[Math] Calculating matrix for linear transformation of orthogonal projection onto plane.

linear algebralinear-transformations

The question goes like this:

"Calculate the matrix P for the linear transformation of an orthogonal projection of vectors onto the plane

$$ 2x_1+2x_2+x_3^{}= 0" $$

So I am thinking that projection is the way to go. What I basically will do is use the normal of the plane. Which is:

$$ \left[
\begin{array}{cc|c}
2\\
2\\
1
\end{array}
\right] $$

That would be my perpendicular part. And the vectors that I will project onto the plane will naturally be the basis vectors $$
|e_1| = \left[
\begin{array}{cc|c}
1\\
0\\
0
\end{array}
\right], |e_2| =\left[
\begin{array}{cc|c}
0\\
1\\
0
\end{array}
\right], |e_3| =\left[
\begin{array}{cc|c}
0\\
0\\
1
\end{array}
\right]$$

Basically, what I will do is set up an equation

$$ Proj V_n + |n| = \left[
\begin{array}{cc|c}
1\\
0\\
0
\end{array}
\right]$$

So I solve for the projection and that would be my first column of my matrix P. But I keep getting the wrong answer. Where is my thinking going wrong?

Thanks in advance.

Best Answer

Your notation is a bit hard to decipher, but it looks like you’re trying to decompose $\mathbf e_1$ into its projection onto and rejection from the plane. That’s a reasonable idea, but the equation that you’ve written down says that the projection of $\mathbf e_1$ is equal to $\mathbf e_1-\mathbf n = (-1,-2,-1)^T$. Unfortunately, this doesn’t even lie on the plane: $2(-1)+2(-2)+1(-1)=-7$.

The problem is that you’ve set the rejection of $\mathbf e_1$ from the plane to be equal to $\mathbf n$, when it’s actually some scalar multiple of it. I.e., the orthogonal projection $P\mathbf e_1$ of $\mathbf e_1$ onto the plane is $\mathbf e_1-k\mathbf n$ for some as-yet-undetermined scalar $k$. However, $k\mathbf n$ here is simply the orthogonal projection of $\mathbf e_1$ onto $\mathbf n$, which I suspect that you know how to compute.

Related Question