Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2014/ia/paper-1/5b/i/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 1 5B i Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The first coordinate of the vector triple product isThe other two coordinates follow by cyclically permuting the indices, proving the identity.
A point on the line has the form . Substituting in the plane equation gives . When the parameter, and therefore the intersection point, is unique. The vector triple product gives , so the unique intersection isFor the parallel case , the line is entirely in the plane if , and otherwise has no intersection. As usual, a genuine line and plane require nonzero direction and normal vectors. This is the line-plane intersection criterion.
New to topics? Read the docs here!