Intersection of line and a surface of revolution - a problem with
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg102577] Intersection of line and a surface of revolution - a problem with
- From: Bob F <deepyogurt at gmail.com>
- Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 05:33:16 -0400 (EDT)
Can someone explain why there is such a difference in the observed intersection points of a line and a surface of resolution and the calculated intersections? Here is some code that should illustrate the issue (especially the second plot). Clear[sr3, l, nsol3, sol3, ip3, ip4, nip3, nip4, x, y, z, t]; sr3 = RevolutionPlot3D[1/2 - x^2 + x^4/2, {x, 0.05, 2.4}, PlotStyle -> Opacity[0.4], Axes -> True, AxesLabel -> {"x", "y", "z"}, Mesh -> False, BoxRatios -> {1, 1, 1}, PlotRange -> {{-4., 4.}, {-4., 4.}, {0., 8.0}}, AspectRatio -> 1]; l = ParametricPlot3D[{t, -t, 4*t - 1}, {t, -3, 3}, PlotStyle -> {Thickness[0.01], Red}]; nsol3 = NSolve[{z == 1/2 - x^2 + x^4/2, x == t, y == -t, z == 4*t - 1}, {x, y, z, t}] sol3 = Solve[{z == 1/2 - x^2 + x^4/2, x == t, y == -t, z == 4*t - 1}, {x, y, z, t}] ip3 = Show[ Graphics3D[{{AbsolutePointSize[10], Point[{x, y, z} /. sol3[[3]]]}}]]; nip3 = Show[ Graphics3D[{{AbsolutePointSize[10], Point[{x, y, z} /. nsol3[[3]]]}}]]; ip4 = Show[ Graphics3D[{{AbsolutePointSize[10], Point[{x, y, z} /. sol3[[4]]]}}]]; nip4 = Show[ Graphics3D[{{AbsolutePointSize[10], Point[{x, y, z} /. nsol3[[4]]]}}]]; Show[sr3, l, ip3, ip4, ViewPoint -> {1.333, 1.765, 0.3479}] Show[sr3, l, nip3, nip4, ViewPoint -> {1.333, 1.765, 0.3479}] Both "Show[]" commands have both intersection points as large black points - one of them isn't even close to being on the surface, and the other is closer but still obviously not on the surface itself (you might need to zoom in (use the Option key on the Mac version of Mathematica) and/or rotate the surface around to get a better look at how close the point isn't to the surface. The difference between the two surfaces is the first shows the exact solutions from Solve[] and the second shows the numerical solutions from NSolve[]. Thanks for any help or suggestion as to what might be the cause of the difference. -Bob