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Lines and Tangent Lines in 3-Space

This document discusses lines and tangent lines in 3-dimensional space. It provides the parametric equations to represent a line in 3D space, giving the direction vector and a point on the line. It also discusses finding the symmetric equations that define a line, and how to find the tangent line to a 3D curve based on the derivative of the position vector. Several examples are provided to demonstrate how to find the equations of lines and tangent lines between given points or objects in 3D space.

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Zulvan Avivi
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29 views4 pages

Lines and Tangent Lines in 3-Space

This document discusses lines and tangent lines in 3-dimensional space. It provides the parametric equations to represent a line in 3D space, giving the direction vector and a point on the line. It also discusses finding the symmetric equations that define a line, and how to find the tangent line to a 3D curve based on the derivative of the position vector. Several examples are provided to demonstrate how to find the equations of lines and tangent lines between given points or objects in 3D space.

Uploaded by

Zulvan Avivi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lines and Tangent Lines

in
3-Space

A 3-D curve can be given parametrically by x = f(t), y = g(t) and z = h(t)


where t is on some interval I and f, g, and h are all continuous on I.
We could specify the curve by the position vector
.

Given a point P0, determined by the vector, ⇀ r0


and a vector , the equation
determines a line passing through
P0 at t = 0 and heading in the direction determined
by .
(A special case is when you are given two points
⇀
on the line, P0 and P1, in which case ⇀v = P0P1.)

These become the parametric equations of a line in 3D where


a,b,c are called direction numbers for the line (as are any multiples
of a,b,c ).

1
EX 1 Find parametric equations of a line through
(2,-1,-5) and (7,-2,3).

Symmetric Equations for a line

This is the line of intersection between the two planes given by

and .

2
EX 2 Write the symmetric equations for the line through (-2,2,-2) and

parallel to 〈7,-6,3〉.

EX 3 Find the symmetric equations of the line through (-5,7,-2) and

perpendicular to both 〈3,1,-3〉 and 〈5,4,-1〉.

EX 4 Find the symmetric equations of the line of intersection


between the planes x + y - z = 2 and 3x - 2y + z = 3.

3
Tangent Line to a Curve
⇀
If ⇀ is a position vector along a curve in 3D,

⇀ ⇀
⇀ ⇀
then

is a vector in the direction of the tangent line to the 3D curve. (This holds
in 2D as well.)

EX 5 Find the parametric equations of the tangent line to the curve


x = 2t2, y = 4t, z = t3 at t = 1.

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