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- Plane geometry
- General equation (or Cartesian or implicit) of the straight line
General equation (or Cartesian or implicit) of the straight line
If from the continuous equation of the straight line we operate and group terms we obtain: $$\displaystyle \begin{array}{rcl} \frac{x-p_1}{v_1} &=&\frac{y-p_2}{v_2} \\ v_2(x-p_1) &=& v_1(y-p_2)\\ v_2 \cdot x-v_2 \cdot p_1&=& v_1 \cdot y-v_1\cdot p_2 \\ v_2\cdot x-v_1 \cdot y+(v_1\cdot p_2-v_2\cdot p_1)&=&0 \\ Ax+By+C&=& 0\end{array}$$
Where obviously,$$\begin{array}{rcl}A&=&v_2 \\ B&=& -v1\\ C&=& v_1\cdot p_2 - v_2 \cdot p_1 \end{array}$$An interesting property of this equation is that $\overrightarrow {v}=(-B,A)$ is a vector director of the straight line, and therefore $\overrightarrow{w}=(A,B)$ is a vector perpendicular to the straight line.
Find the implicit equation of the straight line $r$:$$\displaystyle \frac{x-3}{-5}=\frac{y-4}{2}$$
Computing and changing all the terms to one side we obtain: $$\begin{array}{rcl} 2(x-3) &=& -5 (y-4) \\ 2x-6 &=& -5y+20 \\ 2x+5y-6-20 &=& 0 \\ 2x+5y-26&=&0\end{array}$$
Therefore the implicit equation is $2x + 5y - 26 = 0$ and the vector $\overrightarrow{v} = (-5, 2)$ is a vector director of the straight line.