Instructors: Dr. J. C. Kalita,: X Xy X +y

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS, IIT - GUWAHATI
Odd Semester of the Academic Year 2019-2020

MA 101 Mathematics I
Problem Sheet 2: Partial derivatives, tangent and normals, gradient,
directional derivatives and chain rules etc.
Instructors: Dr. J. C. Kalita,
x2 −xy
(
if (x, y) 6= (0, 0)
1. Let f (x, y) = x+y
0 if (x, y) = (0, 0).
(a) Find fx (0, 0), fy (0, 0).

(b) Find lim fx (x, y), and check whether it is equal to fx (0, 0).
(x,y)→(0,0)
q
2. Let f (x, y) = x2 + y 2.
(a) Find fx (x, y) and fy (x, y) for (x, y) 6= (0, 0).

(b) Show that fx (0, 0) and fy (0, 0) does not exist.
3. Let
xy 3
(
x2 +y 6
if (x, y) 6= (0, 0)
f (x, y) =
0 if (x, y) = (0, 0).
(a) Calculate fx (x, y) and fy (x, y) at all points where (x, y) 6= (0, 0).
(b) Compute all first and second order partial derivatives at (0, 0) if they exist.
(c) Show that f is discontinuous at (0, 0).
q
4. Find the equation of the tangent plane to the surface z = 4 − x2 − 2y 2 at the point
(1, −1, 1).
5. It is geometrically evident that every plane tangent to the cone z 2 = x2 + y 2 pass

through the origin. Show this by the method of calculus.
6. Find the equations of the tangent plane and normal line to the given surface at the
specified point
(a) x2 + y 2 − z 2 − 2xy + 4xz = 4, (1, 0, 1).

(b) z + 1 = xey cos z, (1, 0, 0).
7. Suppose you need to know the equation of the tangent plane to a surface S at the
point P = (2, 1, 3). You don’t have an equation for S, but you know that the curves
D E
r1 (t) = 2 + 3t, 1 − t2 , 3 − 4t + t2
D E
r2 (t) = 1 + t2 , 2t3 − 1, 2t + 1
both lie on S. Find an equation of the tangent plane at P .
8. Show that the sum of the x-, y-, and z-intercepts of any√tangent plane
√ (√at any
√
point of the surface wherever it is defined) to the surface x + y + z = c is a
constant.
9. If z = f (x, y) = x2 + 3xy − y 2,
(a) write the expression for the differential dz at (x, y, z);

(b) if x changes from 2 to 2.05 and y changes from 3 to 2.96, compare the values
of ∆z and dz.
10. Find the directional derivative of the function at the given point in the direction of
the vector v.
q
(a) f (x, y, z) = x2 + y 2 + z 2 , (1, 2, −2) v = h−6, 6, −3i
y

(b) g(x, y, z) = x tan−1 , (1, 2, −2), v = i + j − k.
z
11. Find the directional derivatives of the scalar field f (x, y) = x3 − 3xy along the
parabola y = x2 − x + 2 at the point (1,2).
xq 2
12. Let f (x, y) = x + y 2 if x 6= 0 and f (x, y) = 0 if x = 0. Show that f is continu-
|x|
ous at (0, 0) and the directional derivatives exist thereat, but it is not differentiable
at (0, 0).
13. Show that the following functions are differentiable at the respective points men-
tioned below:
(a) Let ( x
if x + y 6= 0
f (x, y) = x+y
0 if x + y = 0.
Show that f is differentiable at (2, 1) but not differentiable at (0, 0).
√
(b) Show that f (x, y) = x + ey is differentiable at (3, 0), where x, y is such that
x + ey ≥ 0.
14. Show that the following function is differentiable throughout R2 and find the max-
imum rate of change of f (x, y) = 6 − 3x2 − y 2 at the point (1,2) and the direction
in which it occurs.
15. If R is the total resistance of three resistors, connected in parallel, with resistances
R1 , R2 , R3 , then
1 1 1 1
= + + .
R R1 R2 R3
The resistances are measured in ohms as R1 = 100Ω, R2 = 100Ω and R3 = 200Ω.
R1 and R2 are increasing at 1Ω/s whereas R3 is decreasing at 2Ω/s. Is R increasing
or decreasing at that instant? At what rate?
16. Assume that w = f (x, y), x = r cos θ and y = r sin θ. Assuming the existence of
all the required first and second order partial derivatives of w with respect to x, y, r
and θ, show that
∂2w ∂2w ∂ 2 w 1 ∂w 1 ∂2w
+ = + + 2 2.
∂x2 ∂y 2 ∂r 2 r ∂r r ∂θ
x2 − y 2
17. Suppose w = f (u) where u = . Assuming the existence of all the required
x2 + y 2
first order partial derivatives of w and u show that xwx + ywy = 0.
18. Implicit differentiation: If φ(x, y, z) = 0 defines z as an implicit function of x and

y in a region R of the xy-plane, assuming the existence of all the required partial
∂z φx ∂z φy ∂z
derivatives prove that =− and = − , where φz 6= 0. Hence find
∂x φz ∂y φz ∂x
∂z 2 2 2
and when x 3 + y 3 + z 3 = 1.
∂y
1 r
q
19. Suppose that w = f t − and that r = x2 + y 2 + z 2 . Assuming the existence
r a
of all the required second order partial derivatives, show that
∂2w ∂2w ∂2w 1 ∂2w

+ + = .
∂x2 ∂y 2 ∂z 2 a2 ∂t2
20. A function f is called homogeneous of degree n if it satisfies the equation

f (tx, ty) = tn f (x, y) for all t, where n is a positive integer and f has continuous
second order partial derivatives.
(a) Verify that f (x, y) = x3 − 2xy 2 + 5y 3 is homogeneous of degree 3.

(b) Show that if f is homogeneous of degree n, then
∂f ∂f
i. x +y = nf (x, y)
∂x ∂y
∂2f ∂2 ∂2f
ii. x2 2 + 2xy + y 2 2 = n(n − 1)f (x, y)
∂x ∂x∂y ∂y
iii. fx (tx, ty) = t fx (x, y).
n−1

Instructors: Dr. J. C. Kalita,: X Xy X +y

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Instructors: Dr. J. C. Kalita,: X Xy X +y

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Instructors: Dr. J. C. Kalita,: X Xy X +y

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS, IIT - GUWAHATI

Odd Semester of the Academic Year 2019-2020

(a) Find fx (0, 0), fy (0, 0).

(a) Find fx (x, y) and fy (x, y) for (x, y) 6= (0, 0).

5. It is geometrically evident that every plane tangent to the cone z 2 = x2 + y 2 pass

(a) x2 + y 2 − z 2 − 2xy + 4xz = 4, (1, 0, 1).

(a) write the expression for the differential dz at (x, y, z);

18. Implicit differentiation: If φ(x, y, z) = 0 defines z as an implicit function of x and

∂2w ∂2w ∂2w 1 ∂2w

20. A function f is called homogeneous of degree n if it satisfies the equation

(a) Verify that f (x, y) = x3 − 2xy 2 + 5y 3 is homogeneous of degree 3.

You might also like