Multivariable Calculus: Problem Set 3A

Packer Collegiate Institute | Mr. Shah | 2008-2009

Instructions: You are encouraged to discuss general strategies to approach the questions on this problem set with
your classmates, but you must work and write up your solutions to the problems entirely on your own. Of course,
you are always welcome to meet with me to talk about any question you are having diculty with. Please pay
attention to making your solutions as clear as possible for the reader; mathematical communication is an important
skill that you will develop in this course.

Problem 11
The gure below is the contour plot of a function of two variables f (x, y), for x and y ranging between 0 to 2 (scale:
1 unit = 5 cm; spacing between contour levels: 0.2)

(a) Use the contour plot to determine whether fx and fy are greater than 0, less than 0, or equal to 0 at the point
(1,1.5). What about at the point (1.2, 0.6)?

(b) The function plotted on the gure is f (x, y) = x3 − xy 2 − 4x2 + 3x + x2 y . Calculate the actual values of the
partial derivatives at (1,1.5) and (1.2, 0.6).

(c) Use the applet on the MIT course web page (http://math.mit.edu/18.02/applets/FunctionsTwoVariables.
html) to plot the graph of f corresponding to this countour plot. Read briey the directions on the web page,
and familiarize yourself with the controls. In the Level curves view, see how the slider in the lower-left
corner moves the highlighted contour lines on both plots, and experiment with it in order to perfect your
understanding of the countour plot. In the Partial derivatives view, see how clicking on a point in the small

1 Taken from the MIT 18.02 [Multivariable Calculus] Problem Set 3 from 2007

1
 contour plot displays the x- and y -slices of the graph through that point. Finally, use the applet to check the
answers you found in (b).

(d) Use the applet to nd two points where fx = fy = 0 , and give their approximate coordinates. What happens
to the level curves of f through these points? For each of the two points, describe what happens when you
move towards North, South, East, West: does the value of f go up, down, or does it stay exactly the same?

Problem 22
In parts (a)-(e), suppose the equation z = f (x, y) is expressed in the polar form z = g(r, θ) by making the
substitution x = r cos(θ) and y = r sin(θ).

(a) View r and θ as functions of x and y and use implicit dierentiation to show that
∂r
∂x = cos(θ) and ∂θ
∂x = − sin(θ)
r

∂r ∂θ cos(θ)
(b) View r and θ as functions of x and y and use implicit dierentiation to show that
∂y = sin(θ) and
∂y = r

∂z ∂z 1 ∂z ∂z ∂z 1 ∂z
(c) Use the results of parts (a) and (b) to show that
∂x = ∂r cos(θ) − r ∂θ sin(θ) and
∂y = ∂r sin(θ) + r ∂θ cos(θ).
 2
∂z 2 ∂z ∂z 2 1 ∂z 2
(d)




Use the result in part (c) to show that
∂x + ∂y = ∂r + r2 ∂θ

(e) OPTIONAL BONUS: Use the result in part (c) to show that if z = f (x, y) satises Laplace's equation

∂2z ∂2z
+ =0
∂x2 ∂y 2

then z = g(r, θ) satises the equation

∂2z 1 ∂2z 1 ∂z
+ + =0
∂r2 r2 ∂θ2 r ∂r
and conversely. The latter equation is called the polar form of Laplace's equation.

Problem 33
Let w = ln(er + es + et + eu ). Show that

wrstu = −6er+s+t+u−4w

2 From Anton, Section 14.5#63