MATHS 340

Revision questions
Easy
1. If v = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] and u = [1.5, , exp(1), 0, 2], what is v u?
2. If v = [1, 2]
T
and w = [0, 1, 2]
T
, what is v
T
w?
3. If a = [1, 2, 2, 4], what is a?
4. If a = [1, 2] and b = [1, 2] what is the angle between a and b?
5. Do the three vectors a = [1, 0, 0]
T
, b = [0, 1, 0]
T
and c = [1, 1, 0]
T
form a basis for R
3
? You can answer
this question by inspection.
6. Let a = [1, 0, 0]
T
, b = [1, 1, 0]
T
and c = [0, 0, 1]
T
. Write d = [3, 4, 3]
T
in terms of a, b and c. You can
answer this question by inspection.
7. Are a = [1, 2, 3] and b = [1, 0, 4] orthogonal? You can do the calculations in your head.
8. (Exercise 3(a), page 624). Show that f = ln(x
2
+y
2
) satises the partial dierential equation f
xx
+f
yy
=
0 except possibly at (0, 0).
9. Find the equation of the straight line through the points (1, 2) and (3, 3).
Medium
1. Find the equation of the plane through the points (1, 0, 0), (0, 2, 0) and (0, 0, 3).
2. Sketch the plane x + y + z = 2;
3. Use the double angle formula to evaluate the following
_
cos
4
x dx
4. Use substitution to evaluate the following
_
sin
5
d
5. Use integration by parts to evaluate the following
_
ln x dx
Dicult
1. Sketch the region bounded by the planes z = 0, x = 1, y = 1 and the plane that contains the line
y = 1 x and the point (1, 1, 1);
2. Evaluate
_
_
exp(2t) 9 dt
1
Revision answers
Easy
1. If v = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] and u = [1.5, , exp(1), 0, 2], what is v u?
Answer:
v u = 1 1.5 + 2 + 3 exp(1) + 4 0 + 5 2 = 11.5 + 2 + 3 exp(1)
2. If v = [1, 2]
T
and w = [0, 1, 2]
T
, what is v
T
w?
Answer: The dot product is not dened since v and w have a dierent number of components.
3. If a = [1, 2, 2, 4], what is a?
Answer:
a =
_
1
2
+ 2
2
+ 2
2
+ 4
2
= 5
4. If a = [1, 2] and b = [1, 2] what is the angle between a and b?
Answer: Let be the angle between a and b. Then
cos() =
a b
ab
=
1(1) + 2(2)

1
2
+ 2
2
_
(1)
2
+ (2)
2
=
5

5
Hence = cos
1
(1) = .
5. Do the three vectors a = [1, 0, 0]
T
, b = [0, 1, 0]
T
and c = [1, 1, 0]
T
form a basis for R
3
? You can answer
this question by inspection.
Answer: No. The three vectors are not linearly independent since c = a + b. Equivalently, the third
component of all three vectors a, b and c is zero which means an arbitrary vector with a non-zero third
component could not be written as a linear combination of a, b and c.
6. Let a = [1, 0, 0]
T
, b = [1, 1, 0]
T
and c = [0, 0, 1]
T
. Write d = [3, 4, 3]
T
in terms of a, b and c. You can
answer this question by inspection.
Answer: (The long way) We want to nd , and such that
d = a + b + c
Now substitute for d, a, b and c. Get
_
_
3
4
3
_
_
=
_
_
1
0
0
_
_
+
_
_
1
1
0
_
_
+
_
_
0
0
1
_
_
2
This can be written as the following system of three linear equations for , and
3 = +
4 =
3 =
You can solve this system of equations anyway you want to. Should get = 3, = 4 and = 1.
This means
d = a + 4b 3c
7. Are a = [1, 2, 3] and b = [1, 0, 4] orthogonal?
Answer: Very simple - just check if a b is zero. We have
a b = 1(1) + 2(0) + 3(4) = 13
Hence a and b are not orthogonal.
8. (Exercise 3(a), page 624). Show that f = ln(x
2
+y
2
) satises the partial dierential equation f
xx
+f
yy
=
0 except possibly at (0, 0).
Answer: By inspection f
x
= 2x(x
2
+y
2
)
1
. Now use the product rule to get f
xx
. We get f
xx
= 2(x
2
+
y
2
)
1
4x
2
(x
2
+y
2
)
2
. Because f is symmetric in x and y, we have f
yy
= 2(x
2
+y
2
)
1
4y
2
(x
2
+y
2
)
2
.
Hence
f
xx
+ f
yy
= 4(x
2
+ y
2
)
1
4(x
2
+ y
2
)(x
2
+ y
2
)
2
= 0
The function is not dened for (0, 0).
9. Find the equation of the straight line through the points (1, 2) and (3, 3).
Answer: You can use the standard formula or you can use the following approach. The equation will
be of the form
y = c + mx
By inspection, m = 5/2. Hence the equation is of the form
y = c
5
2
x
To nd c, use the fact that y = 2 when x = 1. This means
2 = c
5
2
1
and hence c = 9/2. Thus the equation is
y =
9
2

5
2
x
Medium
3
1. Find the equation of the plane through the points (1, 0, 0), (0, 2, 0) and (0, 0, 3).
Answer: The equation of a plane has the form
d = ax + by + cz
Now substitute in the three points. For (1, 0, 0), we get
d = a
For (0, 2, 0), we get
d = 2b
and for (0, 0, 3), we get
d = 3c
Hence the equation has the form
d = dx
d
2
y +
d
3
z
Since the plane does not go through the origin, we can divide both sides of the above equation by d.
Get
1 = x
y
2
+
z
3
z
Can re-arrange this as
6 = 6x 3y + 2z
2. Sketch the plane x + y + z = 2;
Answer: One way to sketch the plane is to nd any three non-collinear points in the plane, plot them
on a set of x y z axis, and then draw a plane through these points. If x = y = 0, z = 2. If
x = z = 0, y = 2. If y = z = 0, x = 2. Now straightforward to sketch the plane.
3. Use the double angle formula to evaluate the following
_
cos
4
x dx
Answer: We have cos 2x = 2 cos
2
x 1. Hence cos
2
x = (1 + cos 2x)/2 and
_
cos
4
x dx =
1
4
_
(1 + cos 2x)
2
dx
=
1
4
_
(1 + 2 cos 2x + cos
2
2x) dx
Now use the double angle formula again: cos 4x = 2 cos
2
2x 1. Substitute the expression for cos
2
2x
into the above integral, then integrate. Get, after a few lines of manipulation
_
cos
4
x dx =
3x
8
+
1
4
sin 2x +
1
32
sin 4x
4
4. Use substitution to evaluate the following
_
sin
5
d
Answer: Let x = cos Then dx = sin d and we have
_
sin
5
d =
_
(1 cos
2
)
2
sin d
=
_
(1 x
2
)
2
dx
=
_
(1 2x
2
+ x
4
) dx
.
.
.
.
.
.
=
1
5
sin
4
xcos x
4
15
sin
2
xcos x
8
15
cos x
5. Use integration by parts to evaluate the following
_
ln x dx
Answer: We have
_
ln x dx = xln x
_
x
1
x
dx
= xln x x
Dicult
1. Sketch the region bounded by the planes z = 0, x = 1, y = 1 and the plane that contains the line
y = 1 x and the point (1, 1, 1);
Answer: Done in class. If you did not come to class, you can come and see me. Here is a sketch of
the region without the labels (to avoid cluttering the diagram).
5
2. Evaluate
_
_
exp(2t) 9 dt
Answer: Start with the substitution u =
_
exp(2t) 9. Get the answer
_
e
2 t
9 3 arctan
_
1/3
_
e
2 t
9
_
6
Taylors formula: one and two variables
One variable
If you know about about Taylor polynomials and Taylors formula for functions of one variable, you can
skip the material in this section.
You should know from previous courses that given a dierentiable function f and a
f(x) f(a) + (x a)f

(a) (1)
This is a linear approximation to f(x) about x = a.
As an example, suppose f(x) = sin(x) and a = 0. By inspection, we have f

(x) = cos(x) and the linear

approximation (1) to sin(x) about x = 0 is
sin(0) + (x 0) cos(0)
This simplies to
x
i.e. sin(x) x.
Since a in (1) is known, the linear approximation is a linear polynomial in x. We can generalise to a
polynomial of degree n 1. The formula for this is
f(x) f(a) + (x a)f

(a) +
(x a)
2
2!
f

(a) + +
(x a)
(n1)
(n 1)!
f
(n1)
(a) (2)
We denote this approximation by P
n1
(x) and refer to it as the Taylor polynomial of degree n 1.
Example: Find the Taylor polynomial of degree two for sin(x) about x =

2
.
Answer: Let f(x) = sin(x). We have f

(x) = cos(x) and f

= sin(x). Hence the required Taylor

polynomial is
sin(

2
) + (x

2
) cos(

2
) +
(x

2
)
2!
(sin(

2
))
This simplies to
1
(x

2
)
2
2
Exercises: Try exercises 1(a) and 1(d) on page 640.
The remainder term R
n
(x) often gives students bother. R
n
(x) is dened as the dierence between f(x)
and P
n1
(x) (the Taylor polynomial of degree n 1) i.e.
R
n
(x) = f(x) P
n1
(x)
Re-arranging gives
f(x) = P
n1
(x) + R
n
(x)
The above formula is called Taylors formula. Can show that
R
n
(x) =
f
(n)
()
n!
(x a)
n
7
where [a, x]. The value of is usually unknown.
Example: Approximate sin(x) over 0 x by a third degree Taylor polynomial expanded about x =

2
,
and obtain a bound on the error.
Answer: Let f(x) = sin(x). We have f

= cos(x), f

= sin(x) and f
(3)
= cos(x). Hence the required
Taylor polynomial is
sin(

2
) + (x

2
) cos(

2
)
(x

2
)
2
2
sin(

2
)
(x

2
)
3
3!
cos(

2
)
This simplies to
1
(x

2
)
2
2!
So, the third degree Taylor polynomial is the same as the second degree Taylor polynomial for this function
and choice of a.
The remainder is
R
4
(x) =
f
(4)
()
4!
(x

2
)
4
where = [0, ].
Now substitute for f
(4)
into R
n
(x). Get
R
4
(x) =
sin()
4!
(x

2
)
4
The largest possible value of | sin()| is 1. Hence an upper bound on R
n
(x) as a function of x is
(x

2
)
4
4!
,
and an upper bound for x [0, ] is
(

2
)
4
4!
which is the same as
(0

2
)
4
4!
The numerical value of the upper bound is 0.25 . . .. This value is large which suggests that the Taylor
polynomial is not a very accurate approximation. However, it could be that the upper bound is unduly
pessimistic. How would you decide if it was? Also, how would you get a more accurate Taylor approximation
to sin(x) for 0 x

2
?
Exercise: I suggest you work through Example 1 on page 632.
Two variables
Let (fx, y) be a function that is suciently dierentiable. The Taylor Series expansion of f(x, y) about
the point (a, b) can be written as
f(a, b)+
1
1!
[f
x
(a, b)(x a) + f
y
(a, b)(y b)]
1
2!
_
f
xx
(a, b)(x a)
2
+ 2f
xy
(a, b)(x a)(y b) + f
yy
(a, b)(y b)
2

+
(3)
8
Note: The formula (3) assumes f
xy
= f
yx
which is true since f(x, y) is suciently dierentiable.
MES: Extend the formula (3) by writing down the cubic terms (the terms that involve f
xxx
, f
xxy
etc).
Example: Let f(x, y, z) be a function that is suciently dierentiable. What is the linear Taylor formula
for f about the point (a, b, c).
Answer: The formula is a simple extension of the formula for two variables. Get
f(a, b, c) + f
x
(a, b, c)(x a) + f
y
(a, b, c)(y b) + f
z
(a, b, c)(z c) (4)
HES: Extend the formula for the example we have just done up to and including the cubic terms.
Example: Let S be a surface dened by the equation f(x, y, z) = 0 (this is more general than z = f(x, y)
- why?). The tangent plane to S at (a, b, c) is dened by the linear Taylor formula of f about (a, b, c) i.e.
0 = f(a, b, c) + f
x
(a, b, c)(x a) + f
y
(a, b, c)(y b) + f
z
(a, b, c)(z c) (5)
What is the tangent plane at (1, 3, 2) for 3x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
= 16?
Answer: We have f(x, y, z) = 3x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
16. By inspection f
x
= 6x, f
y
= 2y and f
z
= 2z. Hence
f
x
(1, 3, 2) = 6, f
y
(1, 3, 2) = 6 and f
z
(1, 3, 2) = 4. Since f(1, 3, 2) = 0, the equation for the tangent
plane is
6(x 1) + 6(y 3) 4(z + 2) (6)
EES: Exercise 9a on page 641.
An important theorem for functions of n variables is the Mean Value Theorem (MVT). When n = 2,
the MVT can be stated as (see page 638).
Theorem
Let f(x, y) and its rst-order partial derivatives be continuous in an open region R and let (a, b) and
(x, y) be points in R such that the straight line joining these points lies entirely within R. Then there exists
a point (, ) on that line between the endpoints such that
f(x, y) = f(a, b) + f
x
(, )(x a) + f
y
(, )(y b) (7)
Notes
1. The point (, ) is usually unknown.
2. The theorem is used extensively in proofs.
9
Vector products
Cross product
Let u and v be two n-vectors where n = 3 in this course. Their cross-product, denoted by u v, is
dened as
u v =
_
uv sin() e if u, v = 0, = 0 and =
0 if u = 0, v = 0, = 0, or =
(8)
where e is a unit vector normal to the plane of u and v, directed in such a way that u, v, e form a right-handed
system.
MES: Why is the cross-product not dened just as uv sin() e?
HES: Read about and use the seven dimensional cross product.
Example: Consider the parallelogram dened by the vectors u and v
v
u
Show that u v is equal to the area of the parallelogram.
Answer: The height of the parallelogram is v sin() where is the angle between u and v. The area of
the parallelogram is then |uv sin()| which is u v.
Example: (Ex. 6, p 691) Let R
0
be a given point in R
3
and let v be a given non-zero vector. The locus of
points R for a straight line L through R
0
parallel to v is
R = R
0
+ tv (9)
where t is a real scalar. Show that the locus of points is also dened by
(R R
0
) v = 0 (10)
Then nd the equation of the line that goes through (2, 5, 1) and is parallel to the vector 4i k where i
and k are the usual unit vectors.
Answer:
First part: If R = R
0
+ tv, R R
0
= tv. Hence (R R
0
) v = tv v = 0 as required.
Second part: Let a point on the line be (x, y, z). Then
(x, y, z) = (2, 5, 1) + t(4, 0, 1). (11)
Hence the line is dened by the parametric equations x = 2 + 4t, y = 5 and z = 1 t.
10
In three-dimensional Cartesian coordinates the cross-product u v of u = [u
1
, u
2
, u
3
] and v = [v
1
, v
2
, v
3
]
is dened as
(u
2
v
3
u
3
v
2
)i (u
1
v
3
u
3
v
1
)j + (u
1
v
2
u
2
v
1
)k (12)
This can be expressed as the third-order determinant

i j k
u
1
u
2
u
3
v
1
v
2
v
3

(13)
if we ignore the fact that i, j and k are vectors.
Example: What is [1, 2, 3] [1, 3, 0].
Answer: The cross product is

i j k
1 2 3
1 3 0

(14)
which is [9, 3, 5]
T
.
Scalar triple product
Let u, v and w be three n-vectors where n = 3. The scalar triple product of the three vectors is dened
as
u (v w) (15)
Example: Is the triple product a scalar or vector?
Answer: There are two ways we might consider calculating the triple product
1. First calculate a = u v, then try a w.
2. First calculate a = v w, then try u a.
The rst way will not work because a will be a scalar, and hence a w will not be dened. The second way
will work because a is a vector and hence u a will be dened. Hence the scalar triple product is a scalar.
Example: What is a geometrical interpretation of |u v w|?
Answer: It is the volume of the parallelepiped dened by the vectors u, v and w. For those of you who did
not attend class, you can read about this geometrical interpretation on page 693. In class, I used a diagram
11
and visual aids to explain the interpretation.
Example: Find [1, 2, 3] [1, 2, 3] [0, 4, 5].
Answer: All we have to do is evaluate the determinant

1 2 3
1 2 3
0 4 5

(16)
This is 1(2) 2(5) + 3(4) = 4
Exercise: Use a determinant to show that u v w = uv w. This is an EES if you look in the textbook,
and an MES if you do the exercise by yourself.
The three things you should remember about the scalar triple product are a) its geometrical interpreta-
tion, b) how to calculate it, and c) the property in the above exercise.
12
Dierentiation of a vector
Let u be a vector whoses components depend on . For example, u might be
[, cos(), exp()]
T
(17)
The derivative of u with respect to is denoted by du/d or u

and dened as
du
d
= lim
0
u( + ) u()

(18)
Example: What is the derivative of u = [
2
, (1 + )
2
, cos()]
T
?
Answer: The denition of the derivative implies we dierentiate each component of u with respect to .
Hence
u

= [2, 2(1 + ), sin()]

T
(19)
Example: What is the derivative of f()u() where f is a scalar, u is an n-vector?
Answer: Begin with the denition and then manipulate
d(fu)
d
= lim
0
f( + )u( + ) f()u()

= lim
0
f( + )[u() + (u( + ) u())] f()u()

= lim
0
(f( + ) f())u() + f( + )(u( + ) u())

= lim
0
f( + ) f()

u() + lim
0
f( + )
u( + ) u()

= f

()u() + f()u

()
The table below lists similar results to that above. In the table f, u, v and w are functions of , and
and are constant scalars.
Function Derivative
u + v u

+ v

u v u

v + u v

u v u

v + u v

u v w u

v w + u v

w + u v w

u(f())
du
df
f

()
Example: Let u = [, 2, 3]
T
, v = [cos(2), 0,
3
]
T
, w = [exp(), (1 + )
1
, ]
T
. What is (u v w)

?
Answer: At least two possible ways to answer the equation. One is to use the result that
(u v w)

= u

v w + u v

w + u v w

(20)
By inspection, we have u

= [1, 2, 0]
T
, v

= [2 sin(2), 0, 3
2
]
T
and w

= [exp(), (1 + )
2
, 1]
T
. The
derivative (u v w)

is then

1 2 0
cos(2) 0
3
exp() (1 + )
1

2 3
2 sin(2) 0 3
2
exp() (1 + )
1

2 3
cos(2) 0
3
exp() (1 + )
2
1

(21)
13
The determinants are
3
(1+)
1
+2
3
exp() 2 cos(2), 3
3
(1+)
1
+2(3
2
exp() +2 sin(2))
6 sin(2)(1+)
1
and
4
(1+)
2
+2(
3
exp() cos(2)) 3 cos(2)(1+)
2
and the required derivative
is the sum of these three determinants.
Example: (8(a), p 699). Derive the formula
u

=
u u

u
(22)
Answer: By denition
u = (u u)
1/2
(23)
The derivative of the right hand side is
1
2
(u

u + u u

)(u u)
1/2
(24)
This simplies to
(u u

)(u u)
1/2
(25)
which can be written as
u u

u
(26)
and hence
u

=
u u

u
(27)
Example: (8(b), p 699). If u is a non-zero constant, show that either u

is perpendicular to u or is zero.
Answer: If u

= 0, then from the previous example u u

= 0. There are three possibilities to consider

a) u = 0 - this is ruled out because u is non-zero and the only way a vector norm can be zero is if the
vector is the zero vector;
b) u

= 0 - this is acceptable;
c) u

and u are perpendicular - this is acceptable.

14
Non-cartesian coordinates
Introduction
Let r(t) be the position of a particle in R
3
where the position depends on time t. The particles position
in Cartesian coordinates can be written as
r(t) = x(t)i + y(t)j + z(t)k
where i, j and k are the usual unit vectors.
The velocity v(t) of the particle is dened as r

(t). Since i, j and k are independent of time, we have

r

(t) = x

(t)i + y

(t)j + z

(t)k
In a similar way, the acceleration a(t) of the particle is dened as v

(t). This is
r

(t) = x

(t)i + y

(t)j + z

(t)k
Dierentiating with respect to t is simple because the unit vectors i, j and k do not depend on t, Hence,
it might seem a good idea to use Cartesian coordinates all of the time. However, using other coordinate
systems such as spherical coordinates can lead to simpler expressions and give more unsight. The main
complication with these other coordinate systems is that the unit vectors depend on time.
Plane polar coordinates
Plane polar coordinates are illustrated in the gure below. R is the position vector of a point and is
the angle between R and the x-axis. I have used R instead of r for the position to avoid confusion with the
distance r. The coordinates of the point are given as (r, ).
x
y
R
r
For this coordinate system, we introduce the two unit vectors e
r
and e

:
e
r
- parallel to R;
e

- perpendicular to e
r
, pointing in an anti-clockwise direction.
Notes
1. The denition of e
r
implies R = re
r
.
15
2. As changes, e
r
and e

will change. Hence e

r
and e

are both functions of i.e. e

r
= e
r
() and
e

= e

().
Velocity and acceleration
By denition, the velocity v of the particle is R

. Since R = re
r
, we have
v(t) = r

e
r
+ re

r
The big question is - what is e

r
? Try the chain rule, remember that e
r
is a function of and will be a
function of t (time). We have
e

r

d
dt
e
r
((t))
=
de
r
d
d
dt
=

de
r
d
We have made progress but now we need to work out what de
r
/d is. We can do this as follows (the
derivation below is dierent from that in the textbook).
We have that e
r
= cos()i + sin()j (you can see this from the previous gure). Hence de
r
/d =
sin()i + cos()j.
EES: Show that sin()i + cos()j = e

.
Hence de
r
/d = e

. This means
v(t) = r

e
r
+ r

Example: Suppose the plane polar coordinates of a particle are (t

2
, t) i.e. r = t
2
and = t. What is the
velocity of the particle?
Ans: Just a matter of plugging into the above formula. Get, since r

= 2t, r = t
2
and

= 1, that
v(t) = 2te
r
+ t
2
e

MES: Show that in plane polar coordinates, the acceleration is given by

a(t) = (r

r(

)
2
)e
r
+ (r

+ 2r

)e

The term r(

)
2
e
r
is called the centripetal acceleration and the term 2r

the Coriolis acceleration.

Example: If a particle moves in a circle with constant angular velocity, what can you say about the
particles velocity and acceleration?
Answer: If the particle is moving in a circle r

= r

= 0. If the angular velocity is constant

= 0.
Hence v(t) = r

and a(t) = r(

)
2
e
r
. Furthermore, v(t) is perpendicular to R(t) (show this) and a(t) is
anti-parallel to R(t) (show this).
Cylindrical coordinates
The cylindrical coordinates are r, and z, where r and are as for plane polar coordinates and z, not
surprisingly, is in the z-direcion. The unit vectors are e
r
, e

and e
z
, where e
r
and e

are as for plane polar

coordinates and e
z
is a unit vector in the (positive) z-direction.
16
I gave a diagram in lectures to illustrate cylindrical coordinates. There is a similar diagram in the
textbook.
Notes:
1. The unit vector e
r
is not parallel to R. Instead it is a unit vector in the x y plane.
2. r is not R. It is the norm of the projection of R on to the x y plane.
3. is not the angle R makes with the x-axis. Instead, is the angle, the projection of R makes relative
to the x-axis. This means is measured in the x y plane.
You should see now that R is not Re
r
. Instead
R = re
r
+ ze
z
This is the same expression as for plane polar coordinates except for the addition of the term ze
z
.
Example: A particles position in Cartesian coordinates is [2 cos(2t), 2 sin(2t), t]. What is its position in
cylindrical coordinates?
Answer: (You might like to draw a diagram) We have x = 2 cos(2t), y = 2 sin(2t) and z = t. Hence r
which is just
_
x
2
+ y
2
is
_
4 cos
2
(2t) + 4 sin
2
(2t) = 2. Now what about ? We have
tan =
y
x
=
sin(2t)
cos(2t)
= tan(2t)
Hence = 2t and the particles position in cylindrical coordinates is [2, 2t, t].
Example: What is the velocity and acceleration in cylindrical coordinates?
Answer: Since R = re
r
+ ze
z
where e
r
(and e

) are the same as for plane polar coordinates, we have (e

z
is a constant, why?)
v(t) = r

e
r
+ r

+ z

e
z
a(t) = (r

r(

)
2
)e
r
+ (r

+ 2r

)e

+ z

e
z
Example: A particle is moving in a helix and its position in Cartesian coordinates is [sin(3t), cos(3t), 2t].
What is its velocity in cylindrical coordinates?
Answer: We rst need to work out the position R in cylindrical coordinates. We have r =
_
sin
2
(3t) + cos
2
(3t) =
1 and z = 2t. Need to nd . You can do so in a similar way to the previous example, remembering that
tan(/2 ) = cot(). Get = /2 3t. Hence R in cylindrical coordinates is
R = e
r
2te
z
Now need to dierentiate this. Use the expression v(t) = r

e
r
+ r

+ z

e
z
. We have r

= 0,

= 3 and
z

= 2. Hence the velocity in cylindrical coordinates is v(t) = 1(3)e

2e
z
.
EES Find the acceleration for the previous example.
Spherical coordinates
The spherical coordinates are , and where
17
= R
is the angle between R and the z-axis.
is the angle between the x-axis and the projection of R on to the x y plane
The unit vectors are denoted by e

, e

and e

. As with plane polar and cylindrical coordinates, the unit

vectors point in the direction of increasing coordinate i.e. e

points in the direction of increasing , e

points
in the direction of increasing and e

points in the direction of increasing . See the diagram on page 705

of your textbook. I drew a diagram in class.
Example: As R changes, the unit vectors clearly change. Which of , and do e

, e

and e

depend on?
Answer:
If you change none of the unit vectors will change.
If changes, the direction of e

and e

changes.
If changes, the direction of e

, e

and e

all change. Hence all three unit vectors depend on .

In summary, e

= e

(, ), e

= e

(, ), e

= e

().
The table below gives the partial derivatives of the unit vectors with respect to , and . You might
like to think about how you would work out the partial derivatives.
e

= 0
e

= e

= sin()e

= 0
e

= e

= cos()e

= 0
e

= 0
e

= sin()e

cos()e

Example: Let R = [x, y, z] in Cartesian coordinates. Write x, y and z in terms of , and coordinates.
Answer: Clearly z = cos(). The norm of the projection of R onto the x y plane is sin(). Hence
x = sin() cos() and y = sin() sin().
Example: Let R = [1, 2, 3]. Write R in spherical coordinates.
Answer: We have =

1
2
+ 2
2
+ 3
2
=

14. Since the projection of R on to the x y plane lies in the

rst quadrant, = cos
1
(1/

5). To nish o, = cos

1
(3/

14).
Example: What is the velocity of R in spherical coordinates?
Answer: Since R = e

, we have v(t) =

+ e

. Need to work out e

. Use the chain rule.

e

=
e

d
dt
+
e

d
dt
=

sin()e

Hence
v(t) =

sin()e

18
EES-MES: Show the acceleration in spherical coordinates is
a(t) = (

)
2
(

)
2
sin
2
())e

+ (

+ 2

)
2
sin() cos())e

+
(

sin() + 2

sin() + 2

cos())e

19
Types of integrals
Name Notation Comments
Denite integral
_
b
a
f(x) dx
Double integral
__
R
f(x, y) dA R is in the xy plane; solve using it-
erated integrals. Can be used to cal-
culate volumes.
Triple integral
___
R
f(x, y, z) dV R is in the xyz 3-space; solve using
iterated integrals. Can be used to
calculate volumes.
Line integral
_
b
a
_
1 + (y

)
2
dx Like a denite integral. Many of you
would have seen this type of integral
in previous courses. The integral is
special case of the next type.
Line integral
_
u
u
0
f(u)
_
R

(u) R

(u) du Like a denite integral.

Surface integral
__
S
f(x(u, v), y(u, v), z(u, v)) dA Use iterated integrals in the uv
plane. A generalisation of double in-
tegrals.
Volume integral
___
V
f(x(u, v, w), y(u, v, w), z(u, v, w)) dV Use iterated integrals in the uvw 3-
space. A generalisation of triple in-
tegrals.
Curves and line integrals
Curves
Denition: Let
x = x(), y = y(), z = z() (28)
be continuous functions of a real parameter where a b. The points P() = [x(), y(), z()] for
a b form a curve joining P(a) and P(b). Call (28) a parameterisation of the curve.
Types of curves include
closed curve: P(b) = P(a)
simple curve: does not intersect itself.
Arc length
Consider the curve in the diagram below
B
A
P
Let R
A
() and R
B
( + ) be the position vector of the points A and B respectively. The length s of the
curve, also called the arc length, from A to B is approximately
R
B
R
A
R
=

R R
=
_
R

Now take the limit as 0 (this means R
B
moves towards R
A
). We have
ds =

d
This is called the dierential form for the arc length. This form leads to the Riemann Integral
s() =
_

0
_
R

() R

() d
This is the arc length from
0
to .
Example: A particle moves in a circular helix. Its position at time t is R = [3 sin(2t), 3 cos(2t), 4t]. What
distance d does the particle move along the helix from t = 0 to t = 3?
Answer: Straightforward. We have R

= [6 cos(2t), 6 sin(2t), 4]. Hence

d =
_
3
0
_
[6 cos(2t), 6 sin(2t), 4] [6 cos(2t), 6 sin(2t), 4] dt
=
_
3
0
_
36 cos
2
(2t) + 36 sin
2
(2t) + 16 dt
=
_
3
0

52 dt
Hence d =

52(3 0) = 3

52.
Example: Find the arc length s from 0 to for the curve dened by x = 1, y = and z =
2
.
Answer: The arc length s is
s =
_

0
_
[0, 1, 2t] [0, 1, 2t] dt
=
_

0
_
1 + 4t
2
dt
Could try the substitution = tan()/2. Alternatively, you could use the matlab commands
syms x tau real; int(sqrt(1+4*x^2),x,0,tau);
Get the answer

_
(1 + 4
2
)
2
+
1
4
sinh
1
(2)
Example: Repeat the previous example with the z =
2
replaced by z =
5
.
Answer: We have
s =
_

0
_
[0, 1, 5t
4
] [0, 1, 5t
4
] dt
=
_

0
_
1 + 25t
8
dt
Hmmmm, this integral is dicult. I used the matlab command
syms x tau real; int(sqrt(1+25*x^8),x,0,tau);
and got an answer involving the generalised hypergeometric function. You do not need to know about such
functions for this course.
MES: Read the Wikipedia entry about hypergeometric series and functions.
Line integrals
Let C be a curve parameterised with respect to . This means x = x(), y = y() and z = z(). The
line integral of f(x, y, z) along C from =
0
to =
1
is dened as
_

1

0
f(x(), y(), z())
_
R

() R

() d
Example: (essentially Example 5, p 719). Find the line integral when f = (c/b)z, x = a cos(), y = a sin(),
z = b,
0
= 0 and
1
= 2N.
Answer: We have f = (c/b)b = c. We also have R() = [a cos(), a sin(), b]. This means R

() =
[a sin(), a cos(), b] and
_
R

() R

() =
_
b
2
+ a
2
Hence the line integral is
_
2N
0
c
_
a
2
+ b
2
d = c
_
a
2
+ b
2
(2N)
2
2
Example: Repeat the previous example with f = c replaced by f = c sin().
Answer: The curve is the same, all that has changed is f. Hence by inspection the line integral is
_
2N
0
c sin()
_
a
2
+ b
2
d = c
_
a
2
+ b
2
(cos())

2N
0
= 0
Note: Even though the line integral is zero, the arc length is positive.
Double integrals
Introduction
Let R be a closed, bounded region in the xy plane. A closed region contains all of its boundary points
and a bounded region is one that can be enclosed in a suciently large circle.
The double integral of the function f(x, y) over R is written as
_ _
R
f(x, y)dA
For example, suppose R is the region bounded by the x-axis, the y-axis, y = 1 and x = 1 (this means R
is the unit square). The double integral of x
2
y
2
over R would be written as
_ _
R
x
2
y
2
dA
Evaluating a double integral
As explained on page 723 of your textbook, a double integral can be evaluated by rst imposing a
rectangular grid on R. A Reimann sum is then formed and the limit as the grid spacing goes to zero is
taken.
Using Reimann sums is ne in principle but they are an impractical way of evaluating double integrals.
A far more practical way is to use an iterated integral. This has two forms
Form 1:
_ _
R
f(x, y)dA =
_
y
2
y
1
_
_
x
2
(y)
x
1
(y)
f(x, y)dx
_
dy
Form 2:
_ _
R
f(x, y)dA =
_
x
2
x
1
_
_
y
2
(x)
y
1
(x)
f(x, y)dy
_
dx
The constants x
1
, x
2
, y
1
, y
2
and the functions x
1
(y), x
2
(y), y
1
(x) and y
2
(x) dene the region R (see
examples later).
With Form 1, you integrate with respect to x rst, then with respect to y. In Form 2, you integrate with
respect to y rst, then with respect to x.
Example (Example 1, page 726). Use both forms of the integrated integral to evaluate
I =
_ _
R
xy
2
dA
where R is the region bounded by the x-axis, the line x = 1 and the line y = 2x.
Answer: When answering questions of this type, you may nd it useful to draw the region R. If I integrate
with respect to x then y, the integral is
_ _
R
x
2
y
2
dA =
_
y
2
y
1
_
_
x
2
(y)
x
1
(y)
x
2
y
2
dx
_
dy
For this integral y
1
= 0, y
2
= 2, x
1
(y) = y/2 and x
2
(y) = 1. Hence
_
y
2
y
1
_
_
x
2
(y)
x
1
(y)
xy
2
dx
_
dy =
_
2
0
_
_
1
y/2
xy
2
dx
_
dy
=
_
2
0
_
x
2
y
2
2

1
y/2
_
dy
=
_
2
0
_
y
2
2

y
4
8
_
dy
=
8
15
If I integrate with respect to y then x, the integral is
_ _
R
x
2
y
2
dA =
_
x
2
x
1
_
_
y
2
(x)
y
1
(x)
xy
2
dy
_
dx
For this integral x
1
= 0, x
2
= 1, y
1
(x) = 0 and y
2
(x) = 2x. Hence
_
x
2
x
1
_
_
y
2
(x)
y
1
(x)
xy
2
dy
_
dx =
_
1
0
__
2x
0
xy
2
dy
_
dx
=
_
1
0
_
xy
3
3

2x
0
_
dx
=
8
15
Example (Example 2, page 727). Evaluate the integral
I =
_
4
2
_

y
y/2
exp(y/x)dxdy
Answer: First draw the graph of the region R. You will nd the region is bounded by the lines y = 2x,
y = x
2
and y = 2. Now have a whack at doing the integration. For the inner integration, we need to perform
_

y
y/2
exp(y/x)dx
where y is treated as a constant. This integral is next to impossible to do analytically, so we will try inverting
the integral. This means we integrate with respect to y rst, then x i.e.
I =
_ _
exp(y/x)dydx
You should be able to see that integrating exp(y/x) with respect to y and holding x constant is simple. The
dicult part is working out the limits of integration. If you look at your graph of R, you can see that we
will have to split R into two parts. This means we have split the integral into two parts. The integral then
becomes (if you did not come to lectures, check pages 726 and 727 of the textbook)
I =
_

2
1
_
2x
2
exp(y/x)dydx +
_
2

2
_
2x
x
2
exp(y/x)dydx
=
_

2
1
_
{xexp(y/x)|
2x
2
_
dx +
_
2

2
_
xexp(y/x)|
2x
x
2
_
dx
=
_

2
1
(xexp(2) xexp(2/x))dx +
_
2

2
(xexp(2) xexp(x))dx
=
_

2
1
xexp(2)dx +
_
2

2
xexp(2)dx
_
2

2
xexp(x)dx
_

2
1
xexp(2/x)dx
=
exp(2)
2
+ exp(2)
_
2

2
xexp(x)dx
_

2
1
xexp(2/x)dx
The rst integral on the right is done using integration by parts. Get
_
2

2
xexp(x) = (

2 1) exp(

2) exp(2)
This leaves the integral

_

2
1
xexp(2/x)dx
This integral is readily calculated using the matlab commands
syms x real; int(x*exp(2/x),x=1..sqrt(2));
Get an answer involving the function Ei. This is the exponential integral and you do not need to know
about this integral for 340.
Surfaces and surface integrals
Surfaces
Denition
Let
R(u, v) = x(u, v)i + y(u, v)j + z(u, v)k
where u and v are parameters. The set of points R(u, v) over some interval of u and v is a surface. Denote
by S.
For example
x = sin v cos u
y = sin v sin u
z = cos v
where 0 u /2 and 0 v /2 species one-eighth of a sphere, radius 1 and centred at the origin.
Refer to u and v as curvilinear coordinates. In the example above, u and v are and of spherical
coordinates.
Denition
Let R
u
be the partial derivative of R with respect to u. Since v is held constant when doing the partial
dierentiation, R
u
, if it exists and is non-zero, is a tangent vector to S along the u coordinate. R
v
is dened
similarly. R
u
and R
v
are not necessarily orthogonal.
Denition
The vector
n = R
u
R
v
is a normal vector to S provided R
u
and R
v
are linearly independent.
Example: Find a normal vector for the surface
x = sin v cos u
y = sin v sin u
z = cos v
Answer: We have
R
u
= [sinv sin u, sin v cos u, 0], R
v
= [cos v cos u, cos v sin u, sin v]
A normal vector is then

i j k
sin v sin u sin v cos u 0
cos v cos u cos v sin u sin v

= [sin
2
v cos u, sin
2
v sin u, sin v cos v] (29)
EES: Form a unit normal vector for the above example.
Surface integrals
Want to nd
I =
__
S
f dA
where f is dened on the surface S.
Partition S into N parts S
1
, S
2
, . . ., S
N
. If A
i
is the area of S
i
and (x
i
, y
i
, z
i
) is an arbitrary point on
S
i
, we can form the summation
N

i=1
f(x
i
, y
i
, z
i
)A
i
Now take the limit of this sum as N in such a way that the largest dimension of each A
i
approaches
zero. The limit, if it exists, is dened as I.
We evaluate I by using an iterated integral. To do this, we rst parameterise S in the form R(u, v).
Now suppose we move along a distance du in the u-direction from u, and a distance dv in the v-direction
from v. We can dene dA as the area of the parallelogram with sides of length du and dv and vectors R
u
and R
v
(for those of you who did not attend the lecture, see the diagram on page 740 of the textbook). In
mathematical notation
dA = R
u
R
v
dudv
The surface integral I becomes
I =
__
R
f(x(u, v), y(u, v), z(u, v))R
u
R
v
dudv
where R is the region in the u v plane that corresponds to S in 3-space.
Example: Let S be the circular cylinder x
2
+ y
2
= 1 between z = 0 and z = 1 + y. Evaluate the surface
area of S.
Answer: Let x = cos u. This implies y = sin u. Also let z = v. We then have R
u
= [sin u, cos u, 0] and
R
v
= [0, 0, 1]. From this (after a few lines of manipulation) that
R
u
R
v
= 1
Hence the surface integral is
_
2
0
_
1+sin u
0
1(1) dvdu
The inner integral is 1 + sinu. This means the outer integral is 2.
Example: Let S be the quadric x
2
+ y
2
= z
2
between z = 0 and z = h. Evaluate the surface area of S.
Answer: Let x = ucos v and y = usin v. This implies z = u. We then have R
u
= [cos v, sin v, 1] and
R
v
= [usinv, ucos v, 0]. From this (after a few lines of manipulation) that
R
u
R
v
=

2u
Hence the surface integral is
_
2
0
_
h
0
1(

2u) dudv
The inner integral is h
2
/

2. This means the outer integral is

2h
2
.
Example: Repeat the previous example with f(x(u, v), y(u, v), z(u, v)) = u.
Answer: By inspection, the surface integral is
_
2
0
_
h
0
u(

2u) dudv
Very easy to evaluate this. Get 2

2h
3
/3.
Triple integrals
Example (Example 3, page 728). Evaluate
_ _ _
R
yz
2
dV
where R is the (closed) region bounded by the planes x = 0, y = 0, z = 0 and 3x + 2y + 6z = 6.
Answer: First draw the region R. You should have little diculty doing this. The region is a right
tetrahedron with the right corner at the origin, see the schematic in the textbook.
Next, re-write the integral as the iterated integral
_
_
_
_
_
R
yz
2
dx
_
dy
_
dz
and consider the inner-most integral
_
yz
2
dx
What are the limits for this integral? From the schematic of R, the lower limit is 0 and the upper limit is
the value of x on the plane 3x +2y +6z = 6. This value is x = (6 2y 6z)/3 = 2 2y/3 2z. Hence the
inner-most integral is
_
22y/32z
0
yz
2
dx = yz
2
x

22y/32z
0
= yz
2
_
2
2
3
y 2z
_
Now do the integration with respect to y i.e.
_
yz
2
_
2
2
3
y 2z
_
dy
What are the limits for this integral?
We want the maximum possible range of y for a given value of z
The lower limit is obviously 0. We need to choose the upper limit so that we range over all the values of
y. The largest possible value of y is on the plane 3x + 2y + 6z = 6 when x = 0. This value of y is 3 3z.
Hence the integral with respect to y is
_
33z
0
yz
2
_
2
2
3
y 2z
_
dy = z
2
(y
2

2
9
y
3
zy
2
)

33z
0
= z
2
_
9(1 z)
2
6(1 z)
3
9(1 z)
2
z

This leaves the integral with respect to z. The limits of integration are clearly 0 and 1. This gives the
maximum possible range of z. Hence the integral with respect to z is
_
1
0
z
2
_
9(1 z)
2
6(1 z)
3
9(1 z)
2
z

dz
Make sure you understand how the limits for y were found.
EES: Show the above integral is 1/20.
MES: Repeat the question with the order of integration being y, x and z.
Example: (Exercise 11, page 731). Evaluate
_
1
0
_
z
0
_
z
y/
sin
y
x
dxdydz
Answer: The integration with respect to x is dicult. So change the order of integration, gives
_
1
0
_ _
sin
y
x
dydxdz
Need the limits of integration for y and x. To do this, we draw the region of integration for z equal to a
constant value. In what follows think of z as having a numerical value between 0 and 1, say 0.6.
We do not need to draw the three-dimensional region because the integration with respect to z done
after the integration with respect to x and y.
In the original integral, the integration with respect to
x was from x = y/ (hence y = x) to x = z where z can be thought of as a constant at this point in
the integration.
y was from y = 0 to y = z where z can be thought of as a consant at this point in the integration.
Hence the region projected into the x y plane is a triangle bounded by the lines y = x, the x-axis and
the line x = z. Since z can be thought of as a constant, the line x = z is a vertical line in the x y plane.
The diagram below depicts the region.
y = pi x
x = z = constant
x
y
Thus the integral is
_
1
0
_
z
0
_
x
0
sin
y
x
dydxdz
Start with the inner integral. We have
_
x
0
sin
y
x
dy = xcos
y
x

x
0
= 2x
Next is the middle integral. We have
_
z
0
2xdx = z
2
Now the nal integral. We have
_
1
0
z
2
dz =
1
3
Example: Evaluate
_ _ _
V
xy dV
where V is the region bounded by the planes x = 0, x = 1, y = 0, y = 1, z = 0 and z = 1.
Answer: The rst step is to draw the volume. This is the unit cube. The limits of integration of therefore
easy to work out. Each of x, y and z varies from 0 to 1 and it matters little which order you do the
integration in. I decided, for no particular reason, to use the order x, y and z.
The inner integral is therefore
_
1
0
xydx =
x
2
2
y

1
0
=
y
2
The middle integral is then
_
1
0
y
2
dy =
y
2
4

1
0
=
1
4
Finally, the outer integral is
_
1
0
1
4
dz =
1
4
Volumes and volume integrals
In this section of the course we are interested in evaluating
_ _ _
V
f(x(u, v, w), y(u, v, w), z(u, v, w))dV
where V is the volume formed by the points R = x(u, v, w)i + y(u, v, w)j + z(u, v, w)k
We will begin with nding the volume of V . A good place to start is by analogy with surface integrals
Surface integrals Volume integrals
Figure 1 on page 740 of the textbook Figure 1 on page 749 of the textbook
dA = R
u
R
v
dudv dV = |R
u
R
v
R
w
| dudvdw
We have
|R
u
R
v
R
w
| =

det
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
x
u
y
u
z
u
x
v
y
v
z
v
x
w
y
w
z
w
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_

det
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
x
u
x
v
x
w
y
u
y
v
y
w
z
u
z
v
z
w
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_

det
_
(x, y, z)
(u, v, w)
_

The scalar

det
_
(x, y, z)
(u, v, w)
_

is called the Jacobian.

Thus
dV =

(x, y, z)
(u, v, w)

dudvdw
V
_ _ _
V
dV =
_ _ _
R

(x, y, z)
(u, v, w)

dudvdw
_ _ _
V
fdV =
_ _ _
R
f

(x, y, z)
(u, v, w)

dudvdw
where R is the region in u v w space corresponding to the region V in x y z space.
Example: Find the Jacobian when u, v, w are the r, , z of cylindrical coordinates respectively. Hence nd
dV .
Answer: We have x = ucos v, y = usin v and z = w. Then

det
_
(x, y, z)
(u, v, w)
_

det
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
x
u
x
v
x
w
y
u
y
v
y
w
z
u
z
v
z
w
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_

det
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
cos v usin v 0
sin v ucos v 0
0 0 1
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_

= |u|
Hence
dV = |u| dudvdw = r drddz
EES: Repeat the previous exercise for spherical coordinates and show
dV = |
2
sin | ddd
Since 0 , the absolute value signs are not needed in practice.
Example: Consider two coaxial cylinders of height h and radii r
1
and r
2
. Find the volume integral of the
function f(x, y) = x
2
+ y
2
over the volume contained between the two cylinders.
Answer: First draw a schematic of the two cylinders.
Will use cylindrical coordinates. Let x = ucos v, y = usin v and z = w (u, v and w are equivalent to r,
and z of cylindrical coordinates). The required integral is (x
2
+ y
2
= u
2
)
_
h
0
_
2
0
_
r
2
r
1
u
2
ududvdw
Straightforward to evaluate
_
h
0
_
2
0
_
r
2
r
1
u
2
ududvdw =
_
h
0
_
2
0
u
4
4

r
2
r
1
dvdw
= h
_
r
4
2
2

r
4
1
2
_
Example: Consider two concentric spheres of radii r
1
and r
2
. Find the volume integral of the function
f(x, y) = x
2
+ y
2
over the volume contained between the two spheres.
Answer: First draw a schematic of the two spheres.
Will use spherical coordinates. Let x = cos() sin(), y = sin() sin() and z = cos() (you could
use u, v and w in place of , and ). We know from earlier that the jacobian for this set of coordinates is
|
2
sin()|. And from the expressions for x and y we have f(x, y) = x
2
+y
2
=
2
sin
2
(). Thus the required
integral is of the form
_ _ _
(
2
sin
2
())(
2
sin())ddd
You could have done the integrations in a dierent order, such as , then and .
We now need to work out the limits. These can read o the schematic by inspection. We have varying
between 0 and 2, between r
1
and r
2
, and between 0 and . The integral becomes
_

0
_
r
2
r
1
_
2
0
(
2
sin
2
())(
2
sin())ddd
The integrations are easy to do. Get the answer
8
15
(r
5
2
r
5
1
)
Case study I
The Earths Mass
The problem
Use the data in the following table to estimate Earths mass M.
Polar radius 6,356.750 km
Equatorial radius 6,378.135 km
Earths density d
1
at Earths centre 13 g cm
3
Earths density d
2
at Earths surface 2.7 g cm
3
One possible answer
Assumptions
1. Earth is a sphere with a radius R equal to the average of the the equatorial and polar radii.
2. The density d varies linearly from the centre to the surface and is independent of the lattitude and
longitude.
The rst part of assumption 2 imples d is a function of just the radial distance from Earths centre. The
second part of assumption 2 then implies
d() = a b
where is the radial distance. We then have
M =
_ _ _
V
d() dV
where V is the sphere approximating Earth. Given the model, spherical coordinates are a natural choice for
coordinates. Since the Jacobian for spherical coordinates is |
2
sin |, we have
M =
_ _ _
V
d()
2
sin ddd
We now need to work out the limits of integration. By inspection varies from 0 to R, from 0 to and
from 0 to 2. Hence
M =
_
2
0
_

0
_
R
0
d()
2
sin ddd
=
_
2
0
_

0
_
R
0
(a b)
2
sin ddd
=
_
2
0
_

0
_
a
3

b
4

4
_
sin

R
0
dd
=
_
2
0
_

0
R
3
_
a
3

b
4
R
_
sin dd
=
_
2
0
R
3
_
a
3

b
4
R
_
(cos )

0
d
=
_
2
0
2R
3
_
a
3

b
4
R
_
d
= (2)2R
3
_
a
3

b
4
R
_
We now have to substitute for the constants a, b and R. I will use one metre as the unit of length and one
kilogram per cubic metre as the unit of density (one gram per cubic centimetre is 1000 kilograms per cubic
metre). With this choice of units
R = (6, 356, 750 + 6, 378, 135)/2
6, 367, 443
a = 13, 000
b = (13, 000 2, 700)/6, 367, 443
0.0016176
When I substituted these values into the expression for M I got
M = 5.70 10
24
kg
to two decimal places.
The generally accepted value for M is approximately 5.9742 10
24
kg.
Grad, div and curl
Scalar and vector elds
A scalar eld is a scalar-valued function over a region R in one, two or three dimensions, and a vector
eld is a vector-valued function over a region R in one, two or three dimensions.
Two examples of scalar elds are:
the air temperature at each point on the surface of New Zealand
the function
H(x, y) = exp(x
2
y
2
)
Two examples of vector elds are
the wind velocity at each point on the surface of New Zealand
the function
v(x, y, z) = cos(y) i + sin(x) j + xyz k
Graident of a scalar eld
Let u(x, y, z) be a scalar eld. The gradient of u is dened as
u
x
i +
u
y
j +
u
z
k
The gradient is denoted by u or grad u.
Example: Find u when
1. u = xyz
2. u = y exp(z)
Answer: Just a matter of using the denition. For u = xyz, we have
u = yz i + xz j + xy k
and for u = y exp(z) we have
u = 0 i + exp(z) j + y exp(z) k
EES: If u = x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
, nd u.
Directional derivatives
Let C be a curve in three-dimensional space with points R(s) dened as (x(s), y(s), z(s)) where s is the
arc length. An important question that arises in many applications is
What is the rate of change of u along C?
To answer this question, we need to use the chain rule. We have
du(x(s), y(s), z(s))
ds
=
u
x
dx
ds
+
u
y
dy
ds
+
u
z
dz
ds
=
_
u
x
i +
u
y
j +
u
z
k
_

_
dx
ds
i +
dy
ds
j +
dz
ds
k
_
The rst vector in the dot product above is u and the second vector is dR/ds. Since s is the arc length,
dR/ds is a unit vector (why?). I will denote this unit vector by s. We then have
du(x(s), y(s), z(s))
ds
= u s
The quantity du/ds is called the directional derivative of u. It gives the rate of change of u in the direction
s.
Note: The gradient is a vector and the directional derivative is a scalar.
Example: Let u(x, y, z) = x
2
3yz. What is the directional derivative at the point (2, 1, 4) if s for a
curve at the point is (i + j 2k)/

6?
Answer: By inspection
u = 2x i 3z j 3y k
Hence, at (2, 1, 4)
u = 4i 12j + 3k
and the required directional derivative is
(4i 12j + 3k)
i + j 2k

6
=
14

6
Example: Let u = xyz and let C be the curve whose points are
R(s) = [3 sin(2s/

52), 3 cos(2s/

52), 4s/

52]
What is the directional derivative when s =

52?
Answer: We have
u = yz i + xz j + xy k
dR
ds
=
1

52
[6 cos(2s/

52), 6 sin(2s/

52), 4]
(check that dR/ds is a unit vector).
If s =

52, R = [0, 3, 4]. This means u = 12 i + 0 j + 0 k and dR/ds = [6, 0, 4]/

52. Hence the

directional derivative is
(12 i + 0 j + 0 k)
6 i + 0 j + 4 k

52
=
72

52
Div
Let v(x, y, z) be a vector eld. The divergence of v is denoted by div v and is dened as
v
1
x
+
v
2
y
+
v
3
z
Since can be written as
i

x
+ j

y
+ k

z
we can write
div v = v
Note: The divergence of v is a scalar.
Example: Suppose
1. v = xy i + cos(z) j + 2z k
2. v = 6 i + 7 j + 3 k
What is v?
Answer: Use the denition.
1. v = y + 0 + 2 = y + 2
2. v = 0 + 0 + 0 = 0
Curl
Let v(x, y, z) be a vector eld. The curl of v is v and denoted by curl v.
Example: Express curl v in terms of partial derivatives.
Answer: Let v = (v
1
, v
2
, v
3
). We have
curl v =
_
i

x
+ j

y
+ k

z
_
(v
1
i + v
2
j + v
3
k)
=

i j k

z
v
1
v
2
v
3

Note: The curl of v is a vector.

Example: What is the curl of the vector eld v(x, y, z) = xyz i + x
2
z j + exp(y) k
Answer: We have
curlv =

i j k

z
xyz x
2
z exp(y)

=
_
(exp(y)
y

(x
2
z)
z
,
(xyz)
z

exp(y)
x
,
(x
2
z)
x

(xyz)
y
_
= [exp(y) x
2
, xy 0, 2xz xz]