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Hi I am trying to draw a 3d plane, probably a rectangular plane, to show a plane passing through three points, (1,1,0), (-3,0,2),(2,4,7) (a plane with 4 sides, not a triangular plane). I thought maybe pgfplots could be useful, but I haven't found any examples of what I was trying to do in the documentation. I am not really sure where to go from here and being pointed in the right direction would be helpful, thanks.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry} 
\usepackage{tikz, tikz-3dplot}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\begin{document}
    \begin{tikzpicture} [scale=0.5, tdplot_main_coords, axis/.style={->,black,thick}, 
    vector/.style={-stealth,black,very thick}, 
    vector guide/.style={dashed,black,thick}]
        %standard tikz coordinate definition using x, y, z coords
        \coordinate (origin) at (0,0,0);
        \coordinate (x_1) at (1,1,0);
        \coordinate (x_2) at (-3,0,2);
        \coordinate (x_3) at (2,4,7);
        %draw axes
        \draw[axis] (0,0,0) -- (10,0,0) node[anchor=north east]{$x$};
        \draw[axis] (0,0,0) -- (0,10,0) node[anchor=north west]{$y$};
        \draw[axis] (0,0,0) -- (0,0,10) node[anchor=south]{$z$};
        % Draw two points
        \draw[fill=black] (x_1) circle[radius=2pt] node[anchor=south east]{$x_1$};
        \draw[fill=black] (x_2) circle[radius=2pt] node[anchor=south west]{$x_2$};
        \draw[fill=black] (x_3) circle[radius=2pt] node[anchor=south]{$x_3$};
        %draw guide lines to components
        \draw[vector guide] (origin) -- (x_1);
        \draw[vector guide] (origin) -- (x_2);
        \draw[vector guide] (origin) -- (x_3);
    \end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

1 Answer 1

2

This answer is conceptually the same as the answer to your previous question. Using calc, you can add and subtract vectors. So one way to draw the plane is to say

\draw[fill=gray,fill opacity=0.2] (x_1) -- (x_2) -- (x_3) -- ($(x_3)+(x_1)-(x_2)$) -- cycle;

Full MWE (with \tdplotsetmaincoords{70}{110} added to make the code run through and some simplifications):

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry} 
\usepackage{tikz, tikz-3dplot}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
\tdplotsetmaincoords{70}{110}
\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=0.5, tdplot_main_coords, axis/.style={->,black,thick}, 
vector/.style={-stealth,black,very thick}, 
vector guide/.style={dashed,black,thick}]
    %standard tikz coordinate definition using x, y, z coords
    \path  (0,0,0) coordinate (origin)
     (1,1,0) coordinate (x_1) 
     (-3,0,2) coordinate  (x_2) 
     (2,4,7) coordinate  (x_3); 
    \draw[fill=gray,fill opacity=0.2] (x_1) -- (x_2) -- (x_3)
     -- ($(x_3)+(x_1)-(x_2)$) -- cycle;
    %draw axes
    \draw[axis] (0,0,0) -- (10,0,0) node[anchor=north east]{$x$};
    \draw[axis] (0,0,0) -- (0,10,0) node[anchor=north west]{$y$};
    \draw[axis] (0,0,0) -- (0,0,10) node[anchor=south]{$z$};
    % Draw two points
    \draw[fill=black]
     foreach \X in {1,2,3}
    { (x_\X) circle[radius=2pt] node[anchor=south east]{$x_\X$}};
    %draw guide lines to components
    \foreach \X in {1,2,3}
    {\draw[vector guide] (origin) -- (x_\X);}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

enter image description here

ADDENDUM: Just for fun: an attempt to let TikZ decide whether the plane is on the foreground or background.

\documentclass[tikz,border=3mm]{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz-3dplot}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usetikzlibrary{backgrounds}
\makeatletter
\def\RawCoord(#1){\csname tikz@dcl@coord@#1\endcsname}%
\def\scalprod#1=#2.#3;{%
\edef\coordA{\RawCoord#2}%
\edef\coordB{\RawCoord#3}%
\pgfmathsetmacro\pgfutil@tmpa{scalarproduct({\coordA},{\coordB})}
\edef#1{\pgfutil@tmpa}}%
\makeatother 
\newcommand{\spaux}[6]{(#1)*(#4)+(#2)*(#5)+(#3)*(#6)}  
\pgfmathdeclarefunction{scalarproduct}{2}{% scalar product of two 3-vectors
  \begingroup%
  \pgfmathparse{\spaux#1#2}%
  \pgfmathsmuggle\pgfmathresult\endgroup}  
% projections
\pgfmathdeclarefunction{xcomp3}{3}{% x component of a 3-vector
\begingroup%
  \pgfmathparse{#1}%
  \pgfmathsmuggle\pgfmathresult\endgroup}
\pgfmathdeclarefunction{ycomp3}{3}{% y component of a 3-vector
\begingroup%
  \pgfmathparse{#2}%
  \pgfmathsmuggle\pgfmathresult\endgroup}  
\pgfmathdeclarefunction{zcomp3}{3}{% z component of a 3-vector
\begingroup%
  \pgfmathparse{#3}%
  \pgfmathsmuggle\pgfmathresult\endgroup}
% allows us to do linear combinations
\def\lincomb#1=#2*#3+#4*#5;{%
\path[overlay] let \p1=#3,\p2=#5 in 
({(#2)*(xcomp3\coord1)+(#4)*(xcomp3\coord2)},%
 {(#2)*(ycomp3\coord1)+(#4)*(ycomp3\coord2)},%
 {(#2)*(zcomp3\coord1)+(#4)*(zcomp3\coord2)}) coordinate #1;}
% vector product
\def\vecprod#1=#2x#3;{%
\path[overlay] let \p1=#2,\p2=#3 in 
 ({vpx({\coord1},{\coord2})},%
 {vpy({\coord1},{\coord2})},%
 {vpz({\coord1},{\coord2})}) coordinate #1;}
% vector product auxiliary functions
\newcommand{\vpauxx}[6]{(#2)*(#6)-(#3)*(#5)}     
\newcommand{\vpauxy}[6]{(#4)*(#3)-(#1)*(#6)}
\newcommand{\vpauxz}[6]{(#1)*(#5)-(#2)*(#4)}
% vector product pgf functions
\pgfmathdeclarefunction{vpx}{2}{% x component of vector product
  \begingroup%
  \pgfmathparse{\vpauxx#1#2}%
  \pgfmathsmuggle\pgfmathresult\endgroup}
\pgfmathdeclarefunction{vpy}{2}{% y component of vector product
  \begingroup%
  \pgfmathparse{\vpauxy#1#2}%
  \pgfmathsmuggle\pgfmathresult\endgroup}
\pgfmathdeclarefunction{vpz}{2}{% z component of vector product
  \begingroup%
  \pgfmathparse{\vpauxz#1#2}%
  \pgfmathsmuggle\pgfmathresult\endgroup}

\begin{document}
\foreach \Angle in {0,10,...,350}
{\tdplotsetmaincoords{70}{\Angle}
\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=0.5, tdplot_main_coords, axis/.style={->,black,thick}, 
vector/.style={-stealth,black,very thick}, 
vector guide/.style={dashed,black,thick}]
    \path[use as bounding box,tdplot_screen_coords] (-12,-5) rectangle (12,10);
    %standard tikz coordinate definition using x, y, z coords
    \path  (0,0,0) coordinate (origin)
     (1,1,0) coordinate (x_1) 
     (-3,0,2) coordinate  (x_2) 
     (2,4,7) coordinate  (x_3); 
    %draw axes
    \draw[axis] (0,0,0) -- (10,0,0) node[anchor=north east]{$x$};
    \draw[axis] (0,0,0) -- (0,10,0) node[anchor=north west]{$y$};
    %draw guide lines to components
    \foreach \X in {1,2,3}
    {\draw[vector guide] (origin) -- (x_\X);
    \path (origin) -- 
    (x_\X) node[circle,inner sep=1pt]{} node[pos=1+0.75/(\X*\X)]{$x_\X$};}
    % define differences of points on the plane
    \lincomb(d1)=1*(x_1)+(-1)*(x_2);
    \lincomb(d2)=1*(x_2)+(-1)*(x_3);
    % normal on plane
    \vecprod(nA)=(d1)x(d2);
    \edef\coordA{\RawCoord(nA)}
    \pgfmathsetmacro\myz{-1*zcomp3(\coordA)}
    \scalprod\myf=(nA).(x_1);
    \draw[axis] (0,0,{\myf/\myz}) -- (0,0,10) node[anchor=south]{$z$};
    % normal of screen 
    \path[overlay] ({sin(\tdplotmaintheta)*sin(\tdplotmainphi)},
       {-1*sin(\tdplotmaintheta)*cos(\tdplotmainphi)},
       {cos(\tdplotmaintheta)}) coordinate (n); 
    %
    \scalprod\myproj=(nA).(n);   
    \pgfmathtruncatemacro{\itest}{sign(\myproj)}
    \ifnum\itest=-1
     \begin{scope}[on background layer]
      \draw[thick] (0,0,0) -- (0,0,{\myf/\myz});
      \draw[fill=gray,fill opacity=0.8] (x_1) -- (x_2) -- (x_3)
       -- ($(x_3)+(x_1)-(x_2)$) -- cycle;
     \end{scope}
    \else
     \draw[thick] (0,0,0) -- (0,0,{\myf/\myz});
     \draw[fill=gray,fill opacity=0.8] (x_1) -- (x_2) -- (x_3)
       -- ($(x_3)+(x_1)-(x_2)$) -- cycle;
    \fi   
\end{tikzpicture}}
\end{document}

enter image description here

3
  • How does $\path$ work? There's a lot of syntax that seems to make the code more efficient, but not everything is intuitive
    – Evan Kim
    Sep 2, 2019 at 20:56
  • @EvanKim The syntax \coordinate (<name>) at (<coordinate>); and \path (<coordinate>) coordinate (<name>); are sometimes said to be equivalent, but in reality they are not (as of now). If you want to make use of the recent undocumented addition to TikZ that allows you to retrieve 3d coordinates (see e.g. here for an application), you will need the second syntax, which is why I was using it here.
    – user194703
    Sep 2, 2019 at 21:06
  • thank you for the information. I can't wait to make use of that somewhere
    – Evan Kim
    Sep 2, 2019 at 21:59

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