Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2011 / Paper 1 / 15 / c / Solution

At an intersection, the two position vectors agree, so $a-b=tn-sm$. The scalar triple product with $m,n$ is thereforesince a determinant with repeated columns vanishes. Geometrically the displacement of the two anchor points must lie in the same plane as the two line directions.

This is a necessary condition. If $m,n$ are not parallel, it is also sufficient, because their span is exactly the plane perpendicular to $m\times n$. For parallel directions the triple product vanishes automatically, even for distinct lines, so the condition alone cannot guarantee intersection.