Calculus II Discussion Set (Week 3) Fall 2021

1. Calculate:   8. Show that, for a particle moving in space with a constant speed, its
1 2 3 velocity vector must always be orthogonal to its acceleration vector.
 
4 5 6
 
7 8 9

2. Determine whether the following four points lie on the same plane:
9. A particle is moving in space in such a way that its position vector is
O = (0, 0, 0), A = (1, 2, −3), B = (2, −1, 4), C = (1, −1, 2) always orthogonal to its velocity vector. If the particle passes through
the point (3, 1, −2) at time t = 1, find the distance of the particle from
the origin when t = 10.

3. Consider the plane x + 2y + 2z = 13. Find the distance between this

plane and the point Q(2, −3, 4).

10. Consider two planes given by the equations x+y +z = 1 and x+y = 2,
respectively. Find the parametric equations for the line of intersection
between them.

4. Consider the line given by the parametric equations

x = 5 + 3t, y = 5 + 4t, z = −3 − 5t.

Find the distance between this line and the origin.

11. Researchers found that, when a moth flies to a candle in a spiral

5. Let L1 be the line passing through the two points A(−1, 4, 3) and
B(3, 2, 2). And let L2 be the line passing through the points
C(0, 5, −4) and D(−1, 10, −6). Find the distance between L1 and
L2 .
trajectory, the moth’s distance to the candle decreases at a constant
rate. Assuming that a moth flies at a constant speed, show that the
angle between the position vector and the velocity vector of a moth
does not change, either.

6. Consider the plane H given by the equation

2x − y + 2z = 2.
Find the equation of a line that is 3 units away from this plane.

12. Find an example of a differentiable vector function r(t) in the xy-plane

7. Let r(t) be the position vector of a particle moving in space, and let such that |r(t)| = 1 and |r0 (t)| = 2 + cos t at all times t.
v(t) be its velocity vector. Show that the vector
(r(t) × v(t))0

is always perpendicular to the acceleration vector of the particle.