1.

3 Points, Lines, and Planes

Objectives
1. Learn the Basic Terms and Postulates of Geometry.

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-1

 Undefined Terms
Description
A point has no dimension (no length, width, or
height). It does have a location, or position.

How to Name It
Name a point by a single capital letter.

Example
Point A or
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-2
 Undefined Terms
Description
A line extends in opposite directions without end
and has one dimension—length.
How to Name It
Name a line by a single lowercase letter or by any
two points on the line.
Example

Line or AB or BA

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-3

 Undefined Terms
Description
A plane extends in two dimensions without end.
The two dimensions are length and width, but no
thickness. We represent a plane by a flat surface.
How to Name It
Name a plane by a single capital letter or by any
three points on the plane (that do not lie on the same
line).
Example P

Plane P or plane ABC

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 Undefined Terms
Space is the set of all points in three dimensions.
A geometric figure is any nonempty subset of
space.
Use the term between when points are on the same
line (or line segment).

Point B is between points A and D.

Point B is between points A and C.
Point B is NOT between
points A and C.

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 Undefined Terms
Description
A line segment or simply segment is part of a line.
It consists of two endpoints and all the points
between them.
How to Name It
Name a segment by its end points: AB (segment AB)
or BA (segment BA)
Example
AB BA
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-8
 Terms
Description
A ray is part of a line. It consists of an endpoint and
all points of a line on one side of the endpoint.
How to Name It
Name a ray by its endpoint and any other point on
the ray. Here, the order of points is important—list
the endpoint first. AB (ray AB)
Example

AB BA
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-9
 Undefined Terms
Description
Opposite rays are two rays that share the same
endpoint and form a line.
How to Name It
Name each opposite ray as you would name a ray.
Example

CB and CA

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-10

Postulate 1.3-1 Two Points Determine a Line
Through any two points there is exactly one line.
Line t passes through points A and B. Line t is the
only line that passes through both points.

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 Definition

When we have two or more geometric figures, their

intersection is the set of points that the figures have
in common.

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 Postulate 1.3-2 Intersection of Lines
If two distinct lines intersect, then they intersect at
exactly one point.

AB and DB intersect at point C.

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 Postulate 1.3-3 Intersection of Planes
If two distinct planes intersect, then they intersect in
exactly one line.
Plane RST and plane WST intersect in ST .

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 Postulate 1.3-4 Three Noncollinear Points
Determine a Plane
Through any three noncollinear points there is
exactly one plane.
Points Q, R, and S are noncollinear. Plane P is the
only plane that contains them.

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-21