Partial differentiation of z = f(x,y), u = f(x,y,z)

y = f(x)
dy
dx
=slope of the tangent at (x1,y1)
dy
y=x5 dx
=5x4

z = f(x,y)
z
x
=Slope of the tangent at P to the curve of intersection of the
surface z = f(x,y) by a plane through P parallel to the plane
XOZ with a line parallel to x-axis.
z
y =Slope of the tangent at P to the curve of intersection of the
surface z = f(x,y) by a plane through P parallel to the plane
YOZ with a line parallel to y-axis.

z z
z=x2+x3y2+y4 x
=2x+3x2y2 , x
=2x3y+4y3
u = f(x,y,z)
u
u=x3yz2+3z z
 2x3yz+3

  z  2z
  =2+6xy2 =2+6xy2
x  x  x 2

  z  2z
  =6x2y =6x2y
y  x  yx
  z  2 2z

x   =6x y

 y  xy
=6x2y

2z 2z
yx
= xy

y = f(x)
dy f ( x  x)  f ( x)
 Lt
dx x 0 x
z = f(x,y)
z f ( x  x, y )  f ( x, y )
 Lt
x x  0 x
z f ( x, y  y )  f ( x, y )
 Lt
y y 0 y
u = f(x,y,z)
u f ( x, y , z  z )  f ( x, y, z )
 Lt
z  z  0 z
z = f(x,y)=x2+y2
z f ( x  x, y )  f ( x, y )
 Lt
x x  0 x
( x  x )  y 2  ( x 2  y 2 )
2

= x0
Lt
x
= Lt 2 x   x
x 0

=2x
Ex 1. If u=x2y+y2z+z2x then show that ux+uy+uz=(x+y+z)2

ux=2xy+z2 uy=2yz+x2 uz=2zx+y2

ux+uy+uz=(x+y+z)2
y z x u u u
Ex 2. If u= z  x  y , show that x
x
y
y
z
z
0

u z 1 u 1 x u 1 y
 2     
x x y y z y2 z x z 2
u z x u y x u z y
x   y   z  
x x y y z y z x z
u u u
x y z 0
x y z

Ex 3. u=f (xyz) then show that xux=yuy=zuz

u v
u=f (xyz) Let v=xyz then u=f(v) v
 f (v)
x
=yz
u u v
x
= v x
= f (v) yz = f ( xyz ) yz
u u u
x x = xyz f (xyz) similarly y y = xyz f (xyz ) z z = xyz f (xyz )

xux=yuy=zuz

2
Homogeneous function

u= xy+3y2
u u u u
suppose u= x3+y3 x
= 3x 2 y = 3y 2
x
x
y
y
 3( x 3  y 3 ) =3u

Euler’s theorem:
Statement: If f (x,y) is a homogeneous function of x and y of
degree n then
f f
x y  nf ( x, y )
x y

Proof: Since f (x,y) is a homogeneous function of degree n

 y y v
Let f ( x, y )  x n     x n   v  where v =
x x x
y v 1
 2 
x  y x
f   v  = x n   v  v  nx n 1  v  = y
 xn  x n 1  v  x n  v  ( )  nx n 1  v 
x x v x x2

f
x   yx n 1  v   nx n  v 
x

f   v    v  v 1 f
 xn = xn = x n (v) y  yx n 1  v 
y y v y x y
f f
x  y   yx n 1  v   nx n  v  + yx n 1  v  = nx n  v  = nf ( x, y )
x y

x2  y2
Example 4. If V= sin 1

x y
then show that xVx+yVy=tanV
  y  2

x 2 1    
 x 
x2  y2 x y  x  y 
2 2

sinV= x y
Let u= x y
= = x
  y 
x1    
  x 
hence u is a homogeneous function of x and y of degree1 therefore
u u
by Euler’s theorem x x  y y  1u

3
  sin V  sin V  sin V V  sin V V
x y  sin V x y  sin V
x y V x V y
V V
x cos V  y cos V  sin V
x y
V V
x y  tan V
x y

Example 5. If V is a function of x and y prove that

 2V  2V  2V 1 V 1  2V
x 2

y 2

r 2

r r

r 2  2
where x=rcos  , y=rsin 
y
x=rcos  , y=rsin  r x2  y2   tan 1
x
1
r 1 2  x r cos
 (x  y 2 ) 2 2x    cos
x 2 x y
2 2 r
1
r 1 2  y r sin 
 (x  y 2 ) 2
2y    sin 
y 2 x2  y2 r
 1  y  x2 y y r sin  sin 
  2    2  2  2 
x y2  x  x y x2 2
x y 2
r r
1 2
x
 1 1 x2 1 x r cos cos
    .  2  
y y2  x x  y x x  y
2 2 2
r2 r
1 2
x
Since V is a function of x, y and x and y are functions of r,  .
So V is a function of r,  .
V V r V  V sin  V
   cos  
x r x  x r r 

V V r V  V cos  V
   sin  
y r y  y r r 
v   sin   
  cos  V
x  r r  
v   cos  
  sin   V
y  r r  
  sin  
 cos 
x r r 
  cos 
 sin  
y r r 

Now
  V    sin    V sin  V 
    cos    cos   
x  x   r r   r r  

4
 2V   V sin  V  sin    V sin  V 
 cos  cos    cos  
x 2
r  r r   r   r r  

  2V sin   2V sin  V  sin    2V V cos V sin   2V 

 cos  cos   2    cos  sin    
 r 2
r r r   r  r r r  r  2 
 2V 2 sin  cos   2V sin 2   2V sin 2  V 2 sin  cos  V
= cos 2  2   + 
r r r r 2  2 r r r2 
Similarly
 2V  2V 2 sin  cos  2V cos 2   2V cos 2  V 2 sin  cos V
 sin 2     
y 2
r 2
r r r 2  2 r r r2 
 2V  2V  2V 1 V 1  2V
    2
x 2
y 2
r 2
r r r  2

Example 6. If u=F(y-z, z-x, x-y) then prove that

u u u
  0
x y z

Let X=y-z Y=z-x Z=x-y

X X X
0 1  1
x y z
Y Y Y
 1 0 1
x y z
Z Z Z
1  1 0
x y z

u=F(X, Y, Z) X, Y, Z are functions of x, y, z

u u X u Y u Z
  
x X x Y x Z x
u u
 
Y Z
u u u
 
y Z Y
u u u
 
z X Y
u u u
  0
Hence x y z

5
Differential of a function

dy
y  f (x) dy  dx
dx
z z
z  f ( x, y ) dz  dx  dy
x y
u u u
u  f ( x, y , z ) du  dx  dy + dz
x y z
v v v
v  f ( x1 , x 2 ,.......x3 ) dv  dx1  dx 2 +.......... dx n
x1 x 2 x n

z z
Now z  f ( x, y ) dz 
x
dx 
y
dy

The chain rule

For one variable
dy dy dx
y=f(x), x= x(t) dt

dx dt
dy dy dx
suppose y=x3, x= t2 dt

dx dt
 3 x 2 .2t  6t 5 (using chain rule)

dy
also y= t6 dt  6t ( directly)
5

For two variables

dz z dx z dy
z  f ( x, y ) , x= x(t), y= y(t)  
dt x dt y dt
suppose z  x y, x  t , y  t
3 2 3

dz z dx z dy
   3 x y.2t  x 3t  6t  3t  9t (using chain rule)
2 3 2 8 8 8

dt x dt y dt

dy
also z= t9 dt
 9t 8 ( directly)

For three variables

dw w dx w dy w dz
w  f ( x, y , z ) , x= x(t), y= y(t), z=z(t)   
dt x dt y dt z dt
W  f ( x, y, z ), x  x(u, v, w), y  y (u , v, w), z  z (u , v, w)
W W x W y W z
  
u x u y u z u

6
W W x W y W z
  
v x v y v z v
W W x W y W z
  
w x w y w z w

Implicit differentiation
Consider the special case where z  f ( x, y ) and y is a differentiable
dz f dx f dy f f dy
function of x and y then dx  x dx  y dx  x  y dx
This can be used to find the derivative of implicit function
Suppose that we want to find the derivative of f(x,y)=c
Differentiating both sides with respect to x
f f dy
 0
x y dx
f
dy x dy f
or, dx   f or,  x
dx fy
y

Ex 1. Differentiate the implicit function x 3  y 3  3axy with respect to

x
x 3  y 3  3axy
dy  dy 
3x 2  3 y 2
dx
= 3a x dx  y 
dy 2 dy ay  x 2
( y  ax)  ay  x 2  2
dx dx y  ax
Alternative method
Let f ( x, y )  x 3  y 3  3axy  0
f x  3 x 2  3ay
f y  3 y 2  3ax
dy f dy ay  x 2
 x  2
dx fy dx y  ax

Tangent and Normal to the curve y=f(x)

dy
Equation of tangent at (x1,y1) is y-y1=m(x-x1) m= dx =slope of
the tangent at (x1,y1)
 dy 
y-y1=  dx  (x-x1)
1

7
 1
Equation of normal at (x1,y1) is y-y1= -  dy  (x-x1)
 dx 1
 dy 
or, (x-x1)+  
 dx 1
(y-y1)=0
y
y=f(x)

x
Fig15

Ex. Find the equation of tangent and normal to the curve y2=4x at
(1,2)

dy dy
y2=4x 2y dx =4 at (1,2) dx
=1
 dy 
so the equation of tangent at (1,2) is y-2=  dx  (x-1) or, y-2= (x-
1

1) or, x-y+1=0
 dy 
the equation of normal at (1,2) is (x-1)+  
 dx 1
(y-2)=0 or, (x-1)+
(y-2)=0 or, x+y-3=0

Angle of intersection of two curves  ( x, y )  0 and f ( x, y )  0

Angle between two curves at a point is equal to the angle between

their tangents at that point
dy x dy fx
m1= dx = -  y m2= dx = - fy

8
  (x,y)=0

P 
x
m1 =   y
f (x,y)=0
fx
fig16 m2 =  fy

x f x
 
m m y f y f x y  f y  x
tan  = 1 1 m m2 =  f = f x x  f y  y
1 2
1 x x
y f y
If the curves touch each other at (x1,y1) then f   f  x y y x

If they cut each other orthogonally at (x1,y1) then f  x x  f y y =0

length of the subtangent

y y
TM=PMcot = tan = y 1

P

x
T M N

Fig17

length of the subnormal

9
MN=PMtan = yy1

length of the tangent

2 2
2 2 2  y   y  2
PT =TM +MP =  y  + y2 =  y  (1  y1 )
 1  1

y
PT=length of the tangent= y1 1  y1
2

length of the normal

PN2=MN2+MP2= y 2 y1 2  y 2 =y2 (1  y1 2 )
PN=y 1  y12
n n

Ex. Show that the curve  a   y

x
   2
b
touches the straight line
x y
 2
a b
at the point (a,b) whatever be the value of n.

xn yn
 2
an bn
nx n 1 ny n 1 dy dy  x n 1b n
differentiating w.r.t. x an
 n
b dx
0
dx
= y n 1 a n
dy b
at (a,b) dx
= a
Equation of tangent at (a,b) is
b
y-b=  a (x-a)

x y
 2
a b
which is independent of n

x2 y2 x2 y2
Ex. Prove that the curves a

b
1 and 
a b
 1 will cut
orthogonally if a  b  a   b
h2 k 2 h2 k 2
Let (h,k) be the point of intersection then a

b
 1, 
a  b
1

1 1  1 1 
h 2     k 2   
 a a   b b 

10
  1 =0
x2 y2
f ( x, y )  
a b
 ( x, y )  x  y  1 =0
2 2

a  b
2x 2y 2x 2y
fx  fy  x  y 
a b a b
2h 2k 2h 2k
at (h,k) f x  a f y  b x  y 
a b
The curves will cut orthogonally if f  x x  f y y =0

2h 2h + 2k 2k =0
h2
1 =- 2 1
k
a a b b aa  bb 
1 1 1 1
 
a a b b
= a   b  a  b
1 1
aa  bb 

Ex. Prove that the sum of the intercepts of the tangents to the
curve x  y  a upon the coordinate axes is constant.
x y  a

Differenting w.r.t. x
1 1 dy dy y
 0
2 x 2 y dx dx
= x
Tangent at (x1,y1) is
 dy 
y-y1=  dx  (x-x1) 1

y
y-y1=  x
(x-x1)
y x

x1 =
x1  y1  a
y1
y x
 1 intercepts are ax1 and ay1
ay1 ax1
Sum of the intercepts = ax1 + ay1 = a ( x1 + y1 )= a a =a
y
y=f(x)

P
Q

11
 x

Fig18

12