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MiscII · Q175

Q.If four points A(aˉ)(\bar a), B(bˉ)(\bar b), C(cˉ)(\bar c) and D(dˉ)(\bar d) are coplanar then show that [aˉ bˉ dˉ]+[bˉ cˉ dˉ]+[cˉ aˉ dˉ]=[aˉ bˉ cˉ][\bar a\ \bar b\ \bar d]+[\bar b\ \bar c\ \bar d]+[\bar c\ \bar a\ \bar d]=[\bar a\ \bar b\ \bar c].

Maharashtra MsbshseTextbookSubjectiveImportance★★★★★
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Since A,B,C,DA,B,C,D are coplanar, the vectors DA→=aˉ−dˉ, DB→=bˉ−dˉ, DC→=cˉ−dˉ\overrightarrow{DA}=\bar a-\bar d,\ \overrightarrow{DB}=\bar b-\bar d,\ \overrightarrow{DC}=\bar c-\bar d are coplanar, so

[aˉ−dˉ  bˉ−dˉ  cˉ−dˉ]=0.[\bar a-\bar d\ \ \bar b-\bar d\ \ \bar c-\bar d]=0.

Expand using multilinearity in each slot (again, any term with a repeated vector among aˉ,bˉ,cˉ,dˉ\bar a,\bar b,\bar c,\bar d across two slots is zero, e.g. [aˉ −dˉ −dˉ]=0[\bar a\ -\bar d\ -\bar d]=0):

[aˉ bˉ cˉ]−[aˉ bˉ dˉ]−[aˉ dˉ cˉ]−[dˉ bˉ cˉ]+0+0+0−0=0.[\bar a\ \bar b\ \bar c]-[\bar a\ \bar b\ \bar d]-[\bar a\ \bar d\ \bar c]-[\bar d\ \bar b\ \bar c]+0+0+0-0=0.

Rewrite the two remaining surviving terms so that dˉ\bar d sits in the last slot, using the sign-swap and

cyclic rules: for the term −[aˉ dˉ cˉ]-[\bar a\ \bar d\ \bar c], a single interchange of the last two vectors gives

[aˉ dˉ cˉ]=−[aˉ cˉ dˉ][\bar a\ \bar d\ \bar c]=-[\bar a\ \bar c\ \bar d], so −[aˉ dˉ cˉ]=[aˉ cˉ dˉ]-[\bar a\ \bar d\ \bar c]=[\bar a\ \bar c\ \bar d];

then a single interchange of the first two vectors gives [aˉ cˉ dˉ]=−[cˉ aˉ dˉ][\bar a\ \bar c\ \bar d]=-[\bar c\ \bar a\ \bar d]. …

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