Referred to the origin , the points and are such that and with not parallel to . The point is on produced with and the position vector of point is .
- (a)
Find the position vector of the point of intersection of lines and , giving your answer in terms of .
- (b)
It is given that and the point does not lie on the plane . Find the coordinates of the foot of the perpendicular from to the plane .
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Worked solution
3(a)
1. Find the position vector of $P$ using the given ratio.
Since is on produced with , the points are collinear in the order .
Thus, divides in the ratio .
Using the ratio theorem:
2. Formulate the vector equations for lines $OB$ and $PQ$.
Line passes through the origin and point :
Line passes through and :
3. Equate the line equations to find the intersection point parameters.
At the point of intersection, the position vectors from both line equations must be equal:
Since and are non-parallel vectors, their coefficients can be equated independently:
For :
For :
4. State the final position vector of the intersection.
Substitute into (or into ) to get the position vector:
3(b)
1. Identify the normal vector to the plane $OAB$ and establish the equation of the plane.
The normal vector to the plane is given by the cross product of two non-parallel vectors on the plane. Since and lie on the plane,
We can use a simpler normal vector .
Since the plane passes through the origin , the scalar product equation of the plane is:
2. Formulate the vector equation of the line passing through $C$ and perpendicular to the plane $OAB$.
Let the foot of the perpendicular be . The line passes through and is parallel to the normal vector of the plane.
Equation of line :
3. Substitute the line equation into the plane equation to find the value of the parameter $\lambda$ at the intersection point.
At the point of intersection , the line meets the plane. Substituting the line's vector equation into the plane's equation:
4. Substitute the value of $\lambda$ back into the line equation to find the position vector and state the coordinates of $F$.
Substitute into the equation of line :
The coordinates of the foot of the perpendicular are .
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