SOLUTION: Find the general form of the equation of the plane passing through the points A (3, 2, 2), B (1,5, 0), and C (1, -3, 1). Use point A as 21, Y, 21 in the equation of the plane.

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Question 1201894: Find the general form of the equation of the plane passing through the points
A (3, 2, 2), B (1,5, 0), and C (1, -3, 1). Use point A as 21, Y, 21 in the equation of the plane.

Answer by ikleyn(52788)   (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
.
Find the general form of the equation of the plane passing through the points
A (3,2,2), B (1,5,0), and C (1,-3,1).
Use point A as 21, Y, 21 in the equation of the plane.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


        The instruction in the last line of your post is non-sensical,  so I ignore it.


The solution is in two steps.


                   Step 1 - making equation of the plane parallel to the desired plane 
                            and passing through the origin of the coordinate system


Form vector AB_hat from point A to point B

     AB_hat = B-A = (1-3,5-2,0-2) = (-2,3,-2).


Form vector AC_hat from point A to point C

     AC_hat = C-A = (1-3,-3-2,1-2) = (-2,-5,-1).


Make 3x3-matrix

     M = .


In this matrix, x, y and z are variables representing coordinates along x-, y- and z-axis;
the second row contains the components of vector AB_hat;
the third  row contains the components of vector AC_hat.


Write the determinant of matrix M, expanding the determinant by standard rules

    det (M) = x*(3*(-1)-(-5)*(-2)) - y*((-2)*(-1)-(-2)*(-2)) + z*((-2)*(-5)-(-2)*3) = -13x + 2y + 16z.


This equation 

       -13x + 2y + 16z = 0     (1)

determines the plane, parallel to the desired plane and passing  through the origin of the coordinate system.

                               Step 1 is complete.


                   Step 2 - making equation of the desired plane
                           

The desired plane has an equation of the form

       -13x + 2y + 16z = d.    (2)

Its left side is the same as in equation (1).


Right side "d" is a real value which we need to determine.
This value of "d" is the value of the linear function in the left side of equation (2),
calculated at any of the points A, or B, or C.


The interesting fact (actually, a key fact) is that the value of this function is THE SAME 
for all points A, B and C:


    for point A, it is  (-13)*3 + 2*2    + 16*2 = -3;

    for point B, it is  (-13)*1 + 2*5    + 16*0 = -3;

    for point C, it is  (-13)*1 + 2*(-3) + 16*1 = -3.


Thus finally, the desired equation is 

    -13x + 2y + 16z = -3.     ANSWER

Solved.

----------------

In this post, I showed you the technique of calculations,
based on the standard algorithm for the given points.

Why the algorithm works this way, is described in any course of analytic geometry
or in relevant chapters of Calculus.

They are the necessary pre-requisites for such problems, so, it is assumed
that you are familiar with these basic knowledge.

In my post, I only exposed how this algorithm works in shortest form,
in order for you have a working example in front of your eyes.

Using this post, you can solve any other similar problem, simply following this TEMPLATE.



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