Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 4.6 AIME Find the answer

Find the shortest distance between the lines x+22=y13=z1\frac{x+2}{2}=\frac{y-1}{3}=\frac{z}{1} and x31=y1=z+12\frac{x-3}{-1}=\frac{y}{1}=\frac{z+1}{2}

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

First we find the direction of a line perpendicular to both of these lines. By taking the cross product (2,3,1)×(1,1,2)=(5,5,5)(2,3,1) \times(-1,1,2)=(5,-5,5) we find that the plane xy+z+3=0x-y+z+3=0 contains the first line and is parallel to the second. Now we take a point on the second line, say the point (3,0,1)(3,0,-1) and find the distance between this point and the plane. This comes out to 30+(1)+312+12+12=53=533\frac{|3-0+(-1)+3|}{\sqrt{1^{2}+1^{2}+1^{2}}}=\frac{5}{\sqrt{3}}=\frac{5 \sqrt{3}}{3}.

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