Sorry about formatting, this is my first question here, and I have no idea how to do it properly.
Assuming I have two lines
$\displaystyle l_1 = \binom{x_1}{y_1} + a\binom{u_1}{v_1}$
$\displaystyle l_2 = \binom{x_2}{y_2} + b\binom{u_2}{v_2}$
Thus the intersection holds
$\displaystyle \binom{x_1}{y_1} + a\binom{u_1}{v_1} = \binom{x_2}{y_2} + b\binom{u_2}{v_2}$
and have made sure those two lines will intercept (so $u_1,v_1$ and $u_2,v_2$ aren't parallel), how do I find the intersection point elegantly?
Currently (I am using this in a C++ code), I need to do a lot of if() cases, since I cannot divide by 0, but in order to find the point, I need to substitute b in the formula
I get
$a = \dfrac{x_2-x_1+bu_2}{u_1}$
so here I have to check for $u_1\neq0$, and then substitute in the second line, where I then need to check for $v_2\neq0$, and this creates one hell a lot of code.
Is there a better way, am I just missing something easy?
Best Answer
The most elegant formulation (IMO) uses Cramer's Rule. You can reformulate your two equations into $$\begin{bmatrix} u_1 & -u_2\\ v_1 & -v_2 \end{bmatrix} \cdot \begin{bmatrix} a \\ b\end{bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix} x_2-x_1 \\ y_2 -y_1 \end{bmatrix}$$ and use determinants to solve for $a$.
Another nice way to think about it is areas: For segments AB and CD, the fraction along AB at which the intersection occurs is equal to the area of the triangle ACD divided by the area of the quadrilateral ACBD.