Vector Calculus Solutions 1

1. In each case, S is the shaded region, excluding any hatched lines/curves.

(a) y (b)
(0, 1)

(1, 0) (1, 0)
1
x
2

(0,
0 1)

(c) (d)

(1, 1) (1, 1)
y = x y=x

(1, 1) (1, 1)

(e) (f)
y=x
y = x2 x=2

x = 2

y = x2 y = x

(h) (i)

y = 1/x

y = 1/x

(a) Closed; (b) Open; (c) Neither; (d) Closed; (e) Open; (f) Neither;
(g) Both; (h) Open, S = (0, 0); (i) Open.
2. (a) int(S) = {(x, y) : 1 < x2 + y 2 < 4},
ext(S) = {(x, y) : x2 + y 2 < 1} {(x, y) : x2 + y 2 > 4},
S = {(x, y) : x2 + y 2 = 1} {(x, y) : x2 + y 2 = 4}.

(b) int(S) = {(x, y) : 0 < x2 + y 2 < 4},

ext(S) = {(x, y) : x2 + y 2 > 4},
S = {(0, 0)} {(x, y) : x2 + y 2 = 4}.

(c) int(S) = {(x, y) : 1 < x2 y 2 < 4},

ext(S) = {(x, y) : x2 y 2 < 1} {(x, y) : x2 y 2 > 4},
S = {(x, y) : x2 y 2 = 1} {(x, y) : x2 y 2 = 4}.

(d) int(S) = {(x, y) : 0 < x2 + y 2 < 4},

ext(S) = {(x, y) : x2 y 2 < 0} {(x, y) : x2 y 2 > 4},
S = {(x, y) : y = x} {(x, y) : x2 y 2 = 4}.

(e) int(S) = {(x, y) : 0 < y/x < 1, x > 0},

ext(S) = {(x, y) : x < y} {(x, y) : y < 0},
S = {(x, y) : y = x, x > 0} {(x, 0) : x > 0}.

(f) int(S) = ,
ext(S) = {(x, y) : y 6= sin(1/x), x > 0} {(0, y) : |y| > 1} {(x, y) : x < 0},
S = {(x, sin(1/x)) : x > 0} {(0, y) : |y| 6 1}.

(g) int(S) = , ext(S) = , S = R2 .

3. Recall that the closure of S Rn is defined: S = S S.

(i) Suppose a S. If a S then every neighbourhood of a contains a point of S,

namely a. If a S then the definition of the boundary ensures that every neighbour-
hood of a contains a point of S (and a point of S c ).

Conversely, suppose every neighbourhood of a contains a point of S, and a / int(S).

Then a ext(S) S. However a / ext(S), otherwise there would be a neighbourhood
of a disjoint from S. Therefore a S.
If a S then f (a) T T. Suppose therefore that a S. Let B be
(ii) Let a S.
a neighbourhood of f (a). By continuity there exists a neighbourhood A of a such that
f (A) B. Since a is a boundary point, A contains a point of S, hence B contains a
point of T = f (S). It follows from (i) that f (a) T. Therefore f (S)
T.

Define f : R R by f (x) = arctan(x), and let S = (0, ). Then T = f (S) = (0, /2)
so T = [0, /2]. But S = [0, ) so f (S)
= [0, /2).
4. (a) The origin, and concentric circles centred at the origin of radii 1 and 2.
(b) Rectangular hyperbolas xy = 1 and the x- and y-axes.
(c) Three parallel planes, perpendicular to the vector (1, 1, 1) and passing through the
points (1, 1, 1), (0, 0, 0) and (1, 1, 1).
(d) Hyperboloid of 1 sheet, cones, and hyperboloid of 2 sheets, all with z-axis as axis.

(e) Concentric spheres centred at the origin, of radii 0, , 2, . . . (when c = 0),
p p
/2, 3/2, . . . (when c = 1/2), and /2, 3/2, . . . (when c = 1).

5. (i) The result clearly holds if x = 0. As suggested, if x 6= 0 define:

Q() = ky xk2 = kyk2 2 x y + 2 kxk2 .

Since Q() > 0 the discriminant is non-positive:

4(x y)2 6 4kxk2 kyk2 .

Now take square roots. Equality occurs precisely when Q() has a root; ie. there exists
such that y = x.
(ii) By the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality:

kx + yk2 = kxk2 + 2x y + kyk2

6 kxk2 + 2kxkkyk + kyk2 = (kxk + kyk)2 .

Geometric interpretation. The vectors x, y determine the following triangle:

x+y

y x

whose sides have lengths kxk, kyk and kx + yk. Conversely, every triangle may be
represented in this way. Therefore the triangle inequality says that the sum of two sides
of a triangle is no shorter than the third!
Equality occurs when the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality is an equality, which is when x and
y are linearly dependent; geometrically, the vertices of the triangle are collinear.
(iii) By the triangle inequality:

kx y + yk 6 kx yk + kyk, so kxk kyk 6 kx yk.

Similarly:

ky x + xk 6 ky xk + kxk, so kyk kxk 6 kx yk.

6. Recall that the definition of the statement lim f (x) + g(x) = b + c is:
xa

For every neighbourhood B of b + c, a punctured neighbourhood A of a can be found

such that f (A) B.
It suffices to consider neighbourhoods that are open balls centred at b + c (why?); thus
let B = Br (b + c). Then f (x) + g(x) B means:

kf (x) + g(x) (b + c)k < r. (*)

The triangle inequality implies:

kf (x) + g(x) (b + c)k = kf (x) b + g(x) ck

6 kf (x) bk + kg(x) c)k. (**)

Since lim f (x) = b, a punctured neighbourhood X of a can be found such that f (X)
xa
Br/2 (b), which means:

kf (x) bk < r/2, for all x X.

Similarly, a punctured nhd. Y of a can be found such that:

kg(x) ck < r/2, for all x Y .

It then follows from (*) and (**) that A = X Y is a punctured neighbourhood of a

(see Q3) with f (A) B.

7. (a) f1 (x, y, z) = x + 2y + 3z.

(b)* f2 (x, y, z) = (x 2y 3z, 2x + 3y z).
(c)* f3 (x, y) = (x + 2y, 3x + 4y).
(d) f4 (x) = (x, 2x, 3x).
(e)* f5 (x, y) = (x 2y, 2x + 3y, 3x y).
(f) f6 (x, y, z) = (x 2y + 3z, 2x + 3y z, 3x y + 2z).
(g) f7 (x, y) = (3x + y, 2x 2y, x + 3y).
f3 f2 (x, y, z) = (5x + 4y 5z, 11x + 6y 13z),
f5 f2 (x, y, z) = (3x 8y z, 4x + 13y + 3z, x 9y 8z),
f2 f5 (x, y) = (4x 5y, 7x + 6y),
 f5 f3 (x, y) = (5x 6y, 7x + 8y, 2y).

8. (i) Let a Rn , and let B = Br (b) where b = f (a). Then f (x) B if and only if:
 
kxk kak < r.

It follows from the reverse triangle inequality:

 
kxk kak 6 kx ak

that if A = Br (a) then f (A) B. Thus f is continuous at a.

(ii) Since g(x) = f (x)2 and f is continuous by (i), it follows from a basic property
of limits (Lim 2) that g is continuous. This also follows directly from the fact that
g(x) = x12 + + xn2 is a polynomial.

9. (i) Suppose f : Rn R and f is continuous at a. Suppose further that f (a) = b > 0.

Set r = b/2 > 0. Then B = (b r, b + r) is a neighbourhood of b. So by continuity
and the definition of limit there exists a neighbourhood A of a such that f (A) B.
Therefore if x A then
f (x) > b r = b/2 > 0.

(ii) Suppose now that f is continuous on D, and let S D be the level set:

S = {x Rn : f (x) = c}.

We prove S is closed by showing that S c is open. Note that a S c if and only if

|f (a) c| > 0. Since the function |f (x) c| is continuous (Composition Rule) it follows
from (i) that there exists a neighbourhood A of a such that |f (x) c| > 0 for all x A.
Thus A S c . It follows that every point of S c is an interior point; hence S c is open.

10. (a)* All points.

(b)* All points away from the line y = x.
(c) All points away from the line x = 1.
p
(d) All points. (This is 2f (x y, x + y) where f (x, y) = xy/ x2 + y 2 is continuous.)
(e)* All points away from the coordinate axes.
(f) All points away from the y-axis and the lines y = (2n + 1)x, where n is any integer.
(g)* The closed region bounded by the diagonal lines y = x and containing the x-axis.
(h) Everywhere except the origin.
(i)* All points in the open first and third quadrants.
(j)* All points in the open half plane y > x.
(k) All points. (Continuity at the origin requires a separate argument).

11. (i) Since f (x, 0) = 1 and f (0, y) = 1 for all (x, y) 6= (0, 0) it follows that f takes
values 1 in every nhd. of (0, 0). Therefore f (x, y) can have no limit as (x, y) (0, 0).
(No neighbourhood of (0, 0) can map into an open interval of width 6 2, so the definition
of limit cannot be satisfied for any b R.)
(ii) For any m 6= 0, the portion of the line y = mx in the upper half plane lies on or
above the parabola y = x2 if |x| < |m|. Hence f (x, mx) = 0 for all x in a nhd. of 0.
Furthermore, f (0, y) = 0 for all y, and f (x, 0) = 0 for all x. In particular, in every nhd.
of (0, 0) there are points where f takes the value 0.
However f (x, x4 ) = 1 for all 0 < |x| < 1, so in every nhd. of (0, 0) there are points where
f takes the value 1.
Since f takes values 0 and 1 in every nhd. of (0, 0), f is not continuous at the origin.
Lesson. The existence of (1-dimensional) limits along all straight lines through a Rn
does not imply the existence of a (vector) limit as x a.

12. D is the semi-cubical parabola:

y

y = x2/3

Define g(x, y) = x2 + y 3 and:

sin t/t, t 6= 0

h(t) =
1, t = 0.

Then g and h are cts. everywhere, hence so is h g. Since h g = f away from D, it

follows that f can be extended to a continuous function on the entire plane by defining:

f (x, y) = h g(x, y) = h(g(x, y)) = h(0) = 1, when x2 + y 3 = 0.

13. Holding x constant, we have x2 y 2 0 as y 0, and x2 y 2 + (x y)2 x2 as

y 0. Therefore:
lim f (x, y) = 0, for all x 6= 0,
y0

hence:


lim lim f (x, y) = 0.
x0 y0
A similar argument shows that:


lim lim f (x, y) = 0.
y0 x0

However:
lim f (x, 0) = 0 and lim f (x, x) = 1,
x0 x0

so f has no limit as (x, y) (0, 0).

Conclusion. The existence of iterated limits does not imply the existence of a limit.

xy
14. Suppose f (x, y) = .
(x2 + y 2 )
(i) We have f (t, t) = 2 t2(1) . Hence, if < 1 then f (t, t) 0 as t 0, whereas if
> 1 then f (t, t) as t 0. Therefore it is impossible to extend f to a continuous
function on R2 if > 1.
(ii) We show from first principles that lim f (x, y) = 0 if < 1. Let B R be
(x,y)(0,0)
any neighbourhood of 0 R. Then there exists r > 0 such that Br (0) = (r, r) B.
Our task is to find a neighbourhood A of (0, 0) R2 such that f (A) B, which we will
achieve by ensuring that f (A) Br (0). Now f (x, y) Br (0) if and only if:

|x||y|
< r.
(x2+ y 2 )

From the inequality 2|x||y| 6 x2 + y 2 this is assured if:

(x2 + y 2 )1 < 2r,

which, since 1 > 0, is equivalent to:

x2 + y 2 < (2r)1/(1) .
p
Setting R = (2r)1/2(1) it follows that if x2 + y 2 < R then f (x, y) BR (0, 0); thus if
A = BR (0, 0) then f (A) Br (0), as required.
Note. If > 1 then 1 < 0, leading to the conclusion that f (x, y) Br (0) if
p
x2 + y 2 > R.