Parametric Equations of a Line - Maple Programming Help

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Parametric Equations of a Line

Main Concept

In order to find the vector and parametric equations of a line, you need to have either:

 1 two distinct points on the line

or

 2 one point and a directional vector.

A directional vector, $\mathbit{m}$, where , is a nonzero vector parallel to the line. The directional vector can be represented by a vector with its tail at the origin and its head at point (a , b).

In the first case, you can obtain a directional vector by subtracting the two given points.

The x and y components of vector m are called direction numbers.

 Vector Parametric Equation: Scalar Parametric Equations: is the vector connecting the origin to a point . m  is the directional vector with the directional numbers . 

Click or drag the directional vector and a point on the line. Select the check box to show the resulting line.

 Vector Parametric Equation:  Scalar Parametric Equations: 

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