Final answer:
To find the point on the sphere nearest to the xy-plane, substitute z = 0 into the equation. To find the point on the sphere nearest to a given point, minimize the distance formula using the equation of the sphere.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the point on the sphere nearest to the xy-plane, we need to find the point on the sphere with the smallest z-coordinate. Since the equation of the sphere is given as x^2 + (y - 4)^2 + (z - 8)^2 = 9, we can substitute z = 0 into the equation and solve for x and y. Plugging z = 0 into the equation, we get x^2 + (y - 4)^2 + (0 - 8)^2 = 9, which simplifies to x^2 + (y - 4)^2 = 2. Solving this equation gives us two possible points: (2, 4) and (-2, 4). The point nearest to the xy-plane is (-2, 4, 0).
To find the point on the sphere nearest to the point (0, 8, 8), we need to find the point on the sphere with the smallest distance to this point. We can use the distance formula to find the distance between the point (x, y, z) on the sphere and the point (0, 8, 8). The distance formula is given by D = sqrt((x - 0)^2 + (y - 8)^2 + (z - 8)^2). We want to minimize this distance, so we can minimize D^2. Substituting the equation of the sphere into D^2, we get D^2 = (x^2 + (y - 4)^2 + (z - 8)^2) - ((0 - 0)^2 + (8 - 8)^2 + (8 - 8)^2). Simplifying this equation gives us D^2 = 9 - 0 = 9. Therefore, the point nearest to (0, 8, 8) on the sphere is any point on the sphere that satisfies x^2 + (y - 4)^2 + (z - 8)^2 = 9.