Basic coordinate Geometry

February 27, 2011

Still have to add lot of diagrams rest is perfectly done!

This sheets contains notes on basic coordinate geometry which starts with introduction to coordinate geometry and gets you into points, straightlines, collinearity, A point-line properties, two line properties, linear combination. Flow of lectures :

Lecture I :

We start with introduction of coordinate geometry, how its

related to algebra or a nice use of algebra for geometry. We study all properties, structures with respect to when we have a single point, two points (collinear, non-collinear), three points, we study equation of a line, and its dierent forms, Transformations - shift of origin & rotation of coordinates axes

Lecture II :

We study structure a line and a point, begin with origin side

of a line, short distance of a point from a line, Foot of perpendicular, image of a point in a line, And how that is helpful for getting the reection of a line in another line.

Lecture III :

Study two lines, angle bisector - angle bisector containing

origin, angle bisector of an acute angle, locus

Lecture IV : Linear combination & problem solving to complete the topic. Lecture V : Problem solving

CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES

Contents
1 Motivation 2 A point
2.1 Polar representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3 3
4

3 Two points
3.1 3.2 Distance formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Section formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4
4 4

4 Three points
4.1 4.2 Three points are Non-collinear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Three points are Collinear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5
5 7

5 Equation of a line
5.1 Forms of a line equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8
8

6 Transformations
6.1 6.2 Shift of origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rotation of axes about origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

12
12 12

7 Point & A line

7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Origin side of a line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Distance of a point from a line Image of a point in a line Foot of the perpendicular from a point to a line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

13
13 14 14 14

8 Locus 9 Two lines

9.1 9.2 9.3 Lines are parallel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lines are intersecting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Angle bisector equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

15 16
17 17 18

10 Linear combination of lines 11 Extra Problems

21 21

List of Figures
1 2 Mindmap of dierent forms of line equation . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3

Demonstrates the region containing the origin and angle bisector equation lying in that region. The green region contains the origin and red region doesn't contain the origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Origin lies in Acute or Obtuse Angle, How we decide ? . . . . . . . . . .

19 20

2 A POINT

1 Motivation
Coordinate Geometry or Cartesian coordinate geometry or Rectangular coordinate geometry was a major step forward in the direction of geting algebra and geometry together. But can be said as a set back for beauty of Pure geometry. Though this was a setback for pure geometry( which is not everybody's cup of tea), turned out to be boon for anybody who wanted geometry problems to be approachable. What amazing thought of relating geometrical point to an algebraic point. A point is denoted using a coordinate pair denoted as a tuple called the x-coordinate and distance of the point

(x, y)

where

xis

yis

called the y-coordinate.

x-coordinate is the

(x, y)

from the y-axis and y-coordinate is the distance of

the point from y-axis. To move to a point along x-axis and

(x, y)

we need to start from origin (intersection of the

x-axis and y-axis which are perpendicular to each other) and move

distance

distance parallel to y-axis.

2 A point
A point in cartesian coordinate geometry is denoted as denote a point uniquely, algebraically we need the

(x, y). So x coordinate

inorder to called the

abscissa

and

y coordinate

called the

ordinate.

2.1 Polar representation

2.1 Polar representation

3 TWO POINTS

A point coodinate geometry can also be represented using a polar form. i.e.

(x, y) (r, )

where

is the distance of the point from origin and

is

the angle made by the point with positive

x axis.

How to convert from coordinate to polar. Use :

r=

x2 + y 2 x + iy

and )

tan =

y x

(this is similar to nding argument of a

complex number

Problem 1.

Given the points

A(8, 1200 )

and

B(8, 1200 )

in polar form calcu-

late the coodinates of the midpoint of the segment joining A and B.

3 Two points
Given two points in cartesian coordinate system. We study what all structures and operation we can work out. There are 2 new quantities we dene on these points. Namely distance formula and section formula.

3.1

Distance formula

Given two points, is given as

A(x1 , y1 )

and

B(x2 , y2 )

the distance

1 AB between the points

AB =
3.2 Section formula

(x1 x2 )2 + (y1 y2 )2

Given two points joining

A, B

in

A(x1 , y1 ) and B(x2 , y2 ), if a point C(, y ) divides2 the line x the ratio m : n. And C is given by (this can be very easily

derived using Basic proportionality theorem)

C = (, y ) = x

mx2 + nx1 my2 + ny1 , m+n m+n

This is the internal section formula. A special case is Mid point formula, given as

M=

x1 + x2 y1 + y2 , 2 2

1 Note : Distance is an invariant formula. Later we see even if we change shift the origin or rotate the axes about the origin, the coordinates of those points will change but distance between the points remain invariant. 2 We dene sum/dierence & scalar multiplication for coordinates (actually this is using vectors) 1. (x1 , y1 ) (x2 , y2 ) = (x1 x2 , y1 y2 )

2. c(x1 , y1 ) = (cx1 , cy1 )

4 THREE POINTS
External section formula
If a point C divides line joining

and

externally in the ratio

m:n

then the

coordinates of point C is given as

C=

mx2 nx1 my2 ny1 , mn mn

This can be derived by seeing that if C externally divides AB means B divides AC internally.

CB 1 m AC = (as this introduces two unknowns m,n in place of single than CB n

Fact 2. If we are given three points A, B, C and we need to nd the ratio in AC = rather which C divides the segment joining A & B. Better we assume

Problem 3.
is

The straight line joining the points

into n equal parts. Show that the coordinate of

A(a, b) and B(c, d) is divided rth point of subdivision from A

a+

r(d b) r(c a) ,b + n n

4 Three points
Given three points

A, B, C

they will be collinear or non-collinear.

4.1

Three points are Non-collinear

If three points are non-collinear then they represent the vertices of a triangle. Hence we rst see the area of a triangle formed.

Area of triangle
Given three points

A, B =

&

C 1 2 1 2

then area of this triangle is given as

A(ABC)

x1 x2 x3 x1 x2

y1 y2 y3 y1 y2

1 1 1 + x2 x3
3

y2 y3

x3 x1

y3 y1

Second formula is called the polygon formula

Problem 4.
and

FInd the area of the quadrilateral whose vertices are

(3, 2), (7, 6), (5, 4)

(5, 4)
a n-sided regular polygon A1 , A2 , . . . , An the area is given as
1 2 x1 x2 y1 y2 + x2 x3 y2 y3 + + xn x1 yn y1

3 Given

A(poly) =

Note the points are chosen in anticlockwise or clockwise as they appear in the coordinate system. i.e. A quadrilateral, should be fed into the formula in the order of the vertices
A, B, C, D

4.1 Three points are Non-collinear

Points of a Triangle
We will use a general form as to denote these points 1. Centroid (G) : (a) produced by intersection of the medians (b) Centroid divides the median in the ratio of 2:1 (c) Use

4 THREE POINTS

m1 x1 + m2 x2 + m3 x3 m1 y1 + m2 y2 + m3 y3 , m1 + m2 + m3 m1 + m2 + m3

(m1 , m2 , m3 ) (1, 1, 1)

2. Circumcenter(O) : (a) produced by intersection of the perpendicular bisectors) (b) Equidistant from the vertices (c) Use

(m1 , m2 , m3 ) = (sin 2A, sin 2B, sin 2C)

3. Orthocenter (H) : (a) produced by intersection of the altitudes (b) Use

(m1 , m2 , m3 ) = (tan A, tan B, tan C)

4. Incenter (I) : (a) produced by intersection of the angle bisectors (b) equidistant from the sides of a triangle (c) Use

(m1 , m2 , m3 ) = (a, b, c)

4 Figure

representing the various important points in a triangle.

4 THREE POINTS
5. Excenter (I1 ) :

4.2 Three points are Collinear

(a) produced by intersection of the two external angle bisectors and one internal angle bisector (b) excenter opposite to A Use

(m1 , m2 , m3 ) = (a, b, c).

Similarly for

I2 , I3

Fact 5. Circumcenter(O), Centroid(G) and Orthocenter(H) are always collinear in a triangle. And the centroid divides the line joining Orthocenter and Circumcenter in the ratio 2 : 1 Problem 6.
vertices are Find the circumcentre and circumradius of the triangle whose

(6, 6), (5, 1), (1, 5)

The vertices of a triangle are If the circumcentre of

Problem 7.

C(x3 , x3 tan 3 ).

is the orthocenter show that

y = x

A(x1 , x1 tan 1 ), B(x2 , x2 tan 2 ), ABC coincides with origin and H(, y ) x sin i cos i
any point

Problem 8.
(x, y)

In a

show that

ABC , A = (6, 3), B = (3, 5), C = (4, 2) P P BC x+y2 = ABC 7

Problem 9.
0, x + y = 1
4.2

Find the orthocenter of the triangle formed by the lines

x = 0, y =

Three points are Collinear

If three points are collinear then they hold some properties, we rather use the converse of these properties. If these properties are true then the corresponding three points are collinear. Points 1. 2.

A, B

&

are collinear if

A(ABC) = 0 l(AB), l(BC), l(CA)

are such that sum of any two is equal to the third

3. Slope of any two points of investigate in some sections)

A, B, C

taken at a time are equal (this we

Problem 10. Problem 11.

Show that the points

(0, 0), (h, 0), (0, k) are collinear if

,

1 1 1 + = h k 3

If the points

are collinear for three

a3 a2 3 b3 b2 1 , , , a1 a1 b1 b1 distinct values of a, b, c then show that abc ab + 3 a=0

c3 c2 1 , c1 c1

Solution :
using the

This problem can be easily solved using (though lot of calculations) if the vertices are collinear. Though we need some

A(ABC) = 0

properties of solving determinants which we still are not aware of. So we use a dierent approach of involving theory of equations for this problem.

5 EQUATION OF A LINE
These points lie on a line equation

Ax + By + C = 0

i.e.

a, b

&

are roots of the

x3 x1

+B

x2 3 x1

+C

= =

0 0

Ax3 + B(x2 3) + C(x 1)

So

a+b+c = ab + bc + ca = abc =

B A C A C + 3B A

Now consider the LHS of the term to prove

abc

ab + 3

= =

C + 3B C B +3 A A A 0

Fact 12. Point lies on the line or that point coordinates satisfy the equation of the line means what? A line is geometrically represented as a collection of points that are collinear. And algebraically its represented by a linear equation ax + by + c = 0. Now in geometry, a point (x0 , y0 ) lying on this line means it saties the algebraic equation of that line i.e. ax0 + by0 + c = 0 Denition.
Slope of a line A slope of a line is that quantity that signies the direction of the line. It is the dened as change in lines is given as

for a change in

of the line. Given two points

(x1 , y1 ) m=

&

x where (x, y) satises (x2 , y2 ) lies on a line then

the equation slope of that

y2 y1 x2 x1

5 Equation of a line
A line means a straight line. Equation of a straight line is of the form to zero.

ax + by + c = 0 a, b

not both equal

5.1

Forms of a line equation

For determining the equation of a line is any of the forms mentioned below we need to given information about the line.

5 EQUATION OF A LINE

5.1 Forms of a line equation

Figure 1: Mindmap of dierent forms of line equation

Slope point form

Here slope (m) and a point given as

(x1 , y1 ) m y y1

is known. Hence the equation of the line is

y y1 x x1 = m(x x1 ) =

Two point form

Here two points

(x1 , y1 )

and

(x2 , y2 )

lying on the line are known.

Then the

equation of the line is

y y1 y1 y2 = x x1 x1 x2

Denition.
x-axis.

x-intercept

x-intercept is the x-coordinate of the point where a line intercepts (cuts) the

Denition.
the y-axis

y-intercept

y-intercept is the y-coordinate of the point where a line intercepts (cuts )

Example 13. Denition.

What are the x & y intercepts in the adjoining gure?

x-intercept is 2 and y-intercept is -2

Double intercept form

Given both the x-intercepts and y-intercepts this line is given as

a, b

for a line then the equation of

x y + =1 a b (a, 0)
and

this can be produced using the two point form as we have on required line.

(0, b)

lying

5.1 Forms of a line equation

Slope intercept form

5 EQUATION OF A LINE

when we say slope intercept form we mean slope - y-intercept form. Slope -xintercept form doesn't come very simple hence we always prefer the rst. The slope-intercept form is given as

y = mx + c
where

is the slope and

is the y-intercept.

Denition.

Angle of inclination of a line

The angle

made by a line with positive

x axis

is dened as angle of

inclination. And note

[0, )

why??

Parametric form
Given line

is the angle made by the line with positive x axis (x1 , y1 ) then equation of the line is given as y y1 x x1 = =r cos sin

and a point on the

where r is the distance between the points

(x, y)

and

In parametric form, any point on this line is given by

(x1 , y1 ) (x1 +r cos , y1 +r sin )

Normal form
Given perpendicular distance of a line from origin

and

angle made by the

perpendicular with positive x-axis. Then the equation of the line is given as

x cos + y sin = p
Note : Since negative

is perpendicular distance from origin hence

is always non-

10

5 EQUATION OF A LINE
General form
General form of a line is

5.1 Forms of a line equation

ax + by + c =
where 1.

x intercept = y intercept = slope = a b

c a c b

2.

3.

Special case of line equation

1. Line parallel to y axis is 2. Line parallel to x axis is

x= y= y = mx
where

3. Line passing through origin is line parallel to y-axis 4. x-axis is 5. y-axis is

and undened for

y=0 x=0
Given two opposite vertices

Problem 14.
Solution :

(1, 2)

and

(2, 1)

on the diagonal of

a square then nd the other vertices

Rather than taking the approach using coordinate geometry, we can go using complex number.

11

6 TRANSFORMATIONS
We have from the following diagram.

a + ib (2 i) (a 2) + i(b + 1)

= = =

(2 1) + i(1 2) i e 4 2 1 3i 1i 2 2 1 ((1 3i)(1 i)) 2 a + ib = 1 2i

a + ib = (2 i) + (2 i) = 4 2i

or

6 Transformations
There are two transformations that can be applied to origin. Shift of origin & rotation of axes about origin.

6.1

Shift of origin

Shift of origin is like moving the coordinate system and that ways the origin to a new point system be

(h, k) keeping the axes parallel. Let any point in the old coordinate (x, y) and that point's coordinate be (X, Y ). The origin is shifted from (0, 0) in old coordinate system to (h, k) in the old coordinate system. Now since (h, k) will become the origin in the new system we need to subtract (h, k) from (h, k) to make it become (0, 0). Hence we see that (h, k) (0, 0) So we subtract (h, k) from each point. Therefore (X, Y ) (x, y)
6.2

= =

(x, y) (h, k) (X + h, Y + k)

Rotation of axes about origin

But the amazing thing is that the distance of any point from origin

On rotation of the axes about the origin by some angle theta the coordinates change. does not change. There are two methods to nd the coordinates of any point

(x, y)

Using Matrix approach

X Y
Coordinates of the point the new coordinate system is rotated.

cos sin

sin cos

x y (x, y)
and in

P in the (X, Y ),

old coordinate system is

is the angle through which the axes are

Example 15.
by

. 2

Find the new coordinates of a point

(1, 1)

on rotating the axes

12

7 POINT & A LINE

X Y

= =

0 1 1 1

1 0

1 1

Using Complex Numbers

Any point whose coordinates on rotation of the axes by an angle write

(x, y)

as

x + iy

and to get the new coordinates

is required (X, Y ) X + iY write

X + iY

(x + iy)ei

= (x + iy)(cos + i sin ) = (x cos y sin , x sin + y cos )

7 Point & A line

Given a point

(x1 , y1 ) outside the line ax+by +c = 0 then what are the dierent

structures we can study using them.

7.1

Origin side of a line

A line divides the plane into three parts, one- set of points that lie on the line, others which lie on either side of the line. Now each of these will represent some algebraic condition signifying its dierence from the others. 1.

ax + by + c = 0 ax + by + c < 0 ax + by + c > 0

represents all points that lie on the line

2.

and represents one of the half planes created by the line

3.

and represents the other half plane created by the line

For example a line has origin side positive if the line

x+y = 1

is written

x y + 1 = 0 and origin side is negative if the x + y 1 = 0. So the origin is positive side or negative
as on the way we write the equation.

same line is written as side of the line depends

So lets follow the convention of keeping the line equation such that constant term is chosen to be positve i.e. the given line equation as x y + 1 = 0
Now we know that if we keep the constant term positve then the origin side is always going to be positive. So using this sense we can talk about a point whether it lies on the origin side or non-origin side of a given line. This understanding is further required for our understanding of the subject.

Problem 16.
x+y =5

Find whether

(5, 4)

lies onn the origin side or non-origin side of

13

7.2 Distance of a point from a line

7.2 Distance of a point from a line

7 POINT & A LINE

Distance of the point

P (x1 , y1 )

from the line

ax + by + c = 0

is

PM =

|ax1 + by1 + c| a2 + b2

Derivation :
There are many ways of achieving this, lets see few of them

Method I : Shift of origin

Shift the origin to make

P (x1 , y1 )

as origin i.e.

hence the equation of the line in the new coordinate system, is

(x, y) = (X, Y ) + (x1 , y1 ) a(X + x1 ) +

b(Y + y1 ) + c = 0
of origin)

(since distance of the point from line is invariant under shift

aX +bY +ax1 +by1 +c = 0 i.e.

which compared with from origin is

b ax1 + by1 + c a X+ Y+ =0 2 2 + b2 +b a a2 + b2 x cos + y sin = p we get the perpendicular distance a2 |ax1 + by1 + c| a2 + b2

Method II : Using parametric form of line equation5

7.3 Foot of the perpendicular from a point to a line

Foot of the perpendicular

from a point

P (x1 , y1 )

is given by

x x1 y y1 = = a b
7.4 Image of a point in a line

ax1 + by1 + c a2 + b2

Image of a point

P (x1 , y1 )

in the line

ax + by + c = 0

is given by

y y1 x x1 = = 2 a b

ax1 + by1 + c a2 + b2

Reection of a line in another line

Given a line

ax + by + c = 0 a1 x + b1 y + c1 = 0 in it.
these lines.

and we want to nd the reection of another line

1. STEP 1 : Solve both the equations to nd the intersection point of both

2. STEP 2 : Take a point (out of observation) in the equation

a1 x+b1 y+c1 =

and nd its reection in line

ax + by + c = 0

(using the image of point

formula). Now we have two points that are lying on the reection line. Use two point form and nd the equation of the required reection line.

of the straight line drawn through a given point (h, k) outside a line ax+by +c = 0 ah + bk + c onto a point on the line is a given direction is A cos + B sin Given line is ax + by + c = 0 and (h, k) point lies outside the line. Let (x,
14

5 Length

8 LOCUS
Problem 17.
the line A ray of light is sent along the line

x 2y + 5 = 0.

Upon reaching

3x 2y + 7 = 0,

the ray is reected from it. Find the equation of the

line containing the reected ray.

8 Locus
What is locus? locus is any point

(x, y)

which moves under some constraint to

map a curve or region. Its like a ink ball that start rolling freely under some constraint resulting of it mapping the location of all possible points making the curve, satisying its algebraic equation. Lets study some cases for a inkdip point

(x, y)

The locus point is free to move anywhere what is the locus of this point

the whole 2D plane

The locus point is free to move anywhere under the constraint that its distance from the center is always less or equal to some

then the locus is a circle of radius

r r r

The locus point is free to move anywhere under the constraint that its distance from the center is always equal to

then the locus point lies on the circumference of circle of radius

Problem 18. Problem 19.

where

If the coordinates of a variable point

be

1 1 t + ,t t t

where

't' is a variable quantity, then nd the locus of

P AP +P B = 10

Find the equation of the locus of point P such that and

A (3, 0)

B (3, 0) p
from the origin and

Problem 20.
OAB c
is

A variable line is at constant distance

meets the coordinate axes in A and B. Show that the locus of the centroid of

x2 + y 2 = 9p2
Two ends of A and B of a straight line segment of constant length

Problem 21.
from

slides upon the rectangular axes

OX, OY

respectively. If the rectangle OAPB

is completed then show that the locus of the foot of the perpendicular drawn

to AB is

x2/3 + y 2/3 = c2/3

Problem 22.

FIdn the equation of the striaght line whose intercepts on X axis and Y axis are respectively twice and thrice of those by the line 3x+4y = 12

Problem 23.
0
and

A line through

xy =5

at the points

A(5, 4) meets the lines x+3y = 2, 2x+y+4 = B, C and D repectively, if

2

15 AB
FInd the equation of the line.

10 AC

6 AD

15

9 TWO LINES
Solution : Let the required line passing through the points

A, B, C

&

be given by

x+5 y+4 = = r (x, y) (r cos 5, r sin 4) cos sin For the line x + 3y = 2 we have AB cos 5 + 3(AB sin 4) + 2 AB cos + 3AB sin cos + 3 sin
Also this point lies on the line

= = =

0 15 15 AB

2x + y + 4 = 0

we have

2(AC cos 5) + (AC sin 4) + 4 2 cos + sin

For the nal line

0 10 = AC

xy =5

we have

AD cos 5 AD sin + 4 cos sin

Using what is given we get

= =

5 6 AD

(cos + 3 sin )2 + (2 cos + sin )2 4 cos2 + 9 sin2 + 12 sin cos (2 cos + 3 sin )2 tan
Using slope point form we get line.

= = = =

(cos sin )2 0 0 2 3

y+4 =

2 (x + 5) is the equation of the required 3

and and and

Problem 24. A straight line L through the origin meets line x + y = 1 x + y = 3 at P and Q respectively. Through P and Q two straight lines L1 L2 are drawn, parallel to 2x y = 5 and 3x + y = 5 respectively. Lines L1 L2 intersect at R. Show that the locus of R as L varies is a straight line Problem 25.
Y axis
at A line intersects If

X axis

at

A variable line PQ which is perpendicular to

Q.

AQ

and

BP

intersects at

A(7, 0) and Y axis at B(0, 5). AB intersects X axis at P and R then nd the locus of R.
cuts the X and Y axes at A

Problem 26.
the origin.

A variable line

x cos + y sin = 2

and B respectively. Find the locus of the vertex P of the rectangle OAPB, O is

9 Two lines
Given two lines

ax + by + c = 0, a1 x + b1 y + c1 = 0 , a2 x + b2 y + c2 = 0,

we

discuss what further structures we can build from these

16

9 TWO LINES
9.1 Lines are parallel

9.1 Lines are parallel

Slopes of parallel lines

Two lines if they are parallel

a1 b1 c1 = = a2 b2 c2

And the default case is when they are parallel since they are the same line

a1 b1 c1 = = a2 b2 c2

Distance between parallel lines

Distance between two parallel lines is

|c c2 | 1 a2 + b2
9.2 Lines are intersecting

Angle between the lines

To nd the angle we use the slope of each of those lines Given two lines lines is given by

a1 x + b1 y + c1 = 0 and a2 x + b2 y + c2 = 0 the slope of a1 a2 tan 1 = m1 = and tan 2 = m2 = where 1 , 2 b1 b2

the are

the angle of inclination of these lines respectively. Angle

6 between the lines is given by

tan()

=
Special case

m1 m2 1 + m1 m2 a1 a2 b1 b2 a1 a2 1+ b1 b2 a1 b2 a2 b1 a1 a2 + b1 b2

 

If the lines are perpendicular They are parallel equal)

a1 a2 + b1 b2 = 0 a1 a2 a1 b2 a2 b1 = 0 = b1 b2

(i.e. the slopes are

Equation of the line that is perpendicular to the given line is

ax + by + c = 0

bx ay + d = 0

where

can be evaluated with another given condition.

Problem 27.
6 Using

What is the equation of the family of lines that are parallel, and

perpendicular to the line

2x + 3y = 6
tan tan 1 + tan tan

the trigonometric formula for tan( ) =

17

9.3 Angle bisector equation

Problem 28.
x 3y + 2 = 0
Solution : FInd the acute angle between the lines

9 TWO LINES
2x y + 3 = 0
and

1 m2 = 3 1 2 3 =1 tan = 1 + 2/3 m1 = 2
and i.e.

= /4
Angle bisector equation

9.3

There are three types of questions that we want to answer with our development of angle bisector of lines intersecting. 1. Find the equation of the angle bisector containing the origin 2. Origin is contained in acute or obtuse angle ? 3. Write the equation of the acute(obtuse) angled bisector Equation of the angle bisector is

|a1 x + b1 y + c1 | + a1 x + b1 y + c1 a2 + b2 1 1
bisector

a2 1

b2 1

|a2 x + b2 y + c2 | a2 + b2 2 2 a2 x + b2 y + c2 a2 + b2 2 2

(1)

One of these would be acute angle bisector and the other is obtuse angled

Angle bisector containing the origin

In both the line equations once we make the constant term positive i.e. we can identify easily that the region between both the lines

will be positive.

containing the origin

c1 , c2 > 0

Let us understand the following conclusions in steps 1. The lines intersecting divides the region in 4 parts, (a) Region 1 is the origin containing region hence for any the angle bisector the equation is

a1 h + b1 k + c1 > 0

and

(h, k) lying on a 2 h + b2 k +

c2 > 0
(b) Region 2 is the just vertically opposite region to region 1 and here if

(h, k) lies on the angle bisector contained in this region (that is same as the one in region 1) we have a1 h+b1 k +c1 < 0 and a2 h+b2 k +c2 < 0.
(c) Region 3 if has a angle bisector then (other side of origin)

(h, k) lying on it will obey a1 h + b1 k + c1 > 0 (as (h, k) is on origin side ) and a2 h + b2 k + c2 < 0

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9 TWO LINES
(d) Region 4 has a angle bisector then (same side of origin)

9.3 Angle bisector equation

(h, k) lying on it will obey a1 h + b1 k+c1 < 0 (as (h, k) is on other side of origin ) and a2 h+b2 k+c2 > 0

Figure 2:

Demonstrates the region containing the origin and angle bisector equation lying in that region. The green region contains the origin and red region doesn't contain the origin

Hence the equation of the angle bisector

containing the origin is

|a1 x + b1 y + c1 | a 2 + b2 1 1 a1 x + b1 y + c1 a2 + b2 1 1

= =

|a2 x + b2 y + c2 | a2 + b2 2 2 a2 x + b2 y + c2 a2 + b2 2 2 a1 x + b1 y + c1
&

As in the region 1 and region 2, we have either are both positive or both negative

a2 x + b2 y + c2

Similarly the angle bisector equation not containing the origin is

a1 x + b1 y + c1 a2 1 + b2 1

a2 x + b2 y + c2 a 2 + b2 2 2 a1 x+b1 y +c1
or

(as the regions 3 and 4 are negative for atleast one

a2 x+b2 y +c2

Acute or obtuse angle contains origin

Our task in this section is to identify whether the acute or the obtuse angle contains the origin. For this we will need the normal form of the equation. Given the normal form

x cos + y sin = p
where and

is the angle made by the normal to the plane with positive

x axis

is the distance of the line from origin (length of the normal )

Given line equations (assuming c1 , c2 to the normal form as compariing this with the

b1 a2 + b2 1 1

> 0) a1 x+b1 y+c1 = 0 can be converted b1 c1 x+ y = So we see that 2 + b2 2 + b2 2 + b2 a1 a1 a1 1 1 1 a1 normal form we have cos 1 = and sin 1 = a2 + b2 1 1 a1

where

1 is the angle made by the normal to the line with +ive x-axis.

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9.3 Angle bisector equation

Similarly for the other line

9 TWO LINES
a2 x + b2 y + c2 = 0
we have

cos 2 =

a2 a 2 + b2 2 2

&

sin 2 =

b2 a2 + b2 2 2

And we see that the angle between the normal |1 2 | is equal to the angle .
Figure 3:

Origin lies in Acute or Obtuse Angle, How we decide ?

We see from the gure, If angle then

7 and viceversa.

1 2

is acute then the origin lies in the obtuse

i.e. If

cos(1 2 ) < 0 then |1 2 | is obtuse angle and if cos(1 2 ) > 0 |1 2 | is acute. So we make use of this fact. cos(1 2 ) = = cos 1 cos 2 + sin 1 sin 2 a1 a2 + b1 b2 a2 + b2 1 1 a2 + b2 2 2

So

a1 a2 + b1 b2 =

positive negative

then origin lies in Obtuse Angle then origin lies in Acute Angle

Bisector of the Acute/obtuse angle

We can use both the previous sections to nd the equation of the acute/obtuse angle bisector. To nd the equation of the acute or obtuse angle bisector we just need to nd where the origin lies. bisector. So like let us discuss some cases. Suppose we want to nd the equation of the angle bisector of the acute angle between two lines. If the angle (since it contains the origin) will be When we nd where the origin lies (acute/obtuse angle) we choose the angle bisetor taking

sign in the equation of the angle

a1 a2 + b1 b2 < 0

we see that origin lies in the acute angle and hence the equation of the acute

a1 x + b1 y + c1 a2 1
7 cos

b2 1

a2 x + b2 y + c2 a 2 + b2 2 2

cos > 0

is positive in the rst quadrant and negative in the second quadrant. Hence if then lies in the rst quadrant (or fouth quadrant) and if cos < 0 then lies in the second ( or third ) quadrant.
20

11 EXTRA PROBLEMS
and taking a negative sign for the obtuse angle bisector.

Problem 29. Problem 30.

the origin.

Find the equation of the bisector containing the origin, and

bisector of the acute angle between the lines

3x4y +7 = 0 and 12x+5y 2 = 0

does this bisector contain

FInd the equation of the line which bisects the obtuse angle

between the lines

x 2y + 4 = 0 and 4x 3y + 2 = 0 ,

10 Linear combination of lines

Given two lines

P : a1 x + b1 y + c1 = 0

and

a2 x + b2 y + c2 = 0,

we are

interested in nding out what is the linear combination of these two lines. A linear combination can be represented as

P + Q (a1 x + b1 y + c1 ) + (a2 x + b2 y + c2 )
1. If the lines

= =

0 0

P =0

and

Q=0

are intersecting then

a family of lines passing through the intersection of 2. If the lines

P + Q = 0 represents P = 0 and Q = 0
represents

P = 0

and

Q = 0

are parallel then

P + Q = 0

family of lines that are parallel to these two.

Problem 31.

Prove that all lines represented by the equation

(2 cos + 3 sin )x + (3 cos 5 sin )y (5 cos 2 sin ) = 0

pass through a xed point for all values of and its reection in the line

x+y =

Find the coordinates of this point

11 Extra Problems
1. Given a triangle with vertices

A(k, 1), B(2, 0) and C(4, 0) with k R then H

of the triangle

(a) FInd the locus of the Orthocenter (b) Number of valus of

for which the vertex

of the triangle will lie

on the locus of the orthocenter. (c) When the vertex i. ii. iii. iv.

lies on the locus of the orthocenter,

ABC ABC ABC ABC

is right triangle is isoceles triangle is equilateral triangle isoceles right triangle

(d) What is the locus of the centroid (e) what is the locus of the circumcentre

21