The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
Al-Mustansiriya University
College of Engineering
Department of Highways and Transportation
Principles of Mathematics
((equation for line in space))
Prepared by Supervised by
Abdul Aziz Walid -D- Dr. yasmin alkatib
A line in the xy-plane is determined when a point on the line and the
direction of the line (its slope or angle of inclination) are given. The
equation of the line can then be written using the point-slope form.
Likewise, a line L in three-dimensional space is determined when we
know a point Poּ(xo, yo, zo) on L and the direction of L. In three
dimensions the direction of a line is conveniently described by a vector,
so we let v be a vector parallel to L.
Let P(x, y, z) be an arbitrary point on L and let r0 and r be the position vectors of
P0 and P (that is, they have representations and ). If a is the vector with
representation as in Figure 1, then the Triangle Law for vector addition gives
r = ro + a.
But, since a and v are parallel vectors, there is a scalar t such that a = tv. Thus
which is a vector equation of L. Each value of the parameter t gives the position
vector r of a point on L. In other words, as t varies, the line is traced out by the tip
of the vector r.
As Figure 2 indicates, positive values of t correspond to points on L that lie on one
side of Po, whereas negative values of t correspond to points that lie on the other
side of Po.
If the vector v that gives the direction of the line L is written in component form
as v = 〈a, b, c〉, then we have tv = 〈ta, tb, tc〉.
We can also write r = 〈x, y, z〉 and r0 = 〈xo, yo, zo〉, so the vector equation (1)
becomes 〈x, y, z〉 = 〈xo + ta, yo + tb, zo + tc〉 Two vectors are equal if and only
if corresponding components are equal.
Therefore we have the three scalar equations: where t ∈ These equations are
called parametric equations of the line L through the point P0(xo, yo, zo) and
parallel to the vector v = 〈a, b, c〉. Each value of the parameter t gives a point
(x, y, z) on L.
Example
(a)Find a vector equation and parametric equations for the line that passes
through the point (5, 1, 3) and is parallel to the vector i + 4j – 2k
(b) Find two other points on the line.
Solution:
(a) Here r0 = 〈5, 1, 3〉 = 5i + j + 3k and v = i + 4j – 2k, so the vector equation (1)
becomes r = (5i + j + 3k) + t(i + 4j – 2k) or r = (5 + t)i + (1 + 4t)j + (3 – 2t)k
Parametric equations are x = 5 + t y = 1 + 4t z = 3 – 2t
(b) Choosing the parameter value t = 1 gives x = 6, y = 5, and z = 1, so (6, 5, 1) is a
point on the line. Similarly, t = –1 gives the point (4, –3, 5).
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The vector equation and parametric equations of a line are not unique. If we
change the point or the parameter or choose a different parallel vector, then the
equations change. For instance, if, instead of (5, 1, 3), we choose the point (6, 5,
1) in Example 1, then the parametric equations of the line become
x=6+t , y = 5 + 4t , z = 1 – 2t.
Or, if we stay with the point (5, 1, 3) but choose the parallel vector 2i + 8j – 4k, we
arrive at the equations x = 5 + 2t ,y = 1 + 8t , z = 3 – 4t In general, if a vector
v = 〈a, b, c〉 is used to describe the direction of a line L, then the numbers a, b,
and c are called direction numbers of L.
Since any vector parallel to v could also be used, we see that any three numbers
proportional to a, b, and c could also be used as a set of direction numbers for L.
Another way of describing a line L is to eliminate the parameter t from Equations
2. If none of a, b, or c is 0, we can solve each of these equations for t:
Equating the results, we obtain
These equations are called symmetric equations of L.
Notice that the numbers a, b, and c that appear in the denominators of Equations
3 are direction numbers of L, that is, components of a vector parallel to L.
If one of a, b, or c is 0, we can still eliminate t. For instance, if a = 0, we could write
the equations of L as
This means that L lies in the vertical plane x = xo.
In general, we know from Equation 1 that the vector equation of a line through
the (tip of the) vector r0 in the direction of a vector v is r = r0 + tv.
If the line also passes through (the tip of) r1, then we can take v = r1 – ro and so its
vector equation is
r = ro + t(r1 – ro) = (1 – t)ro + tr1
The line segment from ro to r1 is given by the parameter interval 0 ≤ t ≤ 1.
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