Concept understanding — Angle and Distance between Lines and Planes
Four closely related "how far / how tilted" computations, all built from a plane's normal n or a line's direction b.
Angle between two planes = angle between their normals: θ=cos−1(∣n1∣∣n2∣∣n1⋅n2∣); perpendicular iff n1⋅n2=0, parallel iff n1=λn2.
Angle between a line and a plane = complement of the angle between the line's direction b and the plane's normal n (since a line lying flat in the plane is perpendicular to the normal, and vice versa): θ=sin−1(∣b∣∣n∣b⋅n); the line is perpendicular to the plane iff b∥n, and parallel to the plane iff b⋅n=0.
Distance from a point u to a plane r⋅n=p:δ=∣n∣∣u⋅n−p∣ (Cartesian: δ=a2+b2+c2∣ax1+by1+cz1−p∣); taking u=0 gives the distance from the origin, δ=a2+b2+c2∣d∣ for ax+by+cz+d=0. The foot of that perpendicular is u+∣n∣2p−u⋅nn. …