Chapter 4

Euclidean space

4.1 Euclidean space

4.1.1 Euclidean space. Cartesian frame

Denition 1. A real ane space is called a Euclidean space if the associated vector space is a
vector Euclidean space, i.e. a vector space with a scalar product.

By the denition, all notions and result in Ane Geometry can be applied to Euclidean Geoentry.
A Euclidean space will be denoted by E while the associated Euclidean vector space will be denoted
! !
by E : To emphasize the dimension of the space we write En and En :
Example 1. 1. The plane E2 (in Analytic Geometry) studying in high school.
2. The space E3 (in Analytic Geometry) studying in high school.
!
3. A Euclidean vector space En is an n-dimensional Euclidean space associated to itself (the
canonical ane structure).
Denition 2. Let En be an n-dimensional Euclidean space. An ane frame in En is called a
Cartesian frame or an orthonormal frame !
if the associated basis is an orthonormal basis in En :
The coordinates of a point M 2 En in an orthonormal frame is called the orthonormal coordinates.
Example 2. Consider Rn with the canonical scalar product and canonical ane structure. The
ane frame fO; ! ei g in Euclidean space Rn ; where the point O = (0; 0; :::; 0) and f!
ei g is the
canonical basis of R ; is an orthonormal frame.
n

Remark 1. 1. In En ; consider the change of coordinates from the orthonormal frame fO; !
ei g
to the orthogonal frame fO0 ; !ei 0 g
[x] = A[x0 ] + [a]: (4.1)
Since A is the matrix of the change of coordinates (of vectors) from the orthonormal basis
f!
ei g to the orthonormal basis f!
ei 0 g; A is an orthogonal matrix.

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2. Conversely, a formular of form (4.1) where A is an orthogonal matrix, will be a change of

coordinates formula form a given orthonormal frame to another one.

4.1.2 Orthogonality in Euclidean space

Denition 3. Two ane sets  and  in a Euclidean space E is said to be orthogonal, denoted by
!
?; if their directional spaces are orthogonal vector subspaces in E : Moreover, if !
! !
   = E;
then  is called an orthogonal complement of ; denoted by  ? : Of course, if  =  ? ; then  = ? :
Example 3. The following examples are considered in E3 :
!
1. Since vector 0 is orthogonal to any vector, therefore a point, i.e. a 0-plane, is orthogonal to
any plane.
2. Two lines that are perpendicular together by the denition in high school are orthogonal by
Denition 3.
3. A line and a plane that are perpendicular by the denition in high school are orthogonal.
Moreover, the line is an orthogonal complement of the plane.
4. Two planes that are perpendicular together by the denition in high school are not orthog-
onal.

By the denition, two ane sets  and  are orthogonal if and only if !
!
 ?  and hence !
\ =
!
! ! ! ! !
f 0 g: Therefore, dim(  +  ) = dim  + dim  = dim  + dim : Thus,
1. if dim  + dim  > n; then  and  are never orthogonal. This implies that two planes in E3
are never orthogonal;
2. if  is an orthogonal complement of ; then dim  + dim  = n:
Theorem 4.1.1. In E; let  and  are two orthogonal ane sets, then
1. they have at most one common point;
2. moreover, if  =  ?; then their intersection consists exactly one point.
Proof. 1. Let  and  be orthognal ane sets in E: Since !
! !
 \  = f 0 g; then their intersection
is just one point, if  \  6= ;:
2. To prove the remain of the theorem, we need to prove that  \  6= ;: Suppose that  \  = ;;
by Theorem ??
dim( +  ) = dim  + dim  + 1 = n + 1 > n:
This contradiction means that  \  6= ; and therefore  \  consists just one point.

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Theorem 4.1.2. In En ; let  be an orthogonal complement of : If the ane set is orthogonal

to ; then is parallel to :
Proof. By the denition,  =  ? if and only if !
!
 =  ? : Then, !
 is the set of all vectors that
!
are orthogonal to  and therefore !
!
:
Corollary 4.1.3. Through a given point A in En there exists one and only one (n m)-plane that
is an orthogonal complement of a given m-plane :
Proof. Let ! is the orthogonal !
! complement of  and let  is the ane set passing through A
with the directional space  : Then  is of (n m)-dimension and is the orthogonal complement
of  passing through A: If there exists another (n m)-plane  0 such that  0 = ? ; then  and
 0 are parallel ane sets (Theorem 4.1.2) of the same dimension. Because they have a common
point, they must be coincident.

4.2 Distance-Area-Volume

4.2.1 Distance in Euclidean space

Denition 4. 1. The distance between two points M; N in E; denoted by d(M; N ); is the
!
length of the vector MN: Thus,
!
d(M; N ) := kMN k:

2. The distance between two ane sets  and  in E; denoted by d(;  ) is the number
inf d(M; N ): Thus,
N 2;M 2
d(;  ) := inf d(M; N ):
N 2;M 2

Remark 2. 1. If  and  are 0-plane, i.e. they are points, then the above two denitions are
coincident.
2. We can dene the distance between two set similarly as in the denition of that of two ane
sets.
3. It is easy to see that d is a metric in E; i.e. 8M; N; P 2E
(a) d(M; N )  0; d(M; N ) = 0 , M = N ;
(b) d(M; N ) = d(N; M );
(c) d(M; N ) + d(N; P )  d(M; P ) (triangle inequality).

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4.2.2 The common perpendicular line of two ane sets

Denition 5. In En ; let ;  be ane sets and d is a line intersecting both  and : If d? and
d? then d is called a common perpendicular line of  and :
Theorem 4.2.1. If a common perpendicular line d of  and  intersects  at A; and  at B; then
d(;  ) = d(A; B ):
! = MN
Then, for M 2  and N 2  d(;  ) = d(M; N ) , AB ! , AM
! = BN
!2! !
 \ :

Proof. For any M 2  and N 2 ;

! !
MN = MA + AB + BN:
! !
Therefore,
kMN!k2 = kMA
! + BN
!k2 + kAB
!k2 + 2AB
!(MA
! + BN
!):
Since MA 2 !
!2!
!  and BN 
! ! ! AB (MA + BN ) = 0;
we have !k2 = kMA
! + BN
!k2 + kAB
!k2:
kMN
We obtain d(A; B )  d(M; N ): By the denition
d(A; B ) = d(;  ):
By the assumptions,
!
d(;  ) = d(M; N ) , kMN k = kAB k
!
! + BN
, MA ! = 0 (by the above proof)
! = BN
, AM !2! \
!
! = MN:
, AB !

Theorem 4.2.2. If  \  = ;; there always exists a common perpendicular line of  and :

Moreover, the common perpendicular line is unique if and only if
! ! !
 \  = f 0 g:

we conclude that !
Proof. By the assumption !\  = ;; ! ! !
 +  6= E : Indeed, if !
! !
 +  = E ; then
8A 2 ; 8B 2 ; we have AB 2 !  +  ; therefore  \  6= ;: Hence there exists uniquely a vector
!
subspace that is the orthogonal complement of !
!  + :
! u + !v where !
Let P 2  and Q 2 ; we have uniquely the linear combination P Q = ! u 2! +
!

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and !v 2! : Since !
u 2!
 + ; !
!u =!
!
a + b where !
a 2!
 and b
!2!
 : Then there exists just
one point A 2  and one point B 2  such that:
!
PA = !
a;
! !
BQ = b :
We have ! ! ! !
P Q = P A + AB + BQ
=!
! !
a + b + AB
=!
!
u + AB:
!
This proves that AB = !
v 2!
: Since  \  = ;; A 6= B: The line AB is a common perpendicular
line of  and :
The remain of the theorem is implied from Theorem 4.2.1.

By the proofs of the above two theorems, we have the following corollary:
Corollary 4.2.3. 1. For a point A 62 ; there exists uniquely a point H 2  such that hAH i?!

!
and d(A; H ) = d(A; ): We call H the orthogonal projection of A onto :
2. If ;  are parallel ane sets and !  ! ; then every line passing through A 2  and
orthogonal to  is the common perpendicular line of  and : Thus, we have d(;  ) = d(A;  )
for every A 2 :

4.2.3 Formulas
Distance between two points. Let M and N be two points in En with a given orthonormal
frame fO; ! ei g: Suppose that the coordinates of M and N in the given frame are (x1 ; :::; xn ) and
(y1 ; :::; yn ); respectively. It is easy to see that
v
u n
uX
d(M; N ) = t (yi xi )2 :
i=1

Distance between two ane sets. In En ; let  and  be two ane sets. We have the following
cases:

1.  \  6= ;: Then d(;  ) = 0:
2.  \  = ;: Then  and  have a common perpendicular line AB; where A 2  and B 2 :
Let f!!1; :::; !!mg is a basis in ! !
 +  ; M 2  and let N 2  ; we have
! !
MN = MA + AB + BN:
! !
Since ! ! !
MA + BN ?AB;

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therefore
! ! ! !
!1; :::; !!m; MN ) = det Gr(!!1; :::; !!m; MA + BN ) + det Gr(!!1; :::; !!m; AB ):
det Gr(!
Note that ! !
!1; :::; !!m; MA + BN ) = 0;
det Gr(!
therefore
! ! !
!1; :::; !!m; MN ) = det Gr(!!1; :::; !!m; AB ) = kAB k2 det Gr(!!1; :::; !!m):
det Gr(!
Hence,
!1; :::; !!m; MN )
det Gr(!
!
d(;  ) =
2
det Gr(!!1; :::; !!m) : (4.2)

Remark 3. 1. In the case of  \  6= ;; since MN

!2! !
 + ;
!) = 0:
!; :::; !!; MN
det Gr(! 1 m

Therefore, Formula (4.2) can be use to compute the distance for this case.
2. We can describe step by step for computing the distance between two ane sets  and  as
follows:
(a) Take two point M 2  and N 2 :
(b) !1; :::; !!mg in !
Chose a basis f!
!
 + :
(c) Compute det Gr(! !1; :::; !!m; MN!) and det Gr(!!; :::; !!):
1 m
! ! !
det Gr(!1 ; :::; !m ; MN )
(d) Compute
det Gr(! !1; :::; !!m) :
3. For computing the distance from a point A to an m-plane ; we can consider A as a 0-
plane and apply Formula 4.2. We can also do this by another way as follows: Let H be the
orthogonal projection of A onto : The distance from A to H is the one we need to nd.
The algorithm is as follows:
(a) Write an equation of ; the orthogonal complement of ; that passes through A:
(b) Find the intersection point H of  and :
(c) Calculate AH:
4. Consider the special case of computing the distance from a point to a hyperplane. In this
case, we have a simpler formula that is very familiar with the readers. In E let  be a
hyperplane. The vector !
! !
n 6= 0 of E is called a normal vector of ; if h!
n i?!
 : Whenever
k!n k = 1; we say !
n is a unit normal vector.
Suppose that  has an equation as
n
X
ai xi + a = 0: (4.3)
i=1

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We can see that the vectorP!n of coordinates (a1 ; a2 ; :::; an ) is a normal vector of : If !
n is
a unit normal vector, i.e. i=1 ai = 1; then (4.3) is called a normal form of :
n 2

TBy the denition, if  has an equation of form (4.3) then the the normal form of  is
n
X
bi xi + b = 0;
i=1
ai a
where bi = pP
n ; i = 1; 2; : : : ; n and b = pP
n :
i=1 ai i=1 ai
2 2

Suppose that  is a hyperplane and its equation is (4.3). Let A be a point whose coordinates
is (X1 ; :::; Xn ) and H be the orthogonal projection of A onto ; i.e. H 2  and the line HA
! n : We have
is the perpendicular complement of : Therefore, HA = t!
d(A; ) = kHAk = kt!
!
n k = jtjk!
n k:
!
Since HA = t!
n ; the coordinates of H is (X1 ta1 ; :::; Xn tan ): Since H 2 
n
X
ai (Xi tai ) + a = 0:
i=1
Thus,
n n
a2i )t = k!
n k2 t = k!
X X
ai Xi + a = ( n kd(A; ):
i=1 i=1
Therefore,
j
d(A; ) = p i=1 ai Xi + aj :
Pn

P n
i=1 ai
2

If (4.3) is the equation of normal form of ; we have a simpler formula

n
X
d(A; ) = j ai Xi + aj:
i=1
Example 4. 1. In E2 ; let 4 be the line dened by
ax + by + c = 0
and A(x0 ; y0 ) 2 E2 : Then
d(A; 4) =
jaxp0 + by0 + cj
a2 + b2
is a familiar formula in Analytic geometry in plane.
2. In E3 ; let  be the plane dened by
ax + by + cz + d = 0
and A(x0 ; y0 ; z0 ) 2 E3 : Then

d(A; ) =
jax0p+ by0 + cz0 + dj
a2 + b2 + c2
is a familiar formula in Analytic geometry in space.

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3. In E4 with a given orthonormal frame, consider the point A(1; 0; 0; 1) and the plane  dened
by
x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 4 = 0:
The distance from A to  is

d(A; ) =
j1:1 +p1:0 + 1:0 + 1:1 4j
= 1:
1+1+1+1

4. In E4 with a given orthonormal frame let  and  be two 2-planes whose equations, respec-
tively, are: 
x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 = 4 ;
x2 x3 + x4 = 1

x3 + x4 = 3 :
x1 + 3x3 + x4 = 2
We nd the directional spaces !
!
 and  : Since ! is a subspace consisting of all vectors
whose coordinates satisfy the following equation:

x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 = 0 ;
x2 x3 + x4 = 0

we nd a bsis of !
 is fw!1 ; w!2 g where w!1 (0; 1; 0; 1) and w!2 ( 2; 1; 1; 0):
!
Since  is a subspace consisting of all vectors whose coordinates satisfy the following equa-
tion: 
x3 + x4 = 3 ;
x1 + 3x3 + x4 = 2
!
We nd a bsis of  is fw !3; w!4g where w!3( 2; 0; 1; 1) and w!4(0; 1; 0; 0): A basis of ! !
+
! ! ! ! ! ! !
is chosen in fw1 ; w2 ; w3 ; w4 g; for example fw1 ; w2 ; w4 g:
Let M (3; 1; 0; 0) 2  and N ( 1; 0; 3; 0) 2 : We have
 


2 1 1 1 


1 6 1 6 
 1 1 1 1 
detGr(!
!
!1; !!2; !!4; MN ) 
 1 6 1 14  16
d(;  ) =
2
detGr(!!1; !!2; !!4) = 
 2

1 1 
= :
5



1 6 1 
 1 1 1 
Thus,
d(;  ) = p4 :
5

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4.2.4 Angles in Euclidean space

Recall that, the angle between two non-zero vectors !
!
a and b is the one ; 0    ; dened by
!a :!b
cos  = ! ! :
k a k:k b k
The angle between two lines.
Let d1 and d2 be two lines in E with directional vectors are !
!
a and b ; respectively. The angle

between these two lines is the one ; 0    ; dened by
2
j!a :!b j
cos  = ! ! :
k a k:k b k
The angle between two hyperplanes.
The angle between two hyperplanes  and  in En is dened as the angle between orthogonal
complements of  and : If !
n and !m are normal vectors of  and ; respectively, then the ngle
between two hyperplanes  and  can be computed by the following formula:
j!n :!
mj
cos  = ! ! :
k n k:k m k
The angle between a line and a hyperplane.

In En ; let d be a line and  be a hyperplane. The angle  (0    ) between d and  is dened
2
as the complimentary angle of the angle between the line d and a line orthogonal to : If !
 is a
!
directional vector of d and n is a notmal vector of ; then  is computed as follows:
j!a :!
nj
sin  =
k a k:k!
! nk
:

4.2.5 Volumes in Euclidean space

The volume of an m-parallelepiped. Let H be an m-parallelepiped dened by the point
O and m vectors fw !1; w!2; : : : ; w!mg: Then the volume of H; denoted by V (H ); is the number
p
!1; w!2; : : : ; w!m): Thus,
det Gr(w
!1; w!2; : : : ; w!m):
q
V (H ) := det Gr(w
If H is 1-parallelepiped, i.e. a segment, the volume of H is the length of H: When H is 2-
parallelepiped, the terminology area will be replaced for volume.
We call (m 1)-parallelepiped H 0 dened by O and m 1 vectors fw !1; w!2; : : : ; w!m 1g the base
!
of H: Let P be the point such that OP = w!
m : The distance from P to (m 1)-parallelepiped

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containing H 0 is called an altitude of the parallelepiped H; denoted by h: We have the following

formula that the proof will be left for the readers as an exercise.
V (H ) = V (H 0 )h:
The volume of an m-simplex. Let S be an m-simplex dened by m+1 points fP0 ; P1 ; P2 ; : : : ; Pm g:
The volume of S , denoted by V (S ) is the number
1
V (S ) := V (H );
m!
! !
where H is the parallelepiped dened by the point P0 and m vectors fP0 P1 ; : : : ; P0 Pm g: An altitude
of H is also called an altitude of the simplex S: The base of S is the (m 1)-simplex S 0 xdened
by m points fP0 ; P1 ; P2 ; : : : ; Pm 1 g: We have the following formula that the proof will be left for
the readers as an exercise.
1
V (S ) := V (S 0 )h;
m
When m = 2; 3 we have familiar formulas.
EXERCISES
Exercise 4.1. In E3 with an orthonormal frame fO; !
e1 ; !
e2 ; !
e3 g, consider two vectors
! 1 1 1
e1 0 ( p ; p ; p ); !
e2 0 ( p1 ; 0; p1 ):
3 3 3 2 2

1. Find a vector !
e3 0 such that fO; !
e1 0 ; !
e2 0 ; !
e3 0 g is an orthonormal frame.
2. Find the change of coordinates formula from the frame fO; !
e1 ; !
e2 ; !
e3 g to the frame fO; !
e1 0 ; !
e2 0 ; !
e3 0 g:
Exercise 4.2. In En ; let A; B; C; D be 4 points. Prove that:
! ! ! ! ! !
1. AB:CD + AD:BC + AC:DB = 0: Based on this, show that three altitudes of a triangle in
En are concurrent;
2. d(A; B ) + d(C; D) + d(A; C ) + d(B; D)  d(A; D) + d(B; C );
3. d(A; B ):d(C; D)  d(A; C ):d(B; D) + d(A; D):d(B; C ):
Exercise 4.3. In E4 with a given orthonormal frame, write an equation of

1. 2-plane  three points A(1; 0; 0; 1); B (2; 3; 3; 2); C (4; 1; 0; 2);

2. 2-plane  passing through the point D(1; 2; 0; 12) and is orthonormal complement of  and
nd the intersection point of  and :
Exercise 4.4. In En ; let  be a hyperplane and d be a line that is an orthonormal complement of
: Suppose that d intersect  at H: Take A 2 d and B 2  arbitrarily. Prove that
d(A; H )2 + d(H; B )2 = d(A; B )2 (Pithagore Theorem):

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Exercise 4.5. In E3 with a given orthonormal frame, let d be a line and  be a plane whose
equation, respectively, are: (
x1 + 2x2 1 =0
d : ;
2x2 x3 + 2 =0
 : x1 2x2 + 2x3 + 4 = 0:
Prove that d is parallel to  and compute the distance between d and :
Exercise 4.6. In E4 with a given orthonormal frame, consider the relative position between two
ane set  and  whose equations, respectively, are:
8 8
x =v+2
>
> 1 x = 2t
>
> 1
> >
x2 = 3u + 4v + 1
<
x2 = 3
<
: ; : :
>
>
>
x3 = u + 3v >
>
>
x3 = 3t 1
: :
x4 = 3u + 11v + 5 x4 = t + 2
Exercise 4.7. In E4 with a given orthonormal frame, consider the relative position between two
ane sets  and  whose equations, respectively, are:
 : x1 x2 + 3x3 + x4 3 = 0;
8
> x + x2
< 1 =3
: 4x1 + x2 x3 =3:
>
:
2x1 + x2 x4 =0
Exercise 4.8. In E4 with a given orthonormal frame, let  be the plane passing through three
points A(1; 1; 1; 1); B (2; 2; 0; 0); C (1; 2; 0; 1) and d be the line passing through two points D(1; 1; 1; 2)
and E (1; 1; 2; 1):

1. Prove that  and d are skew.

2. Write an equation of the common perpendicular line and compute the length of the common
perpendicular segment.
Exercise 4.9. In E4 with a given orthonormal frame, given ve points A(1; 1; 1; 1); B ( 2; 1; 1; 3);
P (2; 1; 1; 0); Q(3; 1; 0; 1) and R(0; 0; 1; 1): Write the common perpendicular line of the line
AB and the plane P QR:
Exercise 4.10. In E4 with a given orthonormal frame, compute the distance

1. from the point A(1; 2; 4; 1) to the hyperplane  whose equation is x1 + 4x2 8x 3 3 = 0;

2. from the point B (0; 2; 8; 1) to the line whose equation is
8
>
>
x =t+1
1
>
<
x2 = 2t
:
>
>
>
x3 = t 1
:
x4 = 2

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Exercise 4.11. In E4 with a given orthonormal frame, compute the distance between ane sets:
(
x1 + x2 + 2x4 3 = 0
 : ;
2x2 x3 + 5x4 + 5 = 0
and (
2x1 + x2 x3 + 11 = 0
 : :
x2 x3 + 2x4 + 17 = 0
Exercise 4.12. In E4 ; nd the symmetric points of the point A(1; 2; 3; 4) about:

1. the hyperplane x1 + x2 x3 + x4 + 2 = 0;
2. the plane (
2x1 x2 2x3 + x4 + 4 = 0
:
x1 2x2 x3 + 2x4 + 3 = 0
Exercise 4.13. In En ; let  and  are two ane sets and  =  ? : Prove that if an ane set is
parallel to  and dim = dim  then is the orthogonal complement of :
Exercise 4.14. In En ; let  and  be two ane sets. Prove that:

1.  is orthogonal to  if and only if 

!!  ? and !
!
   ?;
2. ? is orthogonal to  ? if and only if !
! ! :
 ?   and  ?  !
Exercise 4.15. In En ; nd the set of all point equidistant from

1. two given points;

2. two given hyperplanes.
Exercise 4.16. In En (n > 1); with a given orthonormal frame, let d be the line whose parametric
equation is 8
>
< 1
x = c1 t + b1
.. ..
>
. .
:
xn = cn t + bn
and  be the hyperplane whose equation is
a1 x1 +


+ an xn + a0 = 0:
Find the angle between d and :
Exercise 4.17. In E3 with a given orthonormal frame, nd the angles between the following lines:
( (
x1 + 4x2 x3 + 4 =0 x1 + 2x2 x3 3 =0
1. d1 : and d2 : ;
x1 + x3 2 =0 2x1 + 2x2 + x3 10 =0

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 Ane and Euclidean Geometry (version1)
( (
x1 2x2 + 2x3 5 = 0 2x1 + 2x2 x3 10 = 0
2. d3 : and d4 : :
x1 + 4x2 x3 + 4 = 0 x1 + 2x2 5 =0
Exercise 4.18. Find the locus of all point M such that the distance from M to a given hyperplane
 is a given constant.
Exercise 4.19. In En with a given orthonormal frame, let  be the hyperplane whose equation is:
a1 x1 + a2 x2 + : : : + an xn + a0 = 0:

1. Prove that the vector !

n (a1 ; a2 ; : : : ; an ) is orthogonal to the directional space !
 of ; i.e. the
!
vector n is a normal vector of :
2. Write an equation of the line passing through M (x01 ; x02 ; : : : ; x0n ) and orthogonal to :
3. Find the coordinates of the point M 0 that is symmetric to M about :

EXERCISES (*).
Exercise 4.20. Let An be an n-dimensional real ane space and fO; ! e1 ; : : : ; !
en g be an ane
!
frame. Prove that we can construct a scalar product in A such that A becomes an n dimensional
n n
Euclidean space and the given frame becomes an orthonormal frame..
Exercise 4.21. In En with a given orthonormal frame, let  be an m-plane whose equation is:
8
>
>
a x + a12 x2 + : : : + a1n xn + a1
11 1 =0
>
<
a21 x1 + a22 x2 + : : : + a2n xn + a2 =0
:
>
>
>
: : : : : :
:
am1 x1 + am2 x2 + : : : + amn xn + am = 0

1. Prove that the vector subspace generated by f!

ai (ai1 ; ai2 ; : : : ; ain ); i = 1; 2; : : : ; mg is the
!
orthogonal complement of  :
2. Write a parametric equation of the ane set  passing through M (x01 ; x02 ; : : : ; x0n ) and is an
orthogonal complement of the given m-plane :
Exercise 4.22. 1. Find the formula for computing the distance between two parallel hyper-
planes in En:
2. Apply the formula to compute the distance betwween two parallel hyperplanes in E4 whose
equations, respectively, are:
 : x1 + x2 2x3 + 3x4 = 2;
 : 2x1 + 2x2 4x3 + 6x4 = 11;
Exercise 4.23. In En ; nd the set of all points equidistant from m given hyperplanes.
Exercise 4.24. In E3 ; nd the set of all points equidistant from

75
 Ane and Euclidean Geometry (version1)

1. two given skew lines;

2. a given point and a given hyperplane;
3. a given point and a given line.
Exercise 4.25. An m-simplex S (P0 ; P1 ; : : : ; Pm ) in En is said to be regular if the distances between
two arbitrary vertices are equal.

1. Prove that the center of mass of an m-regular simplex equidistant from the vertices of the
simplex.
2. Knowing the distance between two vertices of a regular simplex, compute the distance from
the center of mass to a vertex.
3. Knowing the distance between two vertices of a regular simplex, compute the volume of the
simplex.
Exercise 4.26. In En with a given orthonormal frame fO; ! e1 ; !e2 ; : : : ; !en g; let Pi be points such
! !
that OPi = ai ei ; i = 1; 2; : : : ; n: Compute the volume of (n 1)-simplex S (P1 ; P2 ; : : : ; Pn ):
Exercise 4.27. An m-simplex S (P0 ; P1 ; : : : ; Pm ) in En is said to be right at the vertex P0 if
! !
P0 Pi :P0 Pj = 0; where i 6= j: Consider m-simplex Si (P0 ; P1 ; : : : ; P^i ; : : : ; Pm ) (symbol P^i mean that
the Pi is deleted). Prove that
m
X
V 2 (S0 ) = V 2 (Si ):
i=1
Exercise 4.28. Find the length of a diagonal of an n-dimensional cube whose an edge has length
a in En :
Exercise 4.29. Prove that, if a point M belongs to the interior of a hypersphere C (I ; r) and d is
a line that passes through M and intersect C (I ; r) at two distinct points A; B ; then every point
in the segment [AB ] dierent from A; B belongs to the interior of C (I ; r):
Exercise 4.30. In En ; let A; B be two distinct points and a positive real number k: Find the set
of all points M 2 En such that

1. d(M; A) + d(M; B ) = k;
2. d(M; A) d(M; B ) = k;
3. d(M; A)2 + d(M; B )2 = k2 :
Exercise 4.31. In En ; let  and  be two ane sets whose equations in a given orthonormal
frame are 8
<u11 x1 +


+ u1n xn + u1
> =0
 :


;
un1 x1 +


+ unn xn + un = 0
>
:

8
> v x +


+ v1n xn + v1
< 11 1 =0
:


:
vn1 x1 +


+ vnn xn + vn = 0
>
:

Find conditions such that:

76
 Ane and Euclidean Geometry (version1)

1.  is orthogonal to :
2.  is an orthogonal complement of :
Exercise 4.32. In E3 ; let d1 and d2 be two skew lines. Two segments AB and CD belong to
d1 and d2 ; respectively. Prove that, if the length of AB and CD are xed, then the volume of
tetrahedron ABCD does not depend on the positions of AB and CD located on d1 and d2 :

77