ,


always form an angle of or 60 .
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TWO LINES

x  5 y 1 z  4
Example 6: Find the angle in radians between two lines L1 :   and
3 4 12
x4 z  20
L2 :  5 y  correct to 3 significant figures.
2 2

A LINE AND A PLANE

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 x  3 y  5 3z  3
Example 7: The line   and the plane 5x  y  4z  2 are given.
2 4 2
a. Find the point of intersection between the line and the plane.
b. Determine the angle in radians between the line and the plane. Give your answer to 3
significant figures.

HOMEWORK 1
1. The planes 3x  y  2z  1 and x  4y  2z  3 are given,
a. Find the equation of the line of intersection.

b. Determine the angle between these two planes.

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 x 5 y7 y5 4z
2. Two lines   7  z and  x   are given.
2 5 2 5
a. Show that the lines intersect and find the intersecton point.

b. Find the angle between the lines.

1 y z  2
3. The line x  2   and the plane 3x  2y  z  1 are given.
3 2
a. Find the point of intersection between the line and the plane.

b. Determine the angle between the line and the plane.

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APPLICATION OF VECTORS

Example 1: On a sunny day two sailing boats ‘Rab’ and ‘Pag’ were spotted from a
lighthouse. The courses of the boats ‘Rab’ and ‘Pag’ from the moment they were spotted, can
be given by the equations r   1  2t  i  10  2t  j and p  2si   4  3s  j respectively. All
the units are given in km and the parameters represent the time in hours.
a. Find the positions of the boats when they were spotted and the distance between them.
b. Calculate the speed of each sailing boat.
c. Find the coordinates of the point where the courses meet.
d. Explain whether or not the boats will collide.

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Example 2: Every year Luca swims across the canal from Zadar to Preko. His average speed
in a pool is 1.8ms 1 , but there is also a sea current that is directly perpendicular to the route
and its speed is 1.2 ms 1

a. Find at what angle to the route Luca should swim to travel directly to Preko. Give
your answer correct to 3 significant figures.
b. Determine how long it will take if the length of the route is 4.5 km.

Example 3: Irma and Ida have two drones that are flying at a constant speed. Irma’ s drone
starts first and takes the path described by the equation L1 : r  2i  3j  t  2i  3j  4k  .After
3 seconds Ida’s drone starts and takes the path described by the equation
L 2 : r  4i  2 j  s  2i  4 j  7k  .

All the distances are given in metres and times in seconds.

a. Find the speed of each drone.
b. Determine the distance between the two drones just before Ida’ s drone starts.
c. The drones will collide. For how long was Irma’s drone flying when they collide?
d. Find the altitude where the drones collide.

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Example 4: Hannah is skiing on a slope at 35 to the horizontal. Given that Hannah has a
mass of 30 kg find the following:
a. Hannah’s weight
b. The magnitude of the reaction of the slope on her weight.
c. Hannah’s speed from resting to 50 m down the slope given that the traction vector has
a magnitude of 80 N.
d. The maximum angle of the slope so that Hannah will not slide at all.

HOMEWORK 2
1. There is a boat on the sea that nedds help. Two boats are nearby and they have
received the call. If you place the boat in need at the origin of the coordinate plane the
other two boats called Adrianne and Lilly are at the points A(-3,5) and L(7,9)
respectively. The coordinates are given in kilometres. They move directly towards the
boat in need. Adrianne with a speed of 4 ms-1 and Lilly with a speed of 6 ms-1.
a. Show that the courses of these two boats have the following equation t seconds
 12 20 
after starting a   3000i  5000 j  t  i j  and
 34 34 
 42 54 
l   7000i  9000 j  t   i j .
 130 130 
b. Determine which boat will arrive first and how much longer it will take the other
boat to reach the boat in need.

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2. A particle with a constant speed moves along the line ,
p   23  2r  i   8  t  j   43  4t  k , where t is the time measured in seconds. All the
measurements are given in metres.
a. Determine the initial position of the particle.
b. Find the speed of the particle.
c. Find after how much time the particle will reach the plane 12x  3y  5z  2 .
d. Calculate the total distance the particle travelled before reaching the plane.

3. The radar controller Boris spotted two planes in the air. The computer is calculating
paths of both planes and these are found to be
p1  147  8t  i   156  9t  j   5  0.25t  k and
p 2   118  7t  i  189  11t  j   7  0.2t  k .

The distance between the points is given in kilometres and the time in the equations of the
paths is given in minutes.
a. Find the speed of both planes in km h-1.
b. Find whether the two paths cross and if yes, find the point of intersection.
c. Determine whether the planes will collide. Justify your answer.

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