MP2006/AE2002 Mathematics 3

E-learning Week Tutorial 7 (Full solutions)

Q1. Show that (uv)w = (u w)v(v w)u. (Hint. Let u= ci +/j +ck.
v= ji + j + :k and w= :i + tj + nk and work out separately the left
and the right hand sides of the given equation in terms of c. /. c. j. .
:. :. t and n. Show that the two sides give the same expression.)
Solution. A graphical way to work out cross product u v is given in
the lecture as follows.
Thus, uv = (/: c)i +(cjc:)j +(c /j)k. If we replace c. / and
c in the second row by (/: c). (cj c:) and (c /j) respectively,
and j. and : in the third row by :. t and n respectively, we can work
out (u v) w as
(u v) w = ((cj c:)n (c /j)t)i
+((c /j): (/: c)n)j
+((/: c)t (cj c:):)k
= (ncj nc: tc + t/j)i
+(:c :/j n/: + nc)j
+(/:t ct cj: + c::)k
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Working out (u w)v (v w)u. we nd that
(u w)v (v w)u
= (c: + /t + cn)(ji + j + :k)
(j: + t + :n)(ci + /j + ck)
= (c:j + /tj + cnj j:c tc :nc)i
+(/t + c: + cn j:/ t/ :n/)j
+(c:: + /t: + cn: j:c tc :nc)k
= (ncj nc: tc + t/j)i
+(:c :/j n/: + nc)j
+(/:t ct cj: + c::)k.
It is obvious that (u v) w = (u w)v (v w)u.
Q2. (a) With reference to a Cartesian coordinate system 0r.. nd the
plane that contains the points (2. 1. 3). (3. 0. 2) and (1. 1. 4). (Hint.
Find two vectors that lie on the plane. Use them to obtain a vector
perpendicular to the plane.) (b) A straight line perpendicular to the
plane in part (a) passes through the point (2. 5. 2). Give a paramet-
ric representation for the straight line. (c) Find the point where the
plane in part (a) and the straight line in part (b) intersect.
Solution. (a) The two vectors on the plane are:
(3 2)i + (0 1)j + (2 3)k = i j k
(3 + 1)i + (0 1)j + (2 4)k = 4i j 2k
A cross product of the two vectors gives a normal vector to the plane.
We have:
(i j k) (4i j 2k) = i 2j + 3k.
Thus, the equation of the plane may be written as
r 2 + 3. = d.
Use one point to work out d. e.g. use (2. 1. 3). d = 2 2 +9 = 9. Thus,
the required equation is r 2 + 3. = 9. (Check that the other two
points also satisfy this equation.)
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(b) Avector parallel to the straight line is i2j+3k. Thus, a parametric
representation of the straight line is
r = 2 + t
= 5 2t
. = 2 + 3t.
(c) To nd the required point of intersection, substitute the above
parametric equations for the line into the equation of the plane, that
is, (2 + t) 2(5 2t) + 3(2 + 3t) = 9. We obtain t = 27,14. Thus,
the co-ordinates of the point of intersection are given by
r = 2 + (27,14) = 1,14
= 5 2(27,14) = 8,7
. = 2 + 3(27,14) = 53,14
Q3. Find all unit magnitude vectors that are perpendicular to the vector
ik. (Hint. Let ci +/j +ck be a general vector that is perpendicular to
ik. Form a linear algebraic equation in c. / and c. Find all solutions of
the single linear algebraic equation. How can you ensure that ci+/j+ck
is of unit magnitude?)
Solution. From the hint, the dot product of ci +/j +ck and ik must
be zero. Thus, we obtain
c + 0/ c = 0.
The unknown / can take any real value. Let / = :. where : is any arbi-
trary real number. If we let c = t. where t is any arbitrary real number,
then c = c = t. Thus, (c. /. c) = (t. :. t). All vectors perpendicular to
ik are given by ti + :j + tk. To ensure that we have unit magnitude
vectors that are perpendicular to ik, we normalise ti + :j + tk, that
is, we divide ti + :j + tk by its magnitude

ti + :j + tk

=

2t
2
+ :
2
.
Thus, all unit magnitude vectors perpendicular to ik are given by
t

2t
2
+ :
2
i +
:

2t
2
+ :
2
j +
t

2t
2
+ :
2
k
for all real : and t such that 2t
2
+ :
2
6= 0.
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Q4. (a) Find a parametric representation for the ellipsoidal surface 36(r
1)
2
+ 25
2
+ 9(. + 2)
2
= 36.
Solution. Note that we are required to nd a parametric represen-
taion. (There are many possible answers to this.) One possible way
is as follows. Let r 1 = t. where t is a real parameter. It fol-
lows that (5)
2
+ (3[. + 2])
2
= 36(1 t
2
). Since 25
2
+ 9(. + 2)
2
is non-negative, it tells us that 1 t
2
must be non-negative. Thus,
t lies between 1 and 1 (including 1 and 1). that is, t [1. 1].
Now, (5)
2
+ (3[. + 2])
2
= 36(1 t
2
) is satised, if we choose 5 =
6

1 t
2
cos(n) and 3[. + 2] = 6

1 t
2
sin(n) (for example), where n
is any real parameter. [Another possiblity is 5 = 6

1 t
2
sin(n) and
3[. +2] = 6

1 t
2
cos(n).] Thus, a possible parametric representation
of the surface 36(r 1)
2
+ 25
2
+ 9(. + 2)
2
= 36 is given by
r = 1 + t
=
6
5

1 t
2
cos(n)
. = 2 + 2

1 t
2
sin(n)

for t [1. 1] and n [0. 2:].

Note n = 0 and n = 2: gives the same point for the same t.
(b) Find a parametric representation for the surface 1+r
2
+
2
. = 0
for 2 . 9.
Solution. A simple way would be as follows. Let . = t. where 2 t 9.
It follows that r
2
+
2
= t 1. We can then choose r =

t 1 cos(n)
and =

t 1 sin(n). where n is another free parameter. Thus, a
parametric representation for the surface is given by
r =

t 1 cos(n)
=

t 1 sin(n)
. = t

for 2 t 9.
Q5. If u= n
1
i + n
2
j + n
3
k, v=
1
i +
2
j +
3
k and w= n
1
i + n
2
j + n
3
k,
show that
u (v w) = det

n
1
n
2
n
3

1

2

3
n
1
n
2
n
3

.
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Guide. Express RHS and LHS separately in terms of n
1
. n
2
. n
3
.
1
.
2
.

3
. n
1
. n
2
and n
3
. Showthat the expressions for both sides are the same.
See the E-learning Week slide show posted under the Discussions
section of the course website.
Q6. Let a, b, c and d be vectors in three-dimensional space. Prove or
disprove
(a b) (c d) = (a c)(b d) (a d)(b c).
Guide. Let a = [c
1
. c
2
. c
3
]. b = [/
1
. /
2
. /
3
] and so on. Express both
sides in terms of the components of the vectors. Check whether the
expressions for the two sides are the same or not.
Q7. With reference to a Cartesian coordinate system 0r.. sketch the sur-
face . =
p
r
2
+
2
. Find a parametric representation for the surface.
Guide. Sketch the cross-sections of the surface for . = 0. 1. 2 and
so on to get a feeling of how the surface changes along the negative
. axis. E.g. for . = 2.you will get r
2
+
2
= 4, a circle of centre
(0. 0. 2) and radius 2 lying on the plane . = 2. Next, sketch the
cross section of the surface on the Cr plane (by letting . = 0). You
will get . =
p

2
. that is, . = ||. If you sketch . = || on the
C. plane with the . axis pointing upwards you will get an inverted
V shape. Similarly, sketch the cross-section of the surface on the Cr.
plane (by letting = 0). From all these sketches, can you visualise the
surface in 3D space? (Buy yourself an ice cream today after doing this
tutorial.)
Your parametric representation should contain two free parameters.
The simplest way is to let r = : and = t and hence . =

:
2
+ t
2
.
Alternatively, you can let . = n (a free parameter) for n < 0 (since we
know . is negative) and from r
2
+
2
= n
2
. we can write r = ncos o
and = nsin o. where o is a free parameter.
Q8. Find all points of intersection, if any, between the straight line given
by r = 1 + 2t. = 1 t and . = 3 + t (< t < ) and the surface
. = 1 + r
2
+
2
.
Guide. Straightforward exercise. Subsitute the given equations of the
straight line into the equation of the surface and solve for t.
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Q9. Find a parametric representation to describe the curve formed by the
intersection of the surfaces r
2
+
2
. = 0 and . 2r = 0.
Guide. First, solve the two equations of the surfaces to nd all points of
intersection. Note that there are only two equations but there are three
unknowns r. and .. Get rid of one unknown to form an equation in
two unknowns. The equation in two unknowns decsribes a curve. Use it
to work out the curve containing all the points of intersection between
the two surfaces.
One simple way is to eliminate . to get r
2
+
2
2r = 0 which can
be rewritten as (r )
2
= 0. Thus, r = . So if we let r = : (a free
parameter), we nd that = : and . = 2:
2
.
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