The University of Sydney

MATH1001 Differential Calculus

(http://www.maths.usyd.edu.au/u/UG/JM/MATH1001/)

Semester1, 2017 Lecturer: Altmann, Jenner, Rose, Rutkowski, Viera, Worthington, Wu.

Week 5 Exercises
Assumed knowledge
The basic rules for differentiation (sum, product, quotient and chain rules).

Objectives
(a) know that the partial derivatives of z = f (x, y) can be written in the following equivalent
forms:
f z f z
fx = fx (x, y) = = and fy = fy (x, y) = = ;
x x y y

(b) recognise that the partial derivatives fx (x, y) and fy (x, y) are themselves functions of the two
variables x and y;
(c) know that if y is given the constant value b then f (x, y) = f (x, b) becomes a function of x
only, and the partial derivative fx (a, b) is the same thing as the derivative with respect to x of
f (x, b) evaluated at x = a;

(c ) know (similarly) that if x is given the constant value a then the derivative with respect to y of
f (a, y) evaluated at y = b is the same thing as the partial derivative fy (a, b);
(d) know that the curve of intersection of the surface z = f (x, y) and the vertical plane y = b can
be interpreted as the graph of z = f (x, b), where the plane y = b is regarded as a Cartesian
plane with x and z coordinates, and the slope of the tangent line to this curve at the point
(a, b, f (a, b)) is the partial derivative fx (a, b);
(d ) know (similarly) that the curve of intersection of the surface z = f (x, y) and the vertical plane
x = a can be interpreted as the graph of z = f (a, y), where the plane x = a is regarded as a
Cartesian plane with y and z coordinates, and the slope of the tangent line to this curve at the
point (a, b, f (a, b)) is the partial derivative fy (a, b);
(e) be able to calculate the first-order partial derivatives of any function of two variables made up
of expressions composed of the basic functions ex , ln x, trigonometric functions, polynomials,
and powers x where need not be an integer;
(f) know that the equation of the tangent plane to the surface z = f (x, y) at (x, y) = (a, b) is
z f (a, b) = fx (a, b)(x a) + fy (a, b)(y b).

Preparatory questions to do before the tutorial

1. Find the derivatives of the following functions of one variable.
sin x
(i) f (x) = x (ii) g(y) = tan(y2 + cos y)
e
t 3 + 5t 2 1
(iii) h(w) = ln(w + sin(w3 + 4)) (iv) F(t) =
t2 + 1
p tan2 v
(v) G(u) = sin(u cos u) (vi) H(v) =
1 + cos v
2. Find the following partial derivatives:
f f
(i) f (x, y) = 2x + 3y ; fy (2, 4) (ii) f (x, y) = x3 y5 2x2 y + x; ,
x y
f y z z
(iii) f (x, y) = xey + 3y; (1, 0) (iv) z = x y ; ,
y x x y
  f f
1 u
(v) f (u, v) = tan ; ,
v u v
Exercises that are similar to tutorial exercises
3. Find the two first-order partial derivatives of the function f (u, v) where f (u, v) = cos u sin v.

4. Find the first-order partial derivatives fx (x, y) and fy (x, y) of the following functions:

(i) f (x, y) = x + y (ii) f (x, y) = sin xy

(iii) f (x, y) = x + y (iv) f (x, y) = sin x + x2 y3 + cos y + 1

5. Find the equation of the tangent plane to the given surface at the specified point.
(i) z = 5 + (x 1)2 + (y + 2)2 ; (2, 0, 10).
(ii) z = sin(x + y); (1, 1, 0).
(iii) z = ln(2x + y); (1, 3, 0).

Questions for further practice

f f
6. Is there a function f (x, y) such that = ex sin y and = ex cos y?
x y
m
7. The body mass index (BMI) for an individual is given by the function B(w, h) = 2 , where
h
m is the mass of the individual in kilograms and h is the individuals height in metres.
(i) What is the rate of change of the BMI if the mass of an individual changes while their
height remains the same? If h is fixed, is the BMI an increasing or decreasing function
of body mass m?
(ii) What is the rate of change of the BMI if an individual grows taller while their mass
remains the same? When an individuals mass is constant, is the BMI an increasing or
decreasing function of height?

8. Recall the informal definition of the limit of a function f (x) as x approaches the number c.
We say that limxc f (x) = if f (x) is as close as we like to for all x sufficiently close to c,
excluding c itself.
For each of the functions given by the formulas below, sketch the graph and decide whether or
not the function has a limit as x 1. [Note: Only an intuitive idea of the limit of a function
is required here. Limits and limit laws will be discussed in more detail later in the course.]
1 if x < 1, x if x < 1,
n n
(i) f (x) = (ii) f (x) =
x if x > 1. 2 x if x > 1.

2
x 1 if x < 1,
(iii) f (x) =
x 1 if x > 1.