Cosmogony

Plane (geometry)
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Two intersecting planes in three-dimensional space
In mathematics, a plane is a flat, two-dimensional surface. A plane is the two-d
imensional analogue of a point (zero-dimensions), a line (one-dimension) and a s
olid (three-dimensions). Planes can arise as subspaces of some higher-dimensiona
l space, as with the walls of a room, or they may enjoy an independent existence
in their own right, as in the setting of Euclidean geometry.
When working exclusively in two-dimensional Euclidean space, the definite articl
e is used, so, the plane refers to the whole space. Many fundamental tasks in ma
thematics, geometry, trigonometry, graph theory and graphing are performed in a
two-dimensional space, or in other words, in the plane.
Contents [hide]
1 Euclidean geometry
2 Planes embedded in 3-dimensional Euclidean space
2.1 Properties
2.2 Point-normal form and general form of the equation of a plane
2.3 Describing a plane with a point and two vectors lying on it
2.4 Describing a plane through three points
2.4.1 Method 1
2.4.2 Method 2
2.4.3 Method 3
2.5 Distance from a point to a plane
2.6 Line of intersection between two planes
2.7 Dihedral angle
3 Planes in various areas of mathematics
4 Topological and differential geometric notions
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References
8 External links
Euclidean geometry[edit]
Main article: Euclidean geometry
Euclid set forth the first great landmark of mathematical thought, an axiomatic
treatment of geometry.[1] He selected a small core of undefined terms (called co
mmon notions) and postulates (or axioms) which he then used to prove various geo
metrical statements. Although the plane in its modern sense is not directly give
n a definition anywhere in the Elements, it may be thought of as part of the com
mon notions.[2] In his work Euclid never makes use of numbers to measure length,
angle, or area. In this way the Euclidean plane is not quite the same as the Ca
rtesian plane.
Three parallel planes.
Planes embedded in 3-dimensional Euclidean space[edit]
This section is solely concerned with planes embedded in three dimensions: speci
fically, in R3.
Properties[edit]
The following statements hold in three-dimensional Euclidean space but not in hi
gher dimensions, though they have higher-dimensional analogues:
Two planes are either parallel or they intersect in a line.
A line is either parallel to a plane, intersects it at a single point, or is con
tained in the plane.
Two lines perpendicular to the same plane must be parallel to each other.
Two planes perpendicular to the same line must be parallel to each other.
Point-normal form and general form of the equation of a plane[edit]
In a manner analogous to the way lines in a two-dimensional space are described
using a point-slope form for their equations, planes in a three dimensional spac
e have a natural description using a point in the plane and a vector (the normal
vector) to indicate its "inclination".
Specifically, let \mathbf{r}_0 be the position vector of some point P_0 = (x_0,y
_0,z_0), and let \mathbf{n} = (a,b,c) be a nonzero vector. The plane determined
by this point and vector consists of those points P, with position vector \mathb
f{r}, such that the vector drawn from P_0 to P is perpendicular to \mathbf{n}. R
ecalling that two vectors are perpendicular if and only if their dot product is
zero, it follows that the desired plane can be described as the set of all point
s \mathbf{r} such that
\mathbf{n} \cdot (\mathbf{r}-\mathbf{r}_0)=0.
(The dot here means a dot product, not scalar multiplication.) Expanded this bec
omes
a (x-x_0)+ b(y-y_0)+ c(z-z_0)=0,
which is the point-normal form of the equation of a plane.[3] This is just a lin
ear equation:
ax + by + cz + d = 0, \text{ where } d = -(ax_0 + by_0 + cz_0).
Conversely, it is easily shown that if a, b, c and d are constants and a, b, and
c are not all zero, then the graph of the equation
ax + by + cz + d = 0,
is a plane having the vector \mathbf{n} = (a,b,c) as a normal.[4] This familiar
equation for a plane is called the general form of the equation of the plane.[5]
Describing a plane with a point and two vectors lying on it[edit]
Alternatively, a plane may be described parametrically as the set of all points
of the form
\bold r = \bold {r}_0 + s \bold{v} + t \bold{w},
Vector description of a plane
where s and t range over all real numbers, v and w are given linearly independen
t vectors defining the plane, and r0 is the vector representing the position of
an arbitrary (but fixed) point on the plane. The vectors v and w can be visualiz
ed as vectors starting at r0 and pointing in different directions along the plan
e. Note that v and w can be perpendicular, but cannot be parallel.
Describing a plane through three points[edit]
Let p1=(x1, y1, z1), p2=(x2, y2, z2), and p3=(x3, y3, z3) be non-collinear point
s.
Method 1[edit]
The plane passing through p1, p2, and p3 can be described as the set of all poin
ts (x,y,z) that satisfy the following determinant equations:
\begin{vmatrix}
x - x_1 & y - y_1 & z - z_1 \\
x_2 - x_1 & y_2 - y_1& z_2 - z_1 \\
x_3 - x_1 & y_3 - y_1 & z_3 - z_1
\end{vmatrix} =\begin{vmatrix}
x - x_1 & y - y_1 & z - z_1 \\
x - x_2 & y - y_2 & z - z_2 \\
x - x_3 & y - y_3 & z - z_3
\end{vmatrix} = 0.
Method 2[edit]
To describe the plane by an equation of the form ax + by + cz + d = 0 , solve t
he following system of equations:
\, ax_1 + by_1 + cz_1 + d = 0
\, ax_2 + by_2 + cz_2 + d = 0
\, ax_3 + by_3 + cz_3 + d = 0.
This system can be solved using Cramer's Rule and basic matrix manipulations. Le
t
D = \begin{vmatrix}
x_1 & y_1 & z_1 \\
x_2 & y_2 & z_2 \\
x_3 & y_3 & z_3
\end{vmatrix}.