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Lines in space

Problem 9.302 · easy

Are the lines \( \displaystyle \mathbf r_1(t) = \left\langle 4 - t, 2 t - 4, 3 - t \right\rangle \) and \( \displaystyle \mathbf r_2(s) = \left\langle 3 - s, 2 s - 6, 3 - s \right\rangle \) parallel, intersecting, or skew? If they intersect, find the point.
  1. \[ \left[\begin{matrix}0\\0\\0\end{matrix}\right] \]
    d₁ × d₂: zero exactly when the directions are parallel.✓ Proved
  2. The directions are parallel and P₂ is not on L₁, so the lines are parallel and distinct.
Answer \( \text{parallel} \)

Lines: 1 proved, 1 not checked. The answer was also checked a second way, without looking at the solution. The reviewers disagree about how one step is explained; every verdict is in the receipt.

The full receipt
LineStatusChecked byDetail
1✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0
2Not checked—a sentence; read, not computed
answer, a second way✓ Checked independentlysympy 1.14.0 + mpmath 1.3.0the closest approach of the two lines, found numerically

Reviewers

  • gpt-oss:20b: pass
  • qwen3.6:27b-mlx: fail (error) — The solution claims the lines are parallel and distinct, but the lines are actually coincident (identical). Point P2(3, -6, 3) lies on L1 (at t=1), so they are not distinct.
Every verdict on record (4)
  • gpt-oss:20b: pass 2026-10-06
  • qwen3.6:27b-mlx: fail (error) 2026-10-06 — The solution claims the lines are parallel and distinct, but the lines are actually coincident (identical). Point P2(3, -6, 3) lies on L1 (at t=1), so they are not distinct.
  • gpt-oss:20b: pass 2026-10-06
  • qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass 2026-10-06 — The solution correctly identifies the direction vectors as parallel and implicitly verifies they are distinct lines. The conclusion is sound.

Proved: SymPy reduced the difference between the two sides to zero. Checked independently: a separate method, named above, confirmed it. Checked numerically: the two sides agree at every sampled point, which is evidence, not proof. Reviewed: a model or a person read it; that is all a sentence can have. Solution by generator:structured/lines_in_space, checked 2026-10-06 with SymPy 1.14.0.