8.

Planes and Lines in Space (1)

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 8.3 Planes and Lines in Space(1)

 I Equations of Planes
 II Position Relationships Between two Planes
 III Equations of Straight Lines

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 I Equations of Planes

1. Point-normal form of the equation of a plane

is a normal vector of plane Find the equation of a plane whose

normal vector (nonzero vector) is

and passes through the point

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Let be an arbitrary point in the plane , then
①
Where

Expressing the condition ① in terms of components of the

corresponding vectors, we have
②
Formula ② is called the point-normal form scalar equation of the
plane .

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2. General form of the equation of a plane

Definition

Equation ② can be rewritten in the form

③
where

Any equation of a plane can be represented by Equation ③, and any

representation as ③ must be an equation of a plane. For this reason, Equation
③ is called the general form of a plane.

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(2) General forms of the equation of some special planes

a) If a plane passes through origin then . Thus, the equation of the plane is

b) If a plane is parallel to the -axis, then , since

Therefore, the equation of the plane is

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 Similarly, If a plane is parallel to the -axis, or -axis, then the equation of the plane is

c) If a plane passes through the -axis, -axis, -axis, respectively, from a) and b), we
obtain the equation of the plane
or

d) If a plane is orthogonal to the -axis, then // Therefore, the equation of the plane is

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 Similarly, if the plane is orthogonal to the -axis or -axis, then the equation of
the plane is
or
Particularly, represent the -plane, -plane, -plane, respectively.

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(3) Examples of finding the equation of a plane

Example 1

Find an equation of the plane that passes through the -axis and the point

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Solution.
From the conclusion c), we know that the equation of the plane through
the -axis is

Because the plane passes through the point , we have

Substituting into ,we obtain

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 Intercept form of the equation of a plane

Example 2

Let the intercepts of a plane with the -axis, -axis, and -axis be , respectively, where
are all nonzero constants. Find the equation of this plane.

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Solution.
Suppose is any point in the plane , then Because the three
vectors
are coplanar if and only if the point P lies in the plane we have
that is

Expand the determinant, we have

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Example 3

Find an equation of the plane that passes through the three points and

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Solution 1 Using the norm-point form(1) Find the normal Since Let and obtain
Thus,

(2) Write the equation of the plane in the norm-point form Finally, we obtain

Or

Solution 2
Substituting the components of into the general form to find , then write the equation
of it.

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 II Position Relationships Between two Planes

1. The included angle between two planes

(1) General relationship

Generally, the included angle between two planes is defined by the acute angle between
their normal vectors, denoted by .

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Let

be two given planes. Then

Since we have

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(2) Special relationships

Parallel
⑥

Orthogonal

2. Examples of the problem of position relationship

Example 4
Find an equation of the plane that passes through the point and is parallel to the plane

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Solution.
Let be the normal of planes and .
Since ,we have /. And so can be taken as the normal vector of in formula ⑥.

Thus, the equation of the plane is

or

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Example 5

Find an equation of the plane that passes through the two points and is
perpendicular to the plane

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Therefore, the equation of the plane is

or

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Solution 2
𝑃1∈ Π
}
}
𝑃2∈ Π
⇒⃗
𝑃1 𝑃2 ⊂ Π
𝑛⃗ ⊥Π ⃗ ⊥⃗
⇒𝑛 𝑃1 𝑃2
Π ⊥ Π1⇒ ⃗
𝑛 ⊥𝑛 ⃗1 } ⃗ =⃗
⇒𝑛 ⃗1
𝑃1 𝑃2 ×𝑛

⃗
𝑃 𝑃 =(2,1,−1)}
¿
¿
𝑛11=(1,1,1)
⇒
⃗
2 ¿

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 III Equations of Straight Lines

1 The General form of the equations of a straight lines

If the two planes and are not parallel, then their line of intersection is a straight-line
L.

The system of linear equations

represents the equations of the line , and is called the general form of the equations of
the line .

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Example
The following equations determine a line

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2. Parametric equations and symmetric form equations of a straight line

(1) Direction vector and direction numbers of a line

Definition

Any vector that is parallel to the line L is called the direction vector of , and
the three numbers are called the direction numbers of .

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(2) Symmetric form equations of a straight line

A line L in the space is uniquely determined by its direction vector and a point on it.
Let L be parallel to the vector (nonzero vector) and passes through the point.
Set be an arbitrary point on L, then , and . Thus, we have

which is called the symmetric form equation of the line L.

z
P
L

O y
x

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Symmetric form equation of the line L
The equation of the line that passes through the point and is parallel to the vector
is

equation is called the symmetric form equation of the line L.

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Note

(a) There are only two independent equations in the symmetric form equations

(b) The three numbers are the direction numbers of line .

(c) One or two of can be zero. For examples
when , the system of equations becomes

when , the system of equations becomes

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(3) Parametric equations of a straight line

The parametric equation of

Let then,

This system of equations is called the parametric equations of .

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Note

To turn the system ⑦ into the symmetric equations ⑧ or the parametric form
equations ⑨, we need find a point on the line and the direction vector of the line.

Since , you may set the direction vector as .

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2. Examples of the equations of a straight line

Example 6
Let

be the general form equations of the line . Find the parametric form equation and
symmetric form equation of .

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Solution
First, we choose then the equations ⑩ becomes

Solve the above equations, we get . Thus point is on the line L, and we may obtain the
direction vector as

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Therefore, the symmetric form equations and parametric form equations of L are

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Example 7
Find the equations of a plane that passes through the line L of intersection of the two
planes and and is perpendicular to the plane

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Solution 1
Find point-normal form of the equation of the plane
(1) Since plane passes through L, and from Example 6, we know that the point is on the line
L. Thus, the plane passes .
(2) and from Example 6, vector is the direction vector of line L. Therefore, Addition,
there is a condition that is
Thus, we have

And hence, the equation of is

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Solution 2 The method of the pencil of planes

(1) Definition of the equation of the pencil of planes

Let the equations of L be
We obtain an equation:
that is

It is called the equation of the pencil of planes through the line L.

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(2) For this problem, the pencil of planes through L is

or

Because we have

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