Using vectors, find the area of the triangle ABC with vertices A(1, 2, 3), B(2, – 1, 4) and C(4, 5, – 1).
We have,
The coordinates of points A, B and C are (1, 2, 3), (2, -1, 4) and (4, 5, -1) respectively.
We need to find the area of this triangle ABC.
We have the formula given as,
…(i)
Let us find out and first.
We can say,
Position vector of A
Position vector of B
Position vector of C
For :
Position vector of B-Position vector of A
For :
Position vector of C-Position vector of A
Now, substitute values of and in . We can find out as,
And,
From equation (i), we get
Thus, area of ∆ABC is .