Lines, Planes, and Spheres in Space

This page delves deeper into the relationships between lines, planes, and spheres in 3D space, building upon the concepts introduced earlier.

The page begins by revisiting the equations for lines in space, presenting both parametric and Cartesian forms:

Example: Parametric equations of a line: x = x0 + at y = y0 + bt z = z0 + ct

The relative positions of lines and planes are explored, including parallel, perpendicular, and intersecting cases:

Highlight: The conditions for parallelism and perpendicularity between lines and planes are derived from their direction vectors and normal vectors.

The equation of a sphere is introduced:

Definition: A sphere with center (x0, y0, z0) and radius r is defined by the equation: (x-x0)² + (y-y0)² + (z-z0)² = r²

The page covers the intersection of a line with a plane and a sphere:

Example: To find the intersection of a line and a plane, substitute the line's parametric equations into the plane's equation and solve for the parameter t.

Distance formulas are revisited, including the distance from a point to a plane:

Formula: Distance from a point (x0, y0, z0) to a plane ax + by + cz + d = 0: d = |ax0 + by0 + cz0 + d| / √(a² + b² + c²)

The concept of the angle between a line and a plane is introduced:

Vocabulary: The angle between a line and a plane is complementary to the angle between the line's direction vector and the plane's normal vector.

Finally, the page touches on more advanced topics such as the equation of a tangent plane to a sphere:

Highlight: The tangent plane to a sphere at a point P is perpendicular to the radius vector at P.