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Direction Cosines and Direction Ratios — Maths STD 12 Science — Question

Gujarat BoardEnglish MediumSTD 12 ScienceMathsDirection Cosines and Direction Ratios4 Marks
Question
Find the angle between the lines whose direction cosines are given by the equations
l + 2m + 3n = 0 and 3lm - 4ln + mn = 0
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Answer

Given that,
l + 2m + 3n = 0 .....(1)
3lm - 4ln + mn = 0 .....(2)
From equation (1),
l + 2m + 3n = 0
l = -2m - 3n
Put the value of l in equation (2),
3lm - 4ln + mn = 0
3(-2m - 3n) m - 4(-2m - 3n) n + mn = 0
-6m2 - 9nm + 8mn + 12n2 + mn = 0
-6m2 + 12n2 = 0
m2 = 2n2
$\text{m}=\pm\sqrt{2\text{n}^2}$
$\text{m}=\text{n}\sqrt{2}$ or $\text{m}=-\text{n}\sqrt{2}$
Put $\text{m}=\text{n}\sqrt{2}$ in equation (1)
l + 2m + 3n = 0
$\text{l}+2\big(\text{n}\sqrt{2}\big)+3\text{n}=0$
$\text{l}+\text{n}\big(2\sqrt{2}+3\big)=0$
$\text{l}+-\big(2\sqrt{2}+3\big)\text{n}$
Again, $\text{m}=-\sqrt{2\text{n}}$ in equation (1)
l + 2m + 3n = 0
$\text{l}+2\big(-\sqrt{2\text{n}}\big)+3\text{n}=0$
$\text{l}-2\sqrt{2\text{n}}+3\text{n}=0$
$\text{l}+\text{n}\big(-2\sqrt{2\text{n}}+3\big)=0$
$\text{l}=\big(2\sqrt{2\text{n}}-3\big)\text{n}$
Thus, direction cosines of the lines are given by,
$-\big(2\sqrt{2}+3\big)\text{n},\sqrt{2\text{n}},\text{n}$ or $\big(2\sqrt{2}-3\big)\text{n},\sqrt{2\text{n}},\text{n}$
$-\big(2\sqrt{2}+3\big)\text{n},\sqrt{2},1$ or $\big(2\sqrt{2}-3\big)\text{n},-\sqrt{2},1$
So, vectors parallel to these lines are
$\vec{\text{a}}=-\Big(2\sqrt{2}+3\Big)\hat{\text{i}}+\sqrt{2}\hat{\text{j}}+\hat{\text{k}}$ and $\vec{\text{b}}=\Big(2\sqrt{2}-3\Big)\hat{\text{i}}-\sqrt{2}\hat{\text{j}}+\hat{\text{k}}$ respectively.
Let, $\theta$ be the angle between the lines,
then,
 $\cos\theta=\frac{\vec{\text{a}}\times\vec{\text{b}}}{\big|\vec{\text{a}}\big|\times\big|\vec{\text{b}}\big|}$
$=\frac{-\big(2\sqrt{2}+3\big)\times{\big(2\sqrt{2}-3\big)+\big(\sqrt{2}\big)}\times\big(-\sqrt{2}\big)+(1)(1)}{\sqrt{\big(2\sqrt{2}+3\big)^2+\big(-\sqrt{2}\big)^2+(1)^2}\sqrt{\big(2\sqrt{2}-3\big)^2+\big(-\sqrt{2}\big)^2+(1)^2}}$
$=\frac{-(8-9)-2+1}{\sqrt{8+9+12\sqrt{2}+2+1\sqrt{8+9-12\sqrt{2}+2+1}}}$
$=\frac{-(-1)-2+1}{\sqrt{20+12\sqrt{2}}\sqrt{20-12\sqrt{2}}}$
$=\frac{1-2+1}{\sqrt{20+12\sqrt{2}}\sqrt{20-12\sqrt{2}}}$
$\cos\theta=0$
$\theta=\cos^{-1}(0)$
 $\theta=\frac{\pi}{2}$
Angle between the lines $=\frac{\pi}{2}$.

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