[Math] Find an equation for the plane that contains the following line and passes through point P

analytic geometrylinear algebra

How do you determine the plane which contains the line
\begin{align}
x & = -1 + 3t \\
y & = 5 + 2t \\
z & = 2 + t
\end{align}
and passes through the point $P = (2,4,-1)$?

Best Answer

Here's another way (it's always good to know more than one way to solve a problem).

Your plane goes through $(-1,5,2)$ and $(2,7,3)$ (obtained by taking $t=0$ and $t=1$, respectively) and also $(2,4,-1)$. If your plane is $$ax+by+cz+d=0$$ then each of these three points gives you an equation relating the four unknowns $a,b,c,d$. So you get three homogeneous linear equations in 4 unknowns. Presumably, you know how to solve such a system. You'll get a one-parameter family of solutions (because $akx+bky+ckz+dk=0$ is the same plane, for any non-zero value of $k$); just pick any member of this family.

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