Probe....

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DPP 1: DIRECTION RATIO'S & DIRECTION COSINE'S
1. DIRECTION COSINES OF LINE : line joining two points :
If  ,  ,  be the angles made by a line with x- Let A(x1, y1, z1) and B(x2, y2, z2) be two points,
axis, y-axis & z-axis respectively then cos  ,
then d.r.’s of AB are x2 – x1, y2 – y1, z2 – z1 and
cos  & cos  are called direction cosines of a
line, denoted by l, m & n respectively. 1 1 1
the d.c.’s of AB are (x – x1), (y2 – y1),
Note : z r 2 r r
(i) If line makes angles  ,  ,  
(z2 – z1) where r  [ (x2  x1 )2 ]
with x, y & z axis respectively 
y 3. RELATION BETWEEN D.C’S & D.R’S :
then    ,    ,    is 

another set of angle x  m n

 
that line makes with principle axes. Hence if a b c
l, m & n are direction cosines of line then 2 m 2 n 2 2  m 2  n 2
 2  2  2
–l, –m & –n are also direction cosines of the a2 b c a  b2  c 2
same line. a
 b
(ii) Since parallel lines have same direction. So, in ; m= ;
a  b2  c2
2
a  b2  c2
2
case of lines, which do not pass through the
origin. We can draw a parallel line passing c
n=
through the origin and direction cosines of a  b2  c2
2

that line can be found. Important point :

Important points : 1. Direction cosines of a line are unique but Dr's
(a) Direction cosines of a line : of a line in no way unique but can be infinite.

Take a vector A  aiˆ  bjˆ  ckˆ parallel to a line 2. If A  x1 , y1 , z1  and B   x2 , y2 , z2  then AB d.cs
whose D.C’s are to be found out.
 
A.iˆ  a | A | cos   a x1  x2 y1  y2 z1  z2
k are , ,
a bj +c AB AB AB
cos    similarly, ai +
|A|
3. If l ,m,n are the d.cs of OP where ‘O’ is the
b c
co s   
|A|
; cos   
|A|
origin and OP = r then P  lr , mr , nr 

 cos2   cos2   cos2   1

Exercise
 2  m 2  n 2  1 1. Find the angle between the vectors with
 sin2   sin2   sin2   2 direction ratios 1, - 2, 1 and 4, 3, 2.
(b) Direction cosine of axes : 2. Find the angle between the vectors whose
Since the positive x-axes makes angle 0°, 90°, direction cosines are proportional to 2, 3, -6
and 3, -4, 5.
90° with axes of x, y and z respectively, 3. Find the acute angle between the lines whose
D.C.’s of x axes are 1, 0, 0. direction ratios are 2 : 3 : 6 and 1 : 2 : 2.
D.C.’s of y-axis are 0, 1, 0 4. Show that the points (2, 3, 4), (-1, -2, 1), (5,8,7)
are collinear.
D.C.’s of z-axis are 0, 0, 1 5. Show that the line through points (4, 7, 8) and
(2, 3, 4) is parallel to the line through the points
2. DIRECTION RATIOS :
(-1, -2, 1) and (1, 2, 5)
Any three numbers a, b, c proportional to 6. Show that the line through the points (1, -1,2)
direction cosines l , m, n are called direction and (3, 4, -2) is perpendicular to the line
through the points (0, 3, 2) and (3, 5, 6).
 m n 7. Show that the line joining the origin to the
ratios of the line. i.e.  
a b c point (2, 1, 1) is perpendicular to the line
There can be infinitely many sets of direction determined by the points (3, 5, -1) and
ratios for a given line. (4, 3, -1).
8. Find the angle between the lines whose
Direction ratios and Direction cosines of the
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 Probe....( an institute which explores the hidden talent ) 2
direction ratios are proportional to a, b, c and 20. If A (2, 4, 5), B(-7, -2, 8), C are collinear points then C
b - c, c - a, a - b. 1) (1, 2, 6) 2) (2, -1,6) 3) (-1, 2, 6) 4) (2, 6, -1)
9. If the coordinates of the points A, B, C, D are
(1, 2, 3), (4, 5, 7), (-4, 3, -6) and (2, 9, 2), then 21. If a line makes angles 45o , 60o with oy, oz
find the angle between AB and CD. respectively where O = (0, 0, 0) then the sine of the
angle made by that line with ox is
10. The sum of the squares of the sines of the angles
made by the line AB with ox, oy, oz where ‘O’ is the 1) 60 o 2) 1/2 3) 3/2 4) 3
origin is
 
1) 1 2) 2 3) -1 4) 3 22. If a line makes angles , with the x-axis, y-axis
3 4
respectively then the angle made by that line with
1 1 1 the z-axis is
11. If the d.c.'s of a line are  , ,  then c =
c c c    5
1) 2) 3) 4)
2 3 4 12
1) 3 2) 1/ 3 3)  3 4) 1/ 3
23. If a line makes angles 60o , 45o , 45o and  with the
12. If l1 ,m1 ,n1 and l2 , m2 ,n2 are the d.cs of two lines then
four diagonals of a cube then sin 2  
l1l2  m1m2  n1n2 2  m1n2  m2 n1 2 
1) 0 2) -1 3) 1 4) 2 1 11 11 31
1) 2) 3) 4)
12 12 12 12
13. If a1 ,b1 ,c1 and a2 ,b2 ,c2 are the d.rs of two lines then
24. If P(x, y, z) moves such that x = 0, z = 0 then the locus
a1a2  b1b2  c1c2 2  b1c2  b2c1 2  of P is the line whose d.cs are

1) a1  b1  c1 a2  b2  c2  2) a1b1c1  a2b2 c2  1) y-axis 2) 1, 0, 0 3) 0, 1, 0 4) 0, 0, 0

3) 1 
4) a12  b12  c12 a22  b22  c22  25. If l, m, n are the d.cs of the line joining (5, -3, 8) and (6,
-1, 6) then l + m + n =
14. The product of the d.cs of the line which makes equal
angles with ox, oy, oz is 1) 1 2) 1/3 3) -1 4) 5/3
1 1 1 1 26. ox, oy are positive x-axis, positive y-axis respectively
1) 1 2) 3) 4) , ,
3 3 3 3 3 3 where O = (0, 0, 0). The d.cs of the line which bisects
xoy are
 5
15. If a line makes angles , with oy, oz respectively
12 12 1 1 1 1
where O = (0, 0,0) then the angle made by that line 1) 1, 1, 0 2) , , 0 3) , 0, 4) 0, 0, 1
2 2 2 2
with ox is
27. If O = (0, 0, 0), OP = 5 and the d.rs of OP are
1) 45o 2) 90o 3) 60 o 4)30o
1, 2, 2 then Px  Py  Pz 
16. The direction cosines of the line passing through
p  2,3, 1 and the origin are (EAM - 2005) 1) 25 2)
25
3)
25  5 10 10 
4)  , , 
9 3 3 3 3 
2 3 1 2 3 1 28. If the d.rs of two lines are given by the equations
1) , , 2) , ,
14 14 14 14 14 14 l  m  n  0 and l 2  m 2  n 2  0 then the d.rs of one
of the two lines are
2 3 1 2 3 1
3) , , 4) , , 1) 0, 0, -1 2) 0, 1, -1 3) 1, 0, 1 4) 1, 0, 0
14 14 14 14` 14 14
17. If a line makes angles  , ,  with ox, oy, oz ANSWER
respectively where O = (0, 0, 0) then
cos 2  cos 2  cos 2   1
 18 2  1  20 
1. 2. cos   35  3. cos  
1) 1 2) 0 3) 2 4) -1 2    21 
18. The number of lines which make equal angles with
ox, oy, oz where O = (0, 0, 0) is 
8. 9. 0 10.2 11.3 12.3
1) 8 2) 4 3) 1 4) 2 2
13.4 14.3 15.2 16.3 17.4 18.2
1 1
19. If , , nn  0  are the d.cs of a line then the angle 19.4 20.3 21.3 22.2 23.2 24.3
2 2
made by that line with oz where O = (0, 0, 0) is 25.2 26.2 27.3 28.2
1) 1 / 2 2) 45o 3) 60 o 4) 135o
P.L. Sharma Road & Devpuri, Mob: 9412285177 3-D GEOMETRY