Co-ordinate of Point on Plane & Perpendicular Line

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a plane defined by the Cartesian equation x-2y-5z=6. Participants are tasked with identifying coordinates of a point on this plane and formulating the parametric equation of a line that is perpendicular to the plane and passes through the chosen point.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Mathematical reasoning, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the significance of the normal vector to the plane, with some identifying the direction vector as <1,-2,-5>. There are attempts to determine a point on the plane and to understand the relationship between the normal vector and the line's direction vector. Questions arise regarding the use of the dot product and the formulation of the normal line's equation.

Discussion Status

The conversation is ongoing, with various interpretations being explored. Some participants have provided insights into the relationship between the normal vector and the direction vector, while others are questioning how to apply the dot product in this context. There is no explicit consensus yet, but guidance has been offered regarding the nature of the normal line and its equation.

Contextual Notes

Participants are navigating the constraints of the problem, including the requirement to find a point on the plane and the need to express the normal line in parametric form. There is also a discussion about the implications of the normal vector being a scalar multiple of the direction vector.

noooffence
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A plane has cartesian equation x-2y-5z=6. Give the co-ordinates of any point on this plane . Give in, parametric form, the equation of the straight line which is perpendicular to the plane and passes through your chosen point on the plane..

pls help ..
 
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noooffence said:
A plane has cartesian equation x-2y-5z=6. Give the co-ordinates of any point on this plane . Give in, parametric form, the equation of the straight line which is perpendicular to the plane and passes through your chosen point on the plane..

pls help ..

How do you think you will do this part?


For a plane ax+by+cz=d what is significant about the vector <a,b,c> ?
 
rock.freak667 said:
How do you think you will do this part?


For a plane ax+by+cz=d what is significant about the vector <a,b,c> ?


i know the direction vector is <1,-2,-5> and i got a random point <5,8,11>.

i also know that for an equation that is perpendicular to the plane a.b = 0

but i don't know how to use the dot product to find the vector of that equation...
 
noooffence said:
i know the direction vector is <1,-2,-5> and i got a random point <5,8,11>.

i also know that for an equation that is perpendicular to the plane a.b = 0

but i don't know how to use the dot product to find the vector of that equation...

If you know that is the direction vector and it is the same as the normal to the plane then what are those two vectors (if one happened to be a scalar multiple of the other)?
 
noooffence said:
A plane has cartesian equation x-2y-5z=6. Give the co-ordinates of any point on this plane . Give in, parametric form, the equation of the straight line which is perpendicular to the plane and passes through your chosen point on the plane..

pls help ..

Isn't what the professor of nooooffence is asking for him/her to write the normal-vector of that plan in parametric form?
 
Susanne217 said:
Isn't what the professor of nooooffence is asking for him/her to write the normal-vector of that plan in parametric form?
No, he is asked to write the equation of the normal line, not vector.
 
HallsofIvy said:
No, he is asked to write the equation of the normal line, not vector.

Okay my bad,

If I remember correctly the eqn of normal or normal line is

[tex]y = -\frac{(x-x_0)}{f'(x_0) }+ f(x_0)[/tex] for y = f(x) if it has a skew tangent at point [tex](x_0,f(x_0))[/tex].


Susanne
 
noooffence said:
i know the direction vector is <1,-2,-5>

That's right, [itex]<1,-2,-5>[/itex] is perpendicular to the plane, and will be parallel to whichever line you chose.

noooffence said:
and i got a random point <5,8,11>.

To test whether this is a point in the plane, try substituting its components, [itex]<x,y,z>[/itex], into the equation [itex]x-2y-5z=6[/itex].

noooffence said:
i also know that for an equation that is perpendicular to the plane a.b = 0

but i don't know how to use the dot product to find the vector of that equation...

A parametric equation for a line looks like this:

[tex]\textbf{R}(t)=\textbf{R}(0)+t\textbf{V}[/tex]

where [itex]\textbf{R}(t)[/itex] for all values of [itex]t[/itex] are position vectors representing each of the points on the line, [itex]\textbf{R}(0)[/itex] is the position vector for one particular point on the line where your parameter [itex]t[/itex] happens to be equal to 0, and [itex]\textbf{V}[/itex] is a vector parallel to the line. Oh, and the parameter [itex]t[/itex] takes the value of each of the real numbers.

One way to describe a plane is in terms of which vectors are perpendicular to a certain vector, [itex]\textbf{N}[/itex].

[tex]\textbf{N} \cdot (\textbf{R}-\textbf{R}_0)=0[/tex]

[tex]\textbf{N} \cdot \textbf{R}= \textbf{N} \cdot \textbf{R}_0[/tex]

Where [itex]\textbf{R}_0[/itex] is a constant position vector indicating some particular point in the plane, and position vectors of the form [itex]\textbf{R}[/itex] stand for each of the other points in the plane. In your case,

[tex]\textbf{N} \cdot \textbf{R}= 6[/tex]

with [itex]\textbf{R} = <x,y,z>[/itex] and [itex]\textbf{N} = <1,-2,-5>[/itex], as you worked out.
 

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