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MTH154S Tutorial 10 Application of Partial Differentiation

Rates of Change

dy
If y  f (x) , then describes the rate at which y changes with respect to x. We have
dx
already seen that velocity, v, is the rate at which the displacement, s, changes with respect to
ds
time. v  .
dt

Rates of change may also be defined for functions of more than one independent variable.
Let us consider the example of the volume of a cylinder: V  r 2 h
[ V  f (r; h) ].
We would like to know at what rate does V change with respect to t, if both r and h change
with respect to time, t.
Note that V  f (r; h) and r  f 2 (t ) , h  f 3 (t ) . This information may be represented by the
diagram:
V

r h

t t

Using the chain rule we obtain:

dV V dr V dh
 
dt r dt dh dt

Can you explain the different types of differential coefficients (Ordinary and partial) used in
the above formula?

The following problem will test your understanding of the above concept:

If z  f1 (u; v) , u  f 2 ( x; y) , v  f 3 ( y ) , x  f 4 (t ) and y  f 5 (t ) , write down an

expression for the differential coefficient of z with respect to t. (Make sure to use the correct
type of differential coefficients)

Example 1:

If z  sin(u 2  3v) , u  2x 2 , v  ln(3x  2 y) , x  5t and y  tan t , find an expression for

the rate at which z changes (w.r.t. t).

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For applications, consult the text book, see some examples on total differential

Small Changes and small Errors

Consider the volume of the cylinder, V  r 2 h .

Suppose the volume changes from V to V  V as a result of a change in radius from r to
r  r and the height from h to h  h
The new volume is given by

V   V   ( r   r ) 2 ( h  h )
  (r 2  2rr  r 2 )(h  h)
  (r 2 h  r 2h  2rhr  2rrh  hr 2  r 2h)
V  V  r 2 h  r 2h  2rhr  2rrh  hr 2  r 2h

But V  r 2 h , therefore subtracting V or r 2 h from the left hand side and the right hand
side:

V  r 2h  2rhr  2rrh  hr 2  r 2h

If r and h are very small compared to r and h, then rh , r 2 and r 2h are still smaller
and could be disregarded in an approximation.
Then
V  r 2h  2rhr

V V
But  r 2 and  2rh
h r

Therefore
V V
V  h  r
h r

In general: If P  f ( x; y; z;.......) , then

P P P
P  x  y  z  ..............
x y z

Examples 2:

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If there is an increase of 0,01 mm in the radius and a decrease of 0,02 mm in the height of a cylinder
with radius 2 cm and height 10 cm, determine the change in Volume and state whether this change is
an increase or a decrease.
If we wanted to find the exact change in volume, we will have to calculate the original volume as
well as the new volume and then find the difference as follows:
Original volume: Voriginal    2 2  10  40 cm 2
New volume: Vnew    2,012  9,98  40,32012 ... cm 2
Change in
volume: V  Vnew  Voriginal  40,32012 ... cm 2  40 cm 2  0,320198  cm 2 (1,0059… cm2 )
If we wanted to find an approximate change in the volume we could use the formula:
V V
V  h  r as follows:
h r

where r  0,01 cm and h  0,02 cm (Note the negative sign for a decrease)

V V
Therefore V  h  r
h r
V  r 2h  2rhr
V    2 2  (0,02 )  2  2  10  0,01
 0,32 cm 2 (1,0053….)

Compare this answer to the one above

Example 3:

Determine the percentage change in the volume of a cylinder with radius 2 cm and height 10 cm if
the radius is decreased by 2,5% and the height is increased by 3%.

V  r 2 h
V V
 V  h  r
h r

V V
where  r 2 and  2rh
h r
3 2,5
and h  h ; r   r
100 100

3 2,5
 V  r 2  h  2rh( r)
100 100

 3 2,5 
 r 2 h   2( )
100 100 

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2
 r 2 h
100
2
 V
100

Therefore V decreases by 2% [Why a decrease

Exercises

Rates of Change

1. If z  f ( x, y ) and z  2 x sin 2 y , calculate the rate of change of z , correct to 4 significant

3


digits, when x is 2 units and y is radians, when x is increasing at 4 units/s and y is decreasing
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at 0.5 units/s. [75.14 units/s]

2. The height of a right circular cone is increasing at 3 mm/s and its radius is decreasing at 2 mm/s.
determine, correct to 3 significant digits, the rate at which the volume is changing (in cm3/s)
when the height is 3.2 cm and the radius is 1.5 cm. [1.30 cm3/s decreasing].

Total Differentials

Obtain the total differential dz of the following (questions 1 – 4):

1. z  x3  y 2 [ z  3 x dx  2 ydy ]
2

2. z  2 xy  cos x [ (2 y  sin x)dx  2 xdy ]

x
3. z  x ln y [ ln ydx  dy ]
y

Small Changes and error approximation

1. Pressure p and volume V of a gas are related by the equation pV  k .Determine the
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approximate percentage error in k when the pressure is increased by 4% and the volume is
decreased by 1.5%. [1.9% increase]

l
2. The time of oscillation t of a pendulum is given by t  2 . Determine the approximate
g
percentage error in t when l has an error of 0.2% too large and g 0.1% too small. [0.15%
increase].

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