Brian Streit

Math 2451

HW 1 Solutions

1. Suppose we have a triangle with vertices at the origin and the tips of a
and b. Denote the region bounded by this triangle as T R2 . Now, we may
parameterize the segment from the tip of a to the tip of b as

l(t) = (1 t)a + tb with 0 t 1:

Observe that for every 0 t 1, we may associate the segment connecting the
origin and l(t). We see that

T = fv 2 R3 : v = s((1 t)a+tb) = stb+s(1 t)a with 0 t 1 and 0 s 1g:

2. Given
8 8
< x = 2t + 3 < x = 3s 2
l1 : y = t+3 and l2 : y = 3s 1 ;
: :
z = 3t + 8 z = 4s + 1

we recall that for two lines in space there are several possible situations. First,
the lines could be the same. In this case there are in…nitely many planes
through the lines. Second, the lines could be skew, that is to say the lines may
not intersect, and have associated vectors that are not colinear. In this case
there is no plane. Third, the lines could be skew but have associated vectors
that are colinear. In this case there is a unique plane through the two lines.
Fourth, the lines could intersect in a unique point. In this case there is a unique
plane through the two lines. Here we have the fourth case since the direction
vectors, a = (2; 1; 3) and b = (3; 3; 4); associated with l1 and l2 , respectively,
are not colinear and we can simultaneously solve the two given systems to give
a point of intersection. We compute the point of intersection as follows:
8 8
< 2t + 3 = 3s 2 < t = 3s2 5
l 1 = l2 ) t+3 = 3s 1 ) t = 3s 4 :
: :
3t + 8 = 4s + 1 t = 4s3 7

Solving the …rst two equalities on the right, above, for t gives us
3s 5
= 3s 4 , 3s 5 = 6s 8 , 3 = 3s , s = 1:
2
Back substituting s = 1 into one of the equalities for t gives us t = 1. Now,
we see that l1 ( 2) = l2 (1) = (1; 2; 5) so our work checks out and (1; 2; 5) is the
point of intersection of l1 and l2 . Now, since our lines are contained in some

1
plane P that also contains the points (3; 3; 8), ( 2; 1; 1), and (1; 2; 5). A plane
in space may be written in vector notation as

P = fu 2 R3 : u = p + a + b where ; 2 Rg

where p is the vector associated with a point p 2 P and the vectors a; b 2 P

are not colinear. Since (1; 2; 5) 2 P, we have

P = fu 2 R3 : u = (1; 2; 5) + (2; 1; 3) + (3; 3; 4) where ; 2 Rg:

However, this is vector notation and we were asked to give an equation for P.
Given a normal vector n = (A; B; C) to P and a point (p1 ; p2 ; p3 ) 2 P, our
plane may be represented as

P = f(x; y; z) 2 R3 : A(x p1 ) + B(y p2 ) + C(z p3 ) = 0g:

Here, (p1 ; p2 ; p3 ) = (1; 2; 5) and

i j k
n=a b= 2 1 3 = 5i + j + 3k
3 3 4

so the equation for P is

5(x 1) + 1(y 2) + 3(z 5) = 0 or 5x + y + 3z = 12:

3. Solution 1: A vector parallel to the given line is u = (1; 1; 1). A

parameterized vector pointing from (4; 1; 1) to our line is

v(t) = (t 1; t 2; t + 1) (4; 1; 1) = (t 5; t 3; t + 2):

Now, u is perpendicular to v(t) if and only if

u v(t) = 0 , t 5+t 3 + t + 2 = 0 , t = 2:

So v(2) = ( 3; 1; 4) is perpendicular to u and, therefore, is in the direction

of our desired line. Since the direction of our desired line is v(2) = ( 3; 1; 4)
and (4; 1; 1) is a point on the line, the equation of our desired line is

l(s) = (4; 1; 1) + s( 3; 1; 4) = (4 3s; 1 s; 1 + 4s):

Solution 2: Let t = 0 so that a point on our given line is l(0) = ( 1; 2; 1):

A vector pointing from our given point (4; 1; 1) to the point ( 1; 2; 1) is

u = ( 1; 2; 1) (4; 1; 1) = ( 5; 3; 2):

Since v = (1; 1; 1) is a vector parallel to our given line we see that

u v
projv u = 2v
kvk

2
is also a vector parallel to our given line. Now we observe that

w = (4; 1; 1) projv u

is a vector orthogonal to our given line, that points towards (4; 1; 1); and
therefore is in the direction of our desired line. The computations and details
are left to the reader.

4. Our given line is

f(x; y; z) 2 R3 : x = 2 + t; y = t 2; and z = t 1 with t 2 Rg:

To see if points on this line satisfy our given planar equation, we substitute the
parametric equation for each coordinate into our planar equation to get

2(2 + t) 3(t 2) + (t 1) 2 = 7 = 0;

which is obviously absurd. We conclude that there are no points on the line
satisfying the planar equation.

5. (a) p
We choose our vectors so that the orientation agrees with the diagram.
Since r = x2 + y 2 and we want ker k = 1 we let
xi + yj
er = p :
x2 + y 2
Then we let ez = k and clearly er ez = 0. Next we have

i j k
0 0 1 yi xj
ez er = = p +p :
p 2x 2 0 p 2y 2 0 2
x +y 2 x + y2
2
x +y x +y

Clearly kez er k = 1 and er ez is orthogonal to er and ez . Furthermore,

the direction of ez er agrees with that of e as pictured in the textbook so let
e = ez er .
(b) Using the "bac cab" identity (see exercise 21 in section 1.3) and part
(a) we compute
y
e j = (ez er ) j = er (j ez ) ez (j er ) = p k.
x + y2
2

Geometrically, we see that e j must be normal to the plane spanned by e

and j and therefore must be a scalar multiple of k. Also

ke jk = ke k kjk jsin j = jsin j

is the area of the parallelogram with adjacent sides e and j. We see that
e j xj
projj e = 2 j= p
kjk x2 + y 2

3
so that
jyj
jsin j = kjk ke projj e k = p :
x2 + y 2
We choose the orientation for e j to agree with the right hand rule so that
y
e j= p k.
x + y2
2

6. The plane that determines the base of our pyramid is easy since it is just
the xy plane and therefore has equation z = 0. Now, we will work our way
counterclockwise around the faces of the pyramid, starting with the plane that
contains the vector (1; 0; 0). This …rst plane contains the origin and the vectors
(1; 0; 0) and ( 21 ; 12 ; 1) so we may compute its normal,
1 1 1
(1; 0; 0) ( ; ; 1) = j + k;
2 2 2
and use this to …nd the equation of our plane,
1 1
(0; 1; ) (x; y; z) = 0 or y + z = 0:
2 2
The next plane does not contain the origin but it does contain the points (1; 0; 0),
(1; 1; 0); and ( 12 ; 12 ; 1). From these points we see that the vectors
1 1 1 1
(1; 1; 0) (1; 0; 0) = (0; 1; 0) and ( ; ; 1) (1; 0; 0) = ( ; ; 1)
2 2 2 2
are parallel to the plane so
1 1 1
(0; 1; 0) ( ; ; 1) = i + k
2 2 2
is normal to the plane. Thus, our desired equation is
1 1
(1; 0; ) (x 1; y; z) = 0 or x + z = 1:
2 2
The next plane contains the points (0; 1; 0), (1; 1; 0); and ( 21 ; 12 ; 1) so we can …nd
vectors
1 1 1 1
(1; 1; 0) (0; 1; 0) = (1; 0; 0) and ( ; ; 1) (0; 1; 0) = ( ; ; 1);
2 2 2 2
which are parallel to the plane. Therefore
1 1 1
(1; 0; 0) ( ; ; 1) = j k
2 2 2
is normal to the plane. So, our desired equation is
1 1
(0; 1; ) (x; y 1; z) = 0 or y z= 1:
2 2

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For our last plane, we proceed as with the …rst plane since it contains the origin
and the vectors (0; 1; 0) and ( 12 ; 12 ; 1). We compute the normal

1 1 1
(0; 1; 0) ( ; ; 1) = i k;
2 2 2
So the equation of our plane is
1 1
(1; 0; ) (x; y; z) or x z = 0:
2 2

7. First, in order to compute AB we partition A into row vectors and B into

columns vectors and de…ne the product matrix AB in terms of the dot product
of the vectors used to partition A and B as follows:
Since
2 3
1 1 0
A = 40 3 25 ,
3 1 1
take
a1 = [ 1 1 0 ]; a2 = [ 0 3 2 ]; and a3 = [ 3 1 1 ]
so that
2 3
a1
A = 4 a2 5 :
a3
Similarly, since 2 3
2 0 2
B=4 1 1 15
1 4 3
we take 2 3 2 3 2 3
2 0 2
b1 = 4 1 5 ; b2 = 4 1 5 ; and b3 = 4 1 5
1 4 3
so that

B = [ b1 b2 b3 ]:
Then if C = AB and cij is the entry of C in the ith row and jth column, we
have cij = ai bj . For instance,

c11 = a1 b1 = (1)( 2) + ( 1)( 1) + (0)(1) = 1

and
c23 = a2 b3 = 3:

5
Computing all the entries cij where 1 i 3 and 1 j 3, we …nd that
2 3
1 1 3
C = AB = 4 1 11 3 5 :
6 5 8

Secondly, to …nd det(A) we expand across the …rst row since it has 1’s and 0’s
to get

3 2 0 2 0 3
det(A) = 1 ( 1) +0 =1 6= 5.
1 1 3 1 3 1

Third, to …nd det(B) we expand across the …rst row to get

1 1 1 1 1 1
det(B) = 2 0 +2 = 14 10 = 24.
4 3 1 3 1 4

Fourth, since det(AB) = det(A) det(B) = ( 5)( 24) = 120: Finally, we com-
pute A + B by adding entry-wise to get
2 3 2 3
1 2 1+0 0+2 1 1 2
A + B = 4 0 1 3 + 1 2 1 5 = 4 1 4 1 5:
3+1 1+4 1+3 4 5 4
Then, to compute det(A + B); we expand A + B across the …rst row to get

4 1 1 1 1 4
det(A+B) = 1 ( 1) +2 = 11 8 42 = 61:
5 4 4 4 4 5

8. Given the lines 3x 2y = 13; 2x + 3y = 13; 3x 2y = 13 and

2x + 3y = 26. We want to see when pairs of non-parallel lines have a solution.
That is, we want to know when the following systems of equations are satis…ed:
I.
3x 2y = 13
;
2x + 3y = 13
or equivalently,

3 2
A(x; y) = (13; 13) where A =
2 3
and
1 3 2
1 3 2 13 13
A = = 2 3 :
det(A) 2 3 13 13
But,

A(x; y) = (13; 13) , A 1 A(x; y) = A 1 (13; 13)

, (x; y) = A 1 (13; 13) = (1; 5):

6
We can check our solution (x; y) = (1; 5) for correctness in the original system.
II.
3x 2y = 13 1
so (x; y) = A ( 13; 13) = ( 5; 1):
2x + 3y = 13

III.
3x 2y = 13 3 2
similarly, B = ;
2x + 3y = 26 2 3
3 2
1 13 13 1
B = 2 3 and (x; y) = B (13; 26) = (7; 4):
13 13
IV.
3x 2y = 13 1
so (x; y) = B ( 13; 26) = (1; 8):
2x + 3y = 26

We conclude that the region D R2 has vertices (1; 5); ( 5; 1); (7; 4); and
(1; 8).

9. Observe that row3 = 2(row2) row1. Since the row vectors are a
linearly dependent set, the value of the determinant is zero.

10. Recall that the volume of a parallelepiped spanned by three linearly

independent vectors

u = (u1 ; u2 ; u3 ) ; v = (v1 ; v2 ; v3 ) ; w = (w1 ; w2 ; w3 )

is given by the absolute value of the determinant

u1 u2 u3
v1 v2 v3 :
w1 w2 w3

Observe that a parallelepiped has 8 vertices and that given 4 appropriate vertices
we may …x a vertex and take appropriate di¤erences to …nd our desired three
linearly independent vectors. Here we are given 4 vertices

A = (0; 1; 0) ; B = (1; 1; 1) ; C = (0; 2; 0) ; D = (3; 1; 2) :

We arbitrarily choose to …x A then compute 3 linearly independent vectors as

di¤erences of points, remembering tip minus tail, as follows:
!
u = AB = (1; 1; 1) (0; 1; 0) = (1; 0; 1)
!
v = AC = (0; 2; 0) (0; 1; 0) = (0; 1; 0)
!
w = AD = (3; 1; 2) (0; 1; 0) = (3; 0; 2)

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Then we compute our determinant by expanding across the second row since it
has the most zero entries so that
1 0 1
1 1
0 1 0 = =2 3= 1:
3 2
3 0 2

But we are dealing with volume so we take the absolute value of this determinant
to conclude that the volume of our parallelepiped is 1.

11. Observe that

n
!2
X 2
xi = j(x1 ; ; xn ) (1; ; 1)j :
i=1

So, squaring both sides of the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality yields

n
X
2 2 2
j(x1 ; ; xn ) (1; ; 1)j k(x1 ; ; xn )k k(1; ; 1)k = n x2i :
i=1

Therefore, we let = n.

12. Our line l is parallel to a vector v = (2; 1; 1) then a vector w;orthogonal

to l and i j, is

i j k
w=v (i j) = 2 1 1 =i j k:
1 1 0
p
Now, kwk = 3 so our desired unit vector is p1 (1; 1; 1):
3

13. Let
x2 y2 z2
f (x; y; z) = + +
9 12 9
and observe that our desired surface is
x2 y2 z2
L1 (f ) = f(x; y; z) 2 R3 : + + = 1g:
9 12 9
In order to get an idea of what our surface looks like, we use the method of
sections. That is, analyze the intersection of our surface with the 3 coordinate
planes. We observe that

x2 y2 z2
L1 (f ) \ (yz plane) = f(x; y; z) 2 R3 : + + = 1 and x = 0g
9 12 9
y2 z2
= f(x; y; z) 2 R3 : + = 1 and x = 0g
12 9
is an ellipse in the yz plane.

8
 5
y
4

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5
-1 z
-2

-3

-4

-5

Next we consider
x2 y2 z2
L1 (f ) \ (xz plane) = f(x; y; z) 2 R3 : + + = 1 and y = 0g
9 12 9
x2 z2
= f(x; y; z) 2 R3 : + = 1 and y = 0g;
9 9
which is an ellipse in the xz plane.

5
z
4

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5
-1 x
-2

-3

-4

-5

9
Finally, we consider

x2 y2 z2
L1 (f ) \ (xy plane) = f(x; y; z) 2 R3 : + + = 1 and z = 0g
9 12 9
x2 y2
= f(x; y; z) 2 R3 : + = 1 and z = 0g;
9 12
which is an ellipse in the xy plane.

5
y
4

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5
-1 x
-2

-3

-4

-5

Since all of our sections are ellipses centered at the origin, we conclude that our
surface is an ellipsoid centered at the origin.

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 4

2
-4 -4
-2z 0 -2
0 0
2-2 2
4 y x 4
-4

14. (a) Given

f (x; y; z) = 3x2 6x + 2y 2 + 4y z 2 + 4z + 1;

we have

L1 (f ) = f(x; y; z) 2 R3 : f (x; y; z) = 1g
= f(x; y; z) 2 R3 : 3x2 6x + 2y 2 + 4y z 2 + 4z = 0g:

We recall the process for completing the square by working through the details
for the x variable. Now, 3x2 6x = 3(x2 2x) = 3[(x 1)2 1] and we proceed
in a similar fashion for the y and z variables to …nd that

3x2 6x + 2y 2 + 4y z 2 + 4z = 0 ,
3[(x 1)2 1] + 2[(y + 1)2 1] [(z 2)2 4] = 0 ,
3(x 1)2 + 2(y + 1)2 (z 2)2 = 1:

So our surface is a hyperboloid of one sheet. To see how it is positioned in

space, we can …nd some sections. First of all,

L1 (f ) \ (yz plane) = f(x; y; z) 2 R3 : 3(x 1)2 + 2(y + 1)2 (z 2)2 = 1 and x = 0g

= f(x; y; z) 2 R3 : 2(y + 1)2 (z 2)2 = 2 and x = 0g;

which is a hyperbola in the yz plane.

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 5
z
4

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5
-1 y
-2

-3

-4

-5

Secondly,

L1 (f ) \ (xz plane) = f(x; y; z) 2 R3 : 3(x 1)2 + 2(y + 1)2 (z 2)2 = 1 and y = 0g

= f(x; y; z) 2 R3 : 3(x 1)2 (z 2)2 = 1 and y = 0g;

which is a hyperbola in the xz plane.

5
z
4

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5
-1 x
-2

-3

-4

-5

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Finally,

L1 (f ) \ (xy plane) = f(x; y; z) 2 R3 : 3(x 1)2 + 2(y + 1)2 (z 2)2 = 1 and z = 0g

= f(x; y; z) 2 R3 : 3(x 1)2 + 2(y + 1)2 = 5 and z = 0g;

which is an ellipse in the xy plane.

5
y
4

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5
-1 x
-2

-3

-4

-5

(b) To …nd the points of intersection of l(t) = (3t 25 ; 32 2t; t + 23 ) with L1 (f )

we plug in the parameterized coordinates of l(t) into our surface equation,

3(x 1)2 + 2(y + 1)2 (z 2)2 = 1;

and solve for t. We …nd that

5 3 3
3(3t 1)2 + 2( 2t + 1)2 (t + 2)2 = 1 , 17t2 41t + 24 = 0:
2 2 2
Since the discriminant,

d = ( 41)2 4(17)(24) = 49;

of the quadratic polynomial 17t2 41t+24 is positive, we see that our polynomial
24
has two real roots and we …nd, using the quadratic formula, that t = 1; 17 . Now,
substituting these values into l(t) gives us our points of intersection:
1 1 5 24 65 65 99
l(1) = ( ; ; ) and l( ) = ( ; ; ):
2 2 2 17 34 34 34

13
 4
4 2
2
z 0 -4
0 0 -2
4 2 -2
x -2 y
-4
-4

15. We compute

n
!2 n
!0 n 1
X X X
xi yi = xi yi @ xj yj A
i=1 i=1 j=1

= (x1 y1 + + xn yn ) (x1 y1 + + xn yn )
= x1 y1 x1 y1 + + x1 y1 xn yn + + xn yn x1 y1 + + xn yn xn yn
Xn X n
= xi yi xj yj
i=1 j=1

where the double sum means that we add together all the j’s for a …xed i and
then index up the i sum. We may organize the entries in the above sum into a
matrix A with entries aij = xi yi xj yj . We observe that aij = aji for 1 i; j n
so the matrix A is symmetric, that is, AT = A where AT is the matrix with
entries aji . Therefore we have

n
!2 n
X X X
xi yi = x2i yi2 + 2 xi yi xj yj :
i=1 i=1 i<j

The index i < j refers to entries in the upper right half of the symmetric matrix
of terms in the sum. Next we …nd that
X 2
X
(xi yj xj yi ) = x2i yj2 2xi yi xj yj + x2j yi2 :
i<j i<j

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Furthermore
n
! n !
X X
2 2
xi yi = x21 + + x2n y12 + + yn2
i=1 i=1
= x21 y12 + + x21 yn2 + + x2n y12 + + x2n yn2
n
XX n
= x2i yj2
i=1 j=1
Xn X
= x2i yi2 + x2i yj2 + x2j yi2 :
i=1 i<j

Again, a matrix B with bij = x2i yj2 is a useful aid. We conclude that
n
! n
!
X X X 2
x2i yi2 (xi yj xj yi )
i=1 i=1 i<j
n n
!2
X X X
= x2i yi2 + 2xi yi xj yj = xi yi :
i=1 i<j i=1

Next we see that X 2

(xi yj xj yi ) 0
i<j

so that if x = (x1 ; ; xn ) and y = (y1 ; ; yn ) then

n
!2 n
! n
!
2
X X X X 2
jx yj = xi yi = x2i yi2 (xi yj xj yi )
i=1 i=1 i=1 i<j
n
! n
!
X X 2 2
x2i yi2 = kxk kyk :
i=1 i=1

Taking the square root of both sides yields the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality.

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