THREE DIMENSIONAL GEOMETRY

Three Dimension Geometry, Basic Result of three Dimensional Geometry, Direction Cosines
and Direction Ratios of a Vector, Angle Between Two Vectors, Equation of a Straight Line in
Space, Equation of a Line Passing Through Two points, Angle B sectors Between two Lines,
Perpendicular Distance of a Point from a Line, Reflection or Image or a Point in a Straight Line,
Skew Lines, Equation of Plane in Various Forms, Angle Between two Planes, Family of Planes,
Line and Plane, Equation of a Sphere

THREE DIMENSION GEOMETRY

Let be two perpendicular lines which intersect

at and let a third straight line be perpendicular
to the plane in which they lie. The Three mutually
perpendicular lines form a set of coordinate axes.
They determine three mutually perpendicular planes
called co-ordinates planes.
(i) The axes to be co-ordinate form a right handed
st, i.e., a right handed crew, driven from to

would rotate in the sense from to .

(ii) The points A, B, C are the orthogonal
projections of on the axes.
(iii) Points L, M, N are (x, o, x), (x, y, 0), (o, y, z)
and A, B, C are (x, 0,0) and respectively.
Position Vector of point in Space :

Let be unit vectors (called base vectors) along and respectively. Let be a
point in space, let the position of be .
Then

Thus the positing vector of a point is;

Signs of Co-ordinates of a Point in Various Octants

BASIC RESULT OF THREE DIMENSIONAL GEOMETRY :

Distance Formula :
The distance between the points and is given by

Section Formulae :
Let and be two points whose position vectors
are and respectively.

Let be a point on PQ dividing it internally in the ratio

. The position vector of is given
Similarly Let be a point of PQ dividing it externally in the ratio . Then the position vector
of is given by or

SOLVED EXAMPLES

Example Find the ratio of in which divides the line joining the points
and

Solution Here, divides and in the ratio of at point .

Then, which must satisfy

DIRECTION COSINES AND DIRECTION

RATIOS OF A VECTOR
Directions cosines :
If are the angles which a vector makes with
the
positive directions of the co-ordinate axes
respectively, then cosa, cosb, cosg are known as
direction cosines of and are generally denoted
by letters respectively.,

Thus, . The angles are

known as direction angles and they
satisfy the condition .
 makes angles with ox, oy, oz respectively. Therefore direction cosines of

are or .
Some Results on Direction Cosines :
Let be a point in space such that has direction cosines . Then,

(i) are projections of on ox, oy, oz respectively. Projection of on -axis

Similarly, projection of on -axis and z-axis are and respectively.

(ii) Projection of on axis

Similarly,

(iii) and putting . Putting in

, we get
(iv) If are direction cosines of a vector, then
As

Direction cosines of parallel vectors :

Let and be two parallel vectors. Then for some scalar . If , then

. This shows that has direction ratio i.e.

because

Thus, and have equal direction ratio and hence equal direction cosines also.
Direction Ratios :
Let be the direction cosines of a vector and be three numbers such that a, are

proportional to Such that

where are known as direction ratios or direction numbers of vector . Let be
direction ratio of a vector having direction cosines . Then
where are known as direction ratios or direction numbers of vector .

Let be direction ratio of a vector having direction .

Then Then,

where all the signs should be taken positive or negative. Thus, if a, b, c are direction ratio of a

vector, then its direction are given by where the signs should
be taken all positive or all negative.
Direction Ratio of the line joining two given points :
Let and be tow given points. Then, Position vector of Q-Position

vector of . So,

direction ratios of are and its direction cosines are

ANGLE BETWEEN TWO VECTORS
Angle between two vector sin terms of direction cosines :

Let and be two given vectors with direction cosines and respectively.
Then, and

Condition for perpendicularity:

Condition for Parallelism:

Angle between two vectors in terms of their direction ratio :

Let and be two vectors with direction ratios and respectively. Then a

vector along and vector along

Let be the angle between and . Then is also the angle between and .

Therefore,

Condition for Perpendicularity : and are perpendicular

EQUATION OF A STRAIGHT LINE IN SPACE

A straight line can be determined if;
(i) Its direction and the co-ordinates of any point on it is known OR
(ii) when any two points on the line are given.
Parametric Form :
The equation of a straight line which passing through a given point (a) and is parallel to a given
vector is where is a scalar. Let be any vector parallel to the given line. Take any

point as the origin of reference let be the position vector be . Then, we have

(where ). Hence, the vector equation

of straight line;

Non-Parametric Form :
The vector equation of a line passing through a point with position vector and parallel to a

given vector is or

we have,

Hence the vector equation of the line in non-parametric form is or

Cartesian Form :

Equation of a line passing through a given point and parallel to given vector in Cartesian form.
Let

Let be any point on

Direction Ratios of
Direction ratios of both are parallel

(Cartesian equation of straight line passing through and parallel to straight line whose
direction ratios are .
Note :

(i) the points on the line.

(ii) Since and -axis pass through origin and have direction cosines
 Their equations are: equation of -axis : or and

equation of z-axis : or and

EQUATION OF A LINE PASSING THROUGH TWO POINTS
Parametric Form :

The vector equation of a line passing through two points whose position vector and is :

. Let be the origin and and be the given points with position vectors and
respectively.
Then

Since

for some scalar

Equation of straight line passing through and

Non Parametric form :

The vector equation of a line passing through two points

whose position vector and is :

In the given figure, we have

Cartesian form :
Equation of straight line passing through
and . The direction ratios of
. The direction ratios of

Since they are proportional hence Cartesian equation of straight line is

ANGLE BISECTORS BETWEEN TWO LINES

The equation of the bisectors of the angle between the straight lines and are

given by , where

Let the lines and pass through a point . Let be any on the interval
bisector of the angle between the given lines. Drawn PN parallel to AM.
Therefore,

Now,

Thus, the equation of the internal bisector of the angle between and is
Similarly, the equation of the external bisector of the angle between and is

Hence, the two bisectors are given by

PERPENDICULAR DISTANCE OF A POINT FROM A LINE

Vector form :

Let bet he foot of perpendicular drawn from on the line : . Since denotes the

position vectors of any point on the line since is perpendicular to

foot of perpendicular is :

Therefore equation of the perpendicular line is

and length of
Cartesian form :
The distance of the point from the line , ( where and are
direction cosines of the line), is

Let

REFLECTION OR IMAGE OR A POINT IN A STRAIGHT LINE

Cartesian form :

Let be the point and be the given line.

Let co-ordinates of be image, and their values will be

Vector form :
To find the reflection or image of a point in a straight line in vector form.

Let be given point, be the given line.

since is perpendicular to the given line,

Let be the image of point and the position vector. Since, is mid-point of .

which is image of on .

SKEW LINES
Two straight lines in a space which are neither parallel nor intersecting are called skew-lines.
Thus the skew lines are those lines which do not lie in the same plane.
Shortest distance between two skew straight lines :
If and which is known as the line of shortest distance. Here, distance PQ is called to be
shortest distance.
Vector form :
Let and be two lines equations are:

and respectively. clearly and pass through the points A and B with

position vector and respectively and are parallel to the vector and respectively.

Since is perpendicular to both and which are parallel to and respectively.

is parallel to

Let be a unit vector along , then

projection of on

Hence; distance
Condition for lines to intersect :

The two lines are intersecting if :

Conditions for lines to intersect :

SOLVED EXAMPLES

Example Find the equation of straight line parallel to and passing through the point

Solution . Vector form:

Let and also

equation of straight line passing through and parallel to straight lien whose direction ratios

are .

Cartesian form : Here, parallel to straight line whose dr's are

is ;
EQUATION OF PLANE IN VARIOUS FORMS
A plane can be defined as a surface on which if any two points are arbitrarily chosen, the line
segment joining those points lies completely on the surface. Plane is specified in various ways.
We shall discuss them one by one below.
Equation of a plane through a given point and normal to a given vector :
Let a plane passes through and is normal to a vector . If is any arbitrary point on the
plane, from figure we can write
This is the vector equation of the plane also called scalar
product form. It can be converted to Cartesian form by putting

It can be seen that this a linear equation in and .

So, the Cartesian form of equation of plane is

Equation of a plane normal to a given vector and at a Given distance from origin :
Let a plane be perpendicular to a unit vector and at a perpendicular distance from origin.For

an arbitrary point on the plane, where is the foot of perpendicular from on the
plane

This is called the normal form of equation of plane.

Obviously, this equation can also converted to Cartesian form in the same way and which again
leads to a linear equation in and .

Equation of a plane passing through a given point and parallel to two given vectors

Let a plane pass through and is parallel to the plane formed by two vector and Since

lies in the plane and and are two non-collinear vectors.

Here and are arbitrary scalars.
This form is also called the parametric form of the plane.
It can also be written in the non-parametric form as

Equation of a plane passing through three given points :

It three non-collinear points are given there is a unique plane passing through them. Let the

points be and having position vector and . Then and lie in the plane. So, as in
the previous article the equation of plane becomes

or

Intercept Form of a plane :

This is a special case of the previous article. The equation of a plane intercepting the co-ordinate

axes at (a, 0,0 and is

ANGLE BETWEEN TWO PLANES
The angle between two planes is defined as the angle between their normal. If and are the

normal and is the angle then

Obviously, two planes are perpendicular if

They are parallel if where is a scalar.

SOLVED EXAMPLES

Example Find the equation in Cartesian form of the plane passing through the point
and normal to the line joining the points and .
Solution We know that the vector equation of a plane passing through a point having
position vector and normal to is or Since the given plane passes
through the point and is normal to the line joining and .
Therefore

and of in (i) we

obtain or

This is the vector equation of the required plane. The Cartesian equation is

FAMILY OF PLANES
Plane parallel to a given plane
Since parallel planes have the same normal vector, so equation of a plane parallel to . is of
the form where is determined by the given conditions.
Plane passing through intersection of two planes :
Two planes intersect in a line if they are non parallel. Any plane through the line of intersection
of two planes can be written as (vector form)
or (Cartesian form)

where is a real number plane is

SOLVED EXAMPLES

Example Find the equation of the plane through the point and parallel to the plane

Solution . Let the equation of a plane parallel to the plane be

This passes through therefore

Putting in , we obtain

This is the equation of the required plane.

Distance of a point from a plane :

The perpendicular distance of a point from the plane is given by . In cartesian

form, the perpendicular distance of form the plane is equal to

Distance between parallel planes :

The distance and is given by . Make the

coefficient of and same in the equations of plane before applying this formula.
Bisector of two planes :
In general, there are also angles between two planes. One is acute and other obtuse. If the
equations of planes are and or and
. The planes bisecting these angles are given by
or

Example Find the distance of the point from the plane .

Solution We know the distance of the point from the plane
LINE AND PLANE
Angle between a line and a plane

Let the line be and the plane be . If is the angle between them then

In Cartesian form, if the plane is or and the condition of

perpendicularly is or
Equation of a line as the intersection of two planes :
Let the two intersecting planes be

and

and
Let be the direction ratios of the line of intersection
of planes (i) and (ii)
Direction Ratios of normal to plane (i) are

Direction Ratios of normal to plane (ii) are since lies in both the plane (i) and (ii)

Hence the direction ratio's of the line of intersection are

Let
dr's of axes are

If then and line will be perpendicular to -axis and parallel to

plane and if , then is parallel to plane. Let be not parallel to plane, let line
cut xy plane at . Then lies on and hence it also lies in planes (i) and (ii)

and
From (v) and (vi), we have

Now, direction ratios of are ', m', n' and it passes through point

its equation will be

Intersection of a line and a plane :

To find the point of intersection of the line

Let
be a point in the plane say .
it must satisfy the equation of plane.

Substitute the value of in (i), we get the co-ordinates of the required point of intersection.

Let line be parallel to plane iff;

or

Condition for a line to lie in the plane

Condition for to lie in the plane

and
Image of a point in a plane :
To find the image of the point in the plane

Let be the image of point in the plane (i)

Let PQ meet plane (i) at
direction ratios of normal to plane (i) are (a, b, c) since PQ
plane (i)

direction ratios of PQ are

equation ratios of are
co-ordinate of any point on the line PQ may be taken as

Since, is the middle point of

since L lies on (i)

SOLVED EXAMPLES

Example Reduce in symmetrical form the equations of the lines .

Solution Let the direction ratios of the line. Since the required line lies in both the given
planes, we must have and .
Solving these two equations by cross-multiplication, we get

In order to find a point on the required line, we put in the two given equations to obtain,
solving these two equations we obtain,

Co-ordinates of point on the required line are

Hence, the equation of the required line is;

or

EQUATION OF A SPHERE
A sphere is the locus of a point which moves in space in such a way that its distance from a fixed
point always remains constant. The fixed point is called the centre and the constant distance is
called the radius of the sphere.
Vector equation of a sphere :
The vector equation of a sphere and centre

having position vector , is Let

be the centre of the sphere. Then position

vector is . Let be the position vector of

any point on the sphere. Then, position

vector Position vector of
Now,
Since is the position vector of an arbitrary point on the sphere. Therefore,

equation of the sphere is .

Note :
(i) If the centre of the sphere is the origin and radius , then its equation is

(ii) The equation can also be written as or

Cartesian Equation of a sphere :
The equation of a sphere with centre and
radius is
Let be the centre of the sphere. Then coordinates
of are .

Let be any point on the sphere. Then (radius)

Since is an arbitrary point on the sphere, therefore required equation of the sphere is

Note :
(i) The above equation is called the central form of a sphere. If the centre is at the origin, then
equation (i) takes the form . which is known as the standard form of the
equation of the sphere.
(ii) Equation (i) can be written as
From this equation, we note the following characteristic of the equation of a sphere.
(a) It is a second degree equation in ;
(b) The coefficient of are all equal

(c) The terms containing the product and are absent.

General Equation of a sphere :

The equation represents a sphere with centre
i.e. coefficient of coefficient of coefficient of and,

radius .
The given equation is

This is the central form of the equation of a sphere with centre and radius
Note :
The equation represents a real sphere if . If
, then it represents a point sphere. The sphere is imaginary if
.

Example Find the vector equation of a sphere concentric with the sphere
and of double its radius.

Solution The equation of the given sphere is or

The position vector of the center of sphere (i) is and radius . Since required
sphere is concentric with (i) and is of double its radius, therefore position vector of the center of

the required sphere is and radius . Hence, its equation is

DIAMETER FORM OF THE EQUATION OF A SPHERE

Vector form :
If the position vectors of the extremities of a diameter of a sphere are and , then its

equation is or As , hence PA.PB

Cartesian Form : If
and be the extremities of the
diameter of a sphere. Then the equation of sphere is
given by

Section of a sphere by a plane :

Consider a sphere intersected by a plane. The set of points common to both sphere and plane is
called a plane section of a sphere. It can be easily
proved that the plane section of a sphere is always
a circle.
Let be the center of the sphere and be the foot
of the perpendicular from on the plane. Then is
the center of the circle and radius of the circle is given

by
The center of the circle is the point of intersection of the plane and line which passes
through and is perpendicular to the given plane. The plane touches the sphere if the
perpendicular distance of the plane from center is equal to radius of the sphere. If the equation

of plane is and the sphere is , then the condition for tangency is

If the equation of plane is and the sphere is

then the condition for tangency is

SOLVED EXAMPLES

Example Find the vector equation of the sphere with and as the extremities
of a diameter. Deduce the equation in Cartesian form, and also find the radius and center of the
sphere.

Solution The vector equation of sphere with and as end point of diameter is

Where and

Thus the equation is

Reducing the Cartesian form taking , we get

. Having center at and