Question
In the following cases, determine whether the given planes are parallel or perpendicular, and in case they are neither, find the angles between them.
$2x - y + 3z - 1 = 0$ and $2x - y + 3z + 3 = 0$

Answer

The direction ratios of normal to the plane, $L_1: a_1x + b_1y + c_1z = 0$,
are $a_1, b_1, c_1$ and $L_2: a_2x + b_2y + c_2z = 0$ are $a_2, b_2, c_2$
$\text{L}_1||\text{L}_2,\ \text{if }\frac{\text{a}_1}{\text{a}_2}=\frac{\text{b}_1}{\text{b}_2}=\frac{\text{c}_1}{\text{c}_2}$
$\text{L}_1\perp\text{L}_2,\ \text{if}\ \text{a}_1\text{a}_2+\text{b}_1\text{b}_2+\text{c}_1\text{c}_2=0$
The angle between $L_1$ and $L_2$ is given by,
$\text{Q}=\cos^{-1}\Bigg|\frac{\text{a}_1\text{a}_2+\text{b}_1\text{b}_2+\text{c}_1\text{c}_2}{\sqrt{\text{a}_1^2+\text{b}_1^2+\text{c}_1^2}.\sqrt{\text{a}_2^2+\text{b}_2^2+\text{c}_2^2}}$
The equations of the planes are $2x - y + 3z - 1 = 0$ and $2x - y + 3z + 3 = 0$
Here, $a_1 = 2, b_1 = -1, c_1 = 3$ and $a_2 = 2, b_2 = -1, c_2 = 3$
$\frac{\text{a}_1}{\text{a}_2}=\frac{2}{2}=1,\ \frac{\text{b}_1}{\text{b}_2}=\frac{-1}{-1}=1\text{ and } \frac{\text{c}_1}{\text{c}_2}=\frac{3}{3}=1$
$\therefore\ \ \frac{\text{a}_1}{\text{a}_2}=\frac{\text{b}_1}{\text{b}_2}=\frac{\text{c}_1}{\text{c}_2}$
Thus, the given lines are parallel to each other.

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