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Find a vector parametrization

r(t) for the line with the given description.

Passes through (1, 1, 1) and (9, −7, 8)

r(t)=?

User Kakubei
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1 Answer

5 votes

Final answer:

To find the parametrization of a line given two points, subtract the starting point from the ending point to get the direction vector, and then use the starting point and the direction vector with a parameter t to express the line in vector form.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find a vector parametrization r(t) for the line that passes through the points (1, 1, 1) and (9, −7, 8), we first need to determine the direction vector of the line. We can do this by subtracting the coordinates of the starting point from the ending point:

(9 − 1, −7 − 1, 8 − 1) = (8, −8, 7).

Then, we can use one of the points and the direction vector to write the parametric equations of the line. Using the point (1, 1, 1) as the initial point, we have:

r(t) = (1, 1, 1) + t(8, −8, 7),

or, in component form:

r(t) = (1 + 8t)î + (1 − 8t)ç + (1 + 7t)k.

This gives us the vector parametrization of the line where t is the parameter.

User UloBasEI
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