Browsing as Guest. Progress, bookmarks and attempts are disabled.
Log in to track your work.
Nov 2010 p12 q9
2249
The diagram shows a pyramid OABCP in which the horizontal base OABC is a square of side 10 cm and the vertex P is 10 cm vertically above O. The points D, E, F, G lie on OP, AP, BP, CP respectively and DEFG is a horizontal square of side 6 cm. The height of DEFG above the base is a cm. Unit vectors i, j and k are parallel to OA, OC and OD respectively.
Show that a = 4.
Express the vector \(\overrightarrow{BG}\) in terms of i, j and k.
Use a scalar product to find angle GBA.
Solution
(i) To find \(a\), we use the similarity of triangles. The triangle \(OPD\) is similar to \(OPA\). The ratio of the sides gives:
\(\frac{10 - a}{10} = \frac{6}{10}\)
Solving for \(a\):
\(10 - a = 6\)
\(a = 4\)
(ii) To express \(\overrightarrow{BG}\), we find the coordinates of \(B\) and \(G\). \(B\) is at \((10, 10, 0)\) and \(G\) is at \((0, 6, 4)\). Thus,