Chapter 7 Vectors and the Geometry of Space.ppt

Chapter 7: Vectors and the Geometry of Space Section 7.2 Space Coordinates and Vectors in Space * Written by Karen Overman Instructor of Mathematics Tidewater Community College, Virginia Beach Campus Virginia Beach, VA With Assistance from a VCCS LearningWare Grant In this lesson you will learn: 3 Space - The three-dimensional coordinate system Points in space, ordered triples The distance between two points in space The midpoint between two points in space The standard form for the equation of a sphere Vectors in 3 Space Different forms of vectors Vector operations Parallel vectors Applications of vectors Previously you studied vectors in the Cartesian plane or 2-dimensions, now we are going to expand our knowledge of vectors to 3-dimensions. Before we discuss vectors, let’s look at 3-dimensional space. To construct a 3-dimensional system, start with a yz plane flat on the paper (or screen). y z Next, the x-axis is perpendicular through the origin. (Think of the x-axis as coming out of the screen towards you.) For each axis drawn the arrow represents the positive end. x Three-Dimensional Space y z x This is considered a right-handed system. To recognize a right-handed system, imagine your right thumb pointing up the positive z-axis, your fingers curl from the positive x-axis to the positive y-axis. In a left-handed system, if your left thumb is pointing up the positive z-axis, your fingers will still curl from the positive x-axis to the positive y-axis. Below is an example of a left-handed system. z x y Throughout this lesson, we will use right-handed systems. x y z The 3-dimensional coordinate system is divided into eight octants. Three planes shown below separate 3 space into the eight octants. The three planes are the yz plane which is perpendicular to the x-axis, the xy plane which is perpendicular to the z-axis and the xz plane which is perpendicular to the y-axis. Think about 4 octants sitting on top of the xy plane and the o