use vectors to decide whether the triangle with vertices P(1,-3,-2) Q(2,0,-4) R(6,-2,-5) is right angled
find vectors PQ, QR and PR. Take their scalar products pairwise. If any one scalar product is zero, it means the pair of vectors(or sides) is perpendicular.
What happened?
vector of PQ is the distance between them, right?
Careful, you want to take the dot product of vectors representing the sides of the triangle, not the dot product of the coordinates of the vertices. P(1,-3,-2) Q(2,0,-4) R(6,-2,-5) Side PQ has direction P - Q =(-1,-3,2) Side QR has direction Q - R = (-4,2,1) Side PR has direction P - R = (-5,-1,+3) Now if you take PR * QR you get 4-6+2=0 So the triangle has a right angle at vertex R (the angle common to both PR and QR)
Join our real-time social learning platform and learn together with your friends!