Example: 6 | |
Two lines and have direction cosines and respectively. Find the angle at which and are inclined to each other respectively.
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Solution: 6 | |
The unit vectors and along and respectively can be written as
The angle between and (and hence and ) is given by
We can dedude the following conditions on the direction cosines of and .
If and are parallel
If and are perpendicular
What will be the corresponding conditions had a set of direction ratios been specified instead of the direction cosines?
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Example: 7 | |
For the lines and of the previous example, find the direction cosines of the line perpendicular to both and .
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Solution: 7 | |
Let the unit vector along be We have,
Since is a unit vector itself, the direction cosines of are simply
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Example: 8 | |
Find the angle between the lines whose direction cosines are given by the equations
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Solution: 8 | |
Using the value of from the first equation in the second, we have
For we obtain . A set of direction ratios of one line is therefore
For we obtain A set of direction ratios of the other line is therefore
Using the result of example (the one that you were asked to prove at the end of the question), the angle between the two lines can now be evaluated to be
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