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In analytic geometry, a line and a sphere can intersect in three ways: no intersection at all, at exactly one point, or in two points. Methods for distinguishing these cases, and determining equations for the points in the latter cases, are useful in a number of circumstances. For example, this is a common calculation to perform during ray tracing (Eberly 2006:698). == Calculation using vectors in 3D == In vector notation, the equations are as follows: Equation for a sphere : : * - center point : * - radius : * - points on the sphere Equation for a line starting at : : * - distance along line from starting point : * - direction of line (a unit vector) : * - origin of the line : * - points on the line Searching for points that are on the line and on the sphere means combining the equations and solving for : :Equations combined :: :Expanded :: :Rearranged :: :The form of a quadratic formula is now observable. (This quadratic equation is an example of Joachimsthal's Equation ().) :: :where : * : * : * :Simplified :: :Note that is a unit vector, and thus . Thus, we can simplify this further to :: *If the value under the square-root () is less than zero, then it is clear that no solutions exist, i.e. the line does not intersect the sphere (case 1). *If it is zero, then exactly one solution exists, i.e. the line just touches the sphere in one point (case 2). *If it is greater than zero, two solutions exist, and thus the line touches the sphere in two points (case 3). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Line–sphere intersection」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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