Parallel lines, a parallelogram and a midplane
The points have position vectors and respectively. The line and the planes have equations as follows:
, , , where .
It is given that the planes intersect in the line .
(i) Find a vector equation of the line and show that the line is parallel to the line . Hence find the shortest distance between the lines .
(ii) The points are on the lines respectively such that and is a parallelogram. Find the position vectors of . Hence find the area of the parallelogram .
(iii) The plane is parallel to the plane and is equidistant to both point and the plane . Show that the equation of the plane is given by .
(iv) Find the position vector of the foot of the perpendicular from the point to the plane .
Source wording note: In the first sentence of part (iii), the question PDF prints where the subsequent reference to identifies the intended plane. This transcription uses there; the original wording is recorded as a source typo.
2025 TJC H2 Maths (9758) JC2 MSM · original exercise attribution retained on source pages
Solution
Parallel lines
Find , show and find the distance between them.
Hint
Substitute 's parametric form into .
Distance with .
is not perpendicular to the lines.
Answer · (i)
; parallel to , distance .
Substitute
.
The line
.
Parallel
Same direction as .
Distance
.
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Parallelogram
, with and a parallelogram. Find , and the area.
Hint
.
.
is an oblique adjacent side. Here , so is the perpendicular height, and the area is .
Answer · (ii)
, ; area .
on
.
Right angle
.
and
.
Area
In the specified order , adjacent sides from are and , while is a diagonal. Since , their cross products satisfy . This explains why the source area formula works despite its stray ABCD label.
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Midplane
is parallel to and equidistant from and . Show .
Hint
has normal and passes through .
's value of is 2.
The midpoint of is a valid point on the midplane, but its normal must also be parallel to the normal of .
Answer · (iii)
.
Normal and plane
Through the origin.
At
So is 'at 2' on this scale.
Midway
Average of the two values.
Alternative: pass the parallel plane through a midpoint
The origin belongs to , so the midpoint of lies on the required parallel midplane. Combining this point with the known normal gives the same equation.
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Foot of a perpendicular
Find the foot of the perpendicular from to .
Hint
Move from along by the signed distance.
The foot is .
Answer · (iv)
Foot .
Signed value
is on the 2-side.
Foot
. Equivalently, put on the plane: gives .
Result
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