[Edu-sig] Teacher looking for software for displaying 3D vectors and planes

[Andre Roberge]

On Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 12:37 PM, Daniel Ajoy <da.ajoy at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> http://www.reddit.com/r/math/comments/8riul/teacher_looking_for_software_for_displaying_3d/
>
> """
> Hi, I have spent a good few hours on a fruitless search for something that
> will help my students understand 3D vectors better.


PyGeo (http://pygeo.sourceforge.net/) might do what you are looking for.
Note that its creator, Arthur Siegel, was a prolific contributor to edu-sig
and, sadly, passed away a few years ago.

André



> What I'm teaching is basically stuff like this: The equation of a line in
> three dimensions (something like r = a + t b (b is a direction vector, t is
> a parameter)
>
> The equation of a plane as r . n = a . n
>
> Intersection between lines and planes, angles between two planes, between a
> plane and a line, identifying lines as skew, parallel, etc., techniques like
> cross product for finding plane normals.
>
> (This is all part of the UK "A-level" Maths if you're wondering).
>
> I'm looking for something to help visualise this type of mathematics,
> because almost all students say this area is one of the hardest of the
> course, and they never seem to be very good at constructing an appropriate
> image in their mind that would allow them to see a sensible strategy for
> finding the solution. I feel sure that my combination of metre rules and
> desks and pieces of paper is insufficient for them to build a good mental
> picture.
>
> So I want something that will not only show planes and lines on the
> projector screen in a good quality 3D representation, but will (v important)
> allow me to rotate the image or the objects in the image, or move lines and
> see how a point on the line moves with it, etc.
>
> Software doesn't have to be free, but I doubt my school would be prepared
> to pay several hundred dollars. I teach English qualifications in China, by
> the way, so bear that in mind.
>
> Edit: I forgot to mention we don't have internet in the classroom at the
> moment, so it needs to be an offline tool.
>
> Thanks if anyone has a suggestion.
> """
>
>
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