Worked solution
Find the acute angle from line directions
Find the acute angle between and , with λ,μ real.
CJC · Lecture · Example 26
Apply the dot-product formula to the directions
Let θ be the angle between and . The dot-product equation is . Their dot product is and their magnitudes are and 7, so .
How did this part go?
Take the inverse cosine and identify the acute angle
. This is already acute, so the angle between the lines is to 1 decimal place, or 0.710 rad to 3 significant figures.
How did this part go?
Common mistakes
Use direction vectors, not position vectors of points on the lines. If the direction angle is obtuse, take its supplement; the smaller line angle uses an absolute dot product.