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Vector trapezium help

Reply 1
So you want to find the crossing point of OC and AB.
any ideas?
I have no idea
Have tried everything, can't find any similar questions (they always give a ratio)
Reply 3
Original post by yungcashmoney
I have no idea
Have tried everything, can't find any similar questions (they always give a ratio)

You could represent a point lying on OC as
m*(3a+4b)
Where m is between 0 and 1.

Do the same for a point on the other line in terms of n, then equate and solve for m and/or n and hence get the intersection point.
Original post by mqb2766
You could represent a point lying on OC as
m*(3a+4b)
Where m is between 0 and 1.

Do the same for a point on the other line in terms of n, then equate and solve for m and/or n and hence get the intersection point.

I'm not trying to be rude but could you solve it for me
I've been stuck on this question all day and even asked in 5 discord servers for help and nobody has been able to solve it
Reply 5
Original post by yungcashmoney
I'm not trying to be rude but could you solve it for me
I've been stuck on this question all day and even asked in 5 discord servers for help and nobody has been able to solve it

Have you done the first part, representing a point on AB in terms of a,b,n? n is the scalar (0,1) which represents how far along AB it is.
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by mqb2766
Have you done the first part, representing a point on AB in terms of a,b,n?

OA = 3a
OC = 3a+4b = k(ON)
ON = k(3a+4b)
OB = 6b
AB = 6b - 3a
this is as far as I can go
Reply 7
Original post by yungcashmoney
OA = 3a
OC = 3a+4b = k(ON)
ON = k(3a+4b)
OB = 6b
AB = 6b - 3a
this is as far as I can go

OC = 3a+4b
So a point P lying on that is
m*OC = m(3a+4b)

OA = 3a
AB = 6b-3a
So a point P lying on there is
OA + n*AB = ...

Then equate and solve for m and n, noting that equality must hold for both directions a and b.
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by mqb2766
OC = 3a+4b
So a point P lying on that is
mOC = m(3a+4b)

OA = 3a
AB = 6b-3a
So a point P lying on there is
OA + nAB = ...

Then equate and solve for m and n, noting that equality must hold for both directions a and b.

I understand this but how do you make an equation out of this? I inputted 6b-3a=0 and 3a+4b=0 on wolfram alpha in the system of equations calculator but it didn't give me an answer
Reply 9
Original post by yungcashmoney
I understand this but how do you make an equation out of this? I inputted 6b-3a=0 and 3a+4b=0 on wolfram alpha in the system of equations calculator but it didn't give me an answer oK

I have no idea what you tried to do on wolframalpha.

if you're following above advice you have the equations for point(s) on two lines in terms of m and n. At intersection, they must be equal so equate and solve for m and n.

And I'm not being funny by saying I'm not doing it for you. You should sketch what it means, think about how to solve it. Take more time than a minute or two before hitting reply. All the relevant advice is in this, and previous, posts.
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by mqb2766
I have no idea what you tried to do on wolframalpha.

if you're following above advice you have the equations for point(s) on two lines in terms of m and n. At intersection, they must be equal so equate and solve for m and n.

And I'm not being funny by saying I'm not doing it for you. You should sketch what it means, think about how to solve it. Take more time than a minute or two before hitting reply. All the relevant advice is in this, and previous, posts.

I just tried for half an hour trying to solve it
I can't do it, I'm unable to. I don't have the knowledge for it. Please just solve it for me so I can learn how to do it
What did you do? Did you equate the point equations, how did you try and solve them, ...?
Original post by mqb2766
What did you do? Did you equate the point equations, how did you try and solve them, ...?

That's the problem. I don't know how to equate the point equations. I don't even know what they are. It's not in the form y=mx+c it's a vector. There are no coordinates. I don't understand it at all.
A quick Google gave a related problem
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zy8d6yc/revision/3
Two lines share the same point so they set them equal to each other. There are other, similar examples.

In this problem you can think of a and b vectors as being your coordinate axes, but they're not perpendicular to each other (not really important). A points position is given by
k*a + l*b
For some scalars k and l.
(edited 3 years ago)
Drawing the line from A to B will help. Hint: there will be similar triangles with corresponding sides having a 2:3 ratio :smile:
Original post by mqb2766
A quick Google gave a related problem
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zy8d6yc/revision/3
Two lines share the same point so they set them equal to each other. There are other, similar examples.

In this problem you can think of a and b vectors as being your coordinate axes, but they're not perpendicular to each other (not really important).

I already read that BBC link. It's not helpful. Those questions they give are completely different. They have given you ratios in those questions. The only ratio we have here is that OB = 3/2 * AC and that is not useful
They show a point lies in a line by setting/showing the two vector representations are equal to each other. You have a similar problem here, but after you set them equal to each other you need to solve (simultaneously) for m and n. You seem to be confused about showing "two" points have the same vector representation and it certainly covers that. So it should be helpful.

Going down the vector route, you still need to write the expression for a point on AB in terms of n. Then set it equal to the point in OC and get two simultaneous equations for m and n, by considering the vectors/directions a and b seperately.

The justmaths questions/answers at the end of
http://mrbartonmaths.com/topics/transformations/vector-geometry/gcse.html
Provide more examples about such question types. There are more than enough examples to solve this problem.
(edited 3 years ago)

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