4.

Find the work done by a force F = 5i (magnitude 5 N ) along the line from the origin to the point
(1, 1) . (Distance measured in metres).
[Solution] Recall: Work done is F · d.
Thus, the work done is 5i · (i + j) = 5J.
....................................................................................................
height
5. A water main is to be constructed with at 20% grade (i.e., slope = = 0.2) in the
horizontal distance
north direction and a 10% grade in the east direction. Determine the angle  required in the water
main for the turn from north to east (i.e., the angle  you need to bend the water main).

[SOLUTION] Set the positive x-axis along the east, the positive y-axis along the north, and the posi-
tive z-axis along the upward direction.

Let u = 10j + 2k which is parallel to the pipe in the north direction and v = 10i + k which is parallel
to the pipe in the east direction.
To find the angle  , we use dot-product of u and v.
The angle  required satisfies
u · v = kuk kuk cos ;
p p
which is 2 = 104 101 cos .
2p
Thus, cos  = p
104 101
and hence   1.55 rad, or 88.88 .
....................................................................................................

2
6. Let u and v be vectors in R3 .

(a) Using kwk2 = w · w and some properties of dot products, prove that
2
ku ± vk = kuk2 ± 2u · v + kvk2 .

Hence prove that

1 1
u·v = ku + vk2  ku  vk2 .
4 4
(b) Use part (a) to prove that two vectors u and v are perpendicular if and only if ku + vk = ku  vk.
Also, interpret this geometrically in R2 .

[SOLUTION]
(a) We use kwk2 = w · w and properties

(u ± v) · w = (u · w) ± (v · w),

w · (u ± v) = (w · u) ± (w · v), and
v · u = u · v.

2
ku ± vk = (u ± v) · (u ± v) = ((u ± v) · u) ± ((u ± v) · v)
= ((u · u ± v · u) ± ((u · v ± v · v)
= u · u ± 2u · v + v · v = kuk2 ± 2u · v + kvk2 .

1 1 1 1
ku + vk2  ku  vk2 = ((u + v) · (u + v))  ((u  v) · (u  v))
4 4 4 4
1 1 1
= (u · u + 2u · v + v · v)  (u · u  2u · v + v · v) = (4u · v) = u · v.
4 4 4
WARNING: The following are incorrect:

ku + vk2 = kuk2 + 2 kuk kvk +kvk2 .

| {z }
W RON G!

ku + vk2 = u2
|{z} +2u · v + v2
|{z} .
W RON G! W RON G!

(b) If u and v are perpendicular, then u · v = 0. Therefore,

1 1
ku + vk2  ku  vk2 = 0
4 4
) ku + vk2 = ku  vk2 .
Since both ku + vk and ku  vk are positive, we have

ku + vk = ku  vk.

Note that the parallelogram with sides u and v is a rectangle when u and v are perpendicular. Thus,
the result says that a parallelogram is a rectangle if and only if its two diagonals have the same length.

....................................................................................................

3
7. (a) Find the vector equation of the line through A (1, 0, 1) and B (1, 1, 1).
(b) Find the parametric equation of the line through P (1, 2, 1) and Q (1, 0, 1).
(c) Find the parametric equation of the line through the point R (2, 4, 5) and perpendicular to the
plane 3x + 7y  5z = 21.
[Solution] To obtain an equation of a line, we must find a direction vector and the position vector of
a point on this line.
!
(a) Positive vector of a point on this line OA = (1, 0, 1)
! ! !
Direction vector : AB = OB  OA = (0, 1, 0).
Thus, a vector equation of this line is : r = (1, 0, 1) + t(0, 1, 0), t 2 R.
!
(b) Positive vector of a point on this line OP = (1, 2, 1)
Direction vector v = (2, 2, 2).
Parametric equation: x = 1  2t, y = 2  2t, z = 1 + 2t, t 2 R.
(c) Direction vector is the normal to the plane. Thus, we have v = (3, 7, 5).
Parametric equation: x = 2 + 3t, y = 4 + 7t, z = 5  5t, t 2 R.

....................................................................................................
8. Consider vectors u = i + j + 2k and v = 2i + j  2k.

(i) Find a unit vector that is perpendicular to vectors u and v.

(ii) Determine the scalar equation of the plane  which passes through the point (1, 1, 0) and is
parallel to u and v. What is the distance between planes  and the plane containing the origin
and parallel to u and v?

[SOLUTION] NOTE: A plane is determined by a point on this plane and a normal vector (usually
denoted by n). Since the plane is parallel to u and v, the vector n = u  v is a normal vector.
     
 1 2   1 2   1 1 
(i) Let n = uv =   
, , = (4, 6, 1). Thus, a unit vector required
1 2  2 2   2 1 
n
is n̂ = knk = p153 (4, 6, 1).
(ii) The scalar equation of the plane  which passes through (1, 1, 0) and is parallel to u and v is
4x + 6y  z = 2.
Note that the point O lies on the plane containing both u and v.
The distance between planes  and the plane containing u and v is given by
!   1

 2
  
OP · n̂ = (1, 1, 0) · p (4, 6, 1) = p .
53 53
....................................................................................................
9. (a) Find the vector equation and scalar equation of the plane through the point P (1, 1, 3) parallel
to the plane 3x + y + z = 7.
(b) Find the vector equation of the plane through A (1, 2, 1) perpendicular to OA.
[Solution]

(a) From the equation of the plane 3x + y + z = 7, we obtain a normal vector n = (3, 1, 1) of the
plane via the coe¢cients of x, y and z.
!
Thus, a vector equation of this plane is given by P R · n = 0, i.e., (r  (1, 1, 3)) · (3, 1, 1) = 0;
which gives r · (3, 1, 1) = 5. Scalar equation: 3x + y + z = 5.
!
(b) Normal vector is n = OA. Vector equation : (r  (1, 2, 1)) · (1, 2, 1) = 0, i.e., r · (1, 2, 1) = 6.

4
 ....................................................................................................

10. (a) Find the distance from S (3, 1, 4) to the line ` : x = 4  t, y = 3 + 2t, z = 5 + 3t.
(b) Find the distance from S (2, 3, 4) to the plane x + 2y + 2z = 13.
(c) Find the distance between the two planes x + 2y + 6z = 1 and x + 2y + 6z = 10.
p
9 42 9
[Answers] (a) (b) 3 (c) p .
7 41
[Solution] It is helpful to draw a diagram to have an idea of the problem, and use your diagram to find
the distance via dot-product or cross-product.

(a)

To find the distance from S (3, 1, 4) to the line ` : x = 4  t, y = 3 + 2t, z = 5 + 3t, we need a
!
point P on the line. We take OP = (4, 3, 5), with t = 0.
A direction vector is t v = (1, 2, 3) .
The required distance is given by
! !   
     1 
b = 
d = P S  sin  = P S  v (1, 4, 9)  p (1, 2, 3)

14
p
1 6 9 42
= p k(30, 6, 6)k = p k(5, 1, 1)k = .
14 14 7

5
(b)

To find the distance from S (2, 3, 4) to the plane x + 2y + 2z = 13, we begin with finding a point
!
P on the plane by setting y = 0 and z = 0 to get x = 13. Thus OP = (13, 0, 0), and a normal
vector n = (1, 2, 2).
The required distance is given by
! ! 
   
b
d = P S  | cos | = P S · n
   
 1   11  6 + 8 
 
= (11, 3, 4) · p (1, 2, 2) =   = 3.
9 3 
(c)

To find the distance between the two planes x + 2y + 6z = 1 and x + 2y + 6z = 10, we find two
points P and Q on each plane as follows:
Set y = 0 and z = 0 in both equations gives x = 1 and x = 10 respectively. Thus, we have
! ! !
OP = (1, 0, 0) and OQ = (10, 0, 0) so that P Q = (9, 0, 0).
A normal vector n = (1, 2, 6).
The required distance is given by
! ! 
   
b
d = P Q | cos | = P Q · n
  p
 1  9 9 41
 
= (9, 0, 0) · p (1, 2, 6) = p or .
41 41 41
....................................................................................................

6
 11. Consider four distinct points A (0, 0, 0), B (1, 2, 0), C (0, 3, 2) and D (3, 4, 5) where AB, AC and
AD are three edges of a parallelepiped.

(i) Find the volume of the parallelepiped via scalar triple product.
(ii) If A, B and C are three vertices on the base of the parallelepiped, compute the height of the
parallelepiped.
(iii) Let `1 be the line through A and B and `2 the line through D and parallel to AC. What is the
distance between the skew lines `1 and `2 ?

[SOLUTION]

! ! !
(i) AB = i + 2j, AC = 3j + 2k and AD = 3i  4j + 5k.
! ! ! ! !
 
Volume is  AB  AC · AD where AB  AC = (4, 2, 3).
Thus the required volume is
|(4, 2, 3) · (3, 4, 5)| = 5.

(ii) Volume of parallelepiped = base area x height.

! ! p
 
Base area of parallelepiped = AB  AC  = k(4, 2, 3)k = 29.
Height of the parallelepiped = p5 .
29

(iii) Note that lines lie on opposite planes, one of which contains the parallelogram with sides AB and AC.
Thus the distance between `1 and `2 is height of the parallelepiped which p5 .
29

.......................................................................................................