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3-D Geometry Notes

The document discusses the concepts of direction cosines and direction ratios of a line in three-dimensional geometry. It defines direction cosines as the cosines of angles made with the coordinate axes and states that their squares sum to one. Additionally, it explains the equations of a straight line in vector form, including those passing through a given point or two points.

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shrinitha.ekambaram
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15 views2 pages

3-D Geometry Notes

The document discusses the concepts of direction cosines and direction ratios of a line in three-dimensional geometry. It defines direction cosines as the cosines of angles made with the coordinate axes and states that their squares sum to one. Additionally, it explains the equations of a straight line in vector form, including those passing through a given point or two points.

Uploaded by

shrinitha.ekambaram
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

Three Dimensional Geometry - NOTES

Direction Cosines of a Line: If the directed line OP makes angles α, β, and γ with
positive X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis respectively, then cos α, cos β, and cos γ, are
called direction cosines of a line. They are denoted by l, m, and n. Therefore, l = cos
α, m = cos β and n = cos γ. Also, sum of squares of direction cosines of a line is
always 1, i.e. l2 + m2 + n2 = 1 or cos2 α + cos2 β + cos2 γ = 1
Note: Direction cosines of a directed line are unique.
Direction Ratios of a Line: Number proportional to the direction cosines of a line, are called
direction ratios of a line.

(iii) Direction ratios of a line PQ passing through the


points P(x1, y1, z1) and Q(x2, y2, z2) are x2 – x1, y2 – y1 and
z2 – z1 and direction cosines are
Note:
(i) Direction ratios of two parallel lines are proportional.
(ii) Direction ratios of a line are not unique.

Straight line: A straight line is a curve, such that all the points on the line segment
joining any two points of it lies on it.
Equation of a Line through a Given Point and parallel to a given vector b⃗
Vector form r⃗ =a⃗ +λb⃗
where, a⃗ = Position vector of a point through which the line is passing
b⃗ = A vector parallel to a given line

Remember point: Before we use the DR’s of a line, first we have to ensure that
coefficients of x, y and z are unity with a positive sign.

Equation of Line Passing through Two Given Points


Vector form: r⃗ =a⃗ +λ(b⃗ −a⃗ ), λ ∈ R, where a and b are the position vectors of
the points through which the line is passing.

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