The Three-Point Problem in the Context of Elementary Vector Analysis
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1989
Keywords
Computer assisted instruction, engineering and environmental geology, geology teaching, hydrogeology and hydrology, problems - geomathematical, structural geology
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.5408/0022-1368-37.4.280
Abstract
The classic three-point problem involves finding the attitude of an inclined plane from the elevation of the plane at three points. Development of an analytical solution for this problem from elementary vector analysis can be used as a teaching tool to clarify the fundamental relationships between (a) the mathematical concepts of gradient and partial and directional derivatives, and (b) the geologic concepts of strike and true and apparent dips. This approach to the three-point problem is helpful to hydrogeology students because it clarifies several mathematical concepts that are crucial to understanding and applying Darcy's Law. The analytical solution is also useful in lab exercises on groundwater flow because many cases can be calculated in a short time with a microcomputer. This allows the students to examine the effects of specific variables on the calculated magnitude and direction of ground-water flow; particularly instructive is a set of problems in which the three-point data are the same but the amount and direction of anisotropy are variable.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Journal of Geological Education, v. 37, issue 4, p. 280-287
Scholar Commons Citation
Vacher, H. L., "The Three-Point Problem in the Context of Elementary Vector Analysis" (1989). School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications. 1861.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/geo_facpub/1861
