∫Calc Practice

Equation of a plane

Problem 9.83 · hard

Find an equation of the plane through the points \( \displaystyle (-2, 2, -3),\ (0, 2, -2),\ (-2, -1, 0) \).
  1. \[ \left[\begin{matrix}2\\0\\1\end{matrix}\right] \]
    PQ.✓ Proved
  2. \[ \left[\begin{matrix}0\\-3\\3\end{matrix}\right] \]
    PR.✓ Proved
  3. \[ \left[\begin{matrix}1\\-2\\-2\end{matrix}\right] \]
    A normal vector n = PQ × PR (scaled).✓ Proved
  4. \[ 0 \]
    n · P gives the constant.✓ Proved
  5. The plane is x - 2*y - 2*z = 0.
Answer \( x - 2 y - 2 z = 0 \)

Lines: 4 proved, 1 not checked. The answer was also checked a second way, without looking at the solution. The explanation has not been reviewed yet.

The full receipt
LineStatusChecked byDetail
1✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0
2✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0
3✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0
4✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0
5Not checked—a sentence; read, not computed
answer, a second way✓ Checked independentlysympy 1.14.0 + mpmath 1.3.0all three points satisfy the equation

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/plane_through_points, checked 2026-09-26 with SymPy 1.14.0.