Question 11 Mark
Find the area of the triangle with vertices $A(1, 1, 2) B(2, 3, 5)$ and $C(1, 5, 5)$
Answer
View full question & answer→$(d) \frac{\sqrt{6 I}}{2}$
Given position vector of $A , \overrightarrow{O A}=\hat{i}+\hat{j}+2 \hat{k}$ position vector of $B , \overrightarrow{O B}=2 \hat{i}+3 \hat{j}+5 \hat{k}$ and that of $C ,$
$\overrightarrow{O C}=\hat{i}+5 \hat{j}+5 \hat{k}$
therefore, $\overrightarrow{A B}=\overrightarrow{O B}-\overrightarrow{O A}=(2 \hat{i}+3 \hat{j}+5 \hat{k})-(\hat{i}+\hat{j}+2 \hat{k})=\hat{i}+2 \hat{j}+3 \hat{k} ($by triangle law of vector addition$)$ thus we may write
$\overrightarrow{A B}=\hat{i}+2 \hat{j}+3 \hat{k}, \overrightarrow{A C}=4 \hat{j}+3 \hat{k}$
$\therefore \overrightarrow{A B} \times \overrightarrow{A C}=\left|\begin{array}{lll}\hat{i} & \hat{j} & \hat{k} \\ 1 & 2 & 3 \\ 0 & 4 & 3\end{array}\right|=-6 \hat{i}-3 \hat{j}+4 \hat{k}$
$\begin{array}{l}\Rightarrow|\overrightarrow{A B} \times \overrightarrow{A C}|=\sqrt{61} \end{array} $
$\Rightarrow \frac{1}{2}|\overrightarrow{A B} \times \overrightarrow{A C}|$
$=\frac{1}{2} \sqrt{61}$
Therefore, the area of triangle $\text{ABC}$ is $=\frac{1}{2} \sqrt{61}$
Given position vector of $A , \overrightarrow{O A}=\hat{i}+\hat{j}+2 \hat{k}$ position vector of $B , \overrightarrow{O B}=2 \hat{i}+3 \hat{j}+5 \hat{k}$ and that of $C ,$
$\overrightarrow{O C}=\hat{i}+5 \hat{j}+5 \hat{k}$
therefore, $\overrightarrow{A B}=\overrightarrow{O B}-\overrightarrow{O A}=(2 \hat{i}+3 \hat{j}+5 \hat{k})-(\hat{i}+\hat{j}+2 \hat{k})=\hat{i}+2 \hat{j}+3 \hat{k} ($by triangle law of vector addition$)$ thus we may write
$\overrightarrow{A B}=\hat{i}+2 \hat{j}+3 \hat{k}, \overrightarrow{A C}=4 \hat{j}+3 \hat{k}$
$\therefore \overrightarrow{A B} \times \overrightarrow{A C}=\left|\begin{array}{lll}\hat{i} & \hat{j} & \hat{k} \\ 1 & 2 & 3 \\ 0 & 4 & 3\end{array}\right|=-6 \hat{i}-3 \hat{j}+4 \hat{k}$
$\begin{array}{l}\Rightarrow|\overrightarrow{A B} \times \overrightarrow{A C}|=\sqrt{61} \end{array} $
$\Rightarrow \frac{1}{2}|\overrightarrow{A B} \times \overrightarrow{A C}|$
$=\frac{1}{2} \sqrt{61}$
Therefore, the area of triangle $\text{ABC}$ is $=\frac{1}{2} \sqrt{61}$