Introduction To Three Dimensional Geometry: General Key Concepts
Introduction To Three Dimensional Geometry: General Key Concepts
11 DIMENSIONAL GEOMETRY
1. Distance Formula : Distance between two points A(x1, y1, z1) and B(x2, y2, z2),
AB (x 2 x1 ) 2 (y 2 y1 )2 (z 2 z1 ) 2
2. Section Formula :
(i) If a point R divides the line segment joining the points A(x1, y1, z1) and B(x2, y2, z2) in the ratio
m : n internally, then
mx 2 nx1 my2 ny1 mz 2 nz1
R , ,
m n m n m n
(ii) If a point R divides the line segment joining the points A(x1, y1, z1) and B(x2, y2, z2) in the ratio
m : n externally, then
mx 2 nx1 my2 ny1 mz 2 nz1
R , ,
m n m n m n
3. Mid-point Formula : If R be the mid point of the line segment joining the points A(x1, y1) and B(x2, y2).
x1 x 2 y1 y2 z 1 z2
R , ,
2 2 2
4. Centroid of the triangle whose vertices are (x1, y1, z1), (x2, y2, z2) and (x3, y3, z3) is
x1 x 2 x 3 y1 y 2 y 3 z1 z 2 z3
, ,
3 3 3
CONNECTING CONCEPTS
1. To locate the position of a point in three dimensional space, we consider a rectangular coordinate
system of three mutually perpendicular lines as the coordinate axes. These axes are called x, y and z-axes.
2. The three planes determined by the pair of axes are the coordinate planes called XY, YZ and ZX-planes.
The three coordinate planes divide the space into eight parts known as octants.
The coordinates of a point P in three dimensional geometry is always written in the form of triplet like (x,
y, z). Here x, y and z are the distances of the point P from the YZ, ZX and XY-plane.
The co-ordinate of a point in three dimensional space are also the distances from the origin of the feet
of the perpendicular drawn from the point on the respective co-ordinate axes.
3. The sign of the coordinates of a point is determined by the octant in which the point lies.
Octant
I II III IV V VI VII VIII
Coordinates
x + – – + + – – +
y + + – – + + – –
z + + + + – – – –