CHAPTER 4

PARTIAL DIFFERENTIATION

PARTIAL DIFFERENTIATION OF A FUNCTION OF TWO VARIABLES

IF 𝑧 = 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦 ) then to find fx , we consider y constant and differentiate with respect to x. Similarly, to find fy,

we consider x constant and differentiate with respect to y.

Notation for First Partial Derivatives

For z = f(x, y ), the partial derivatives 𝑓𝑥 and 𝑓𝑦 are denoted by

𝜕 𝜕𝑧
a) 𝜕𝑥
𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑓𝑥 (𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑧𝑥 = 𝜕𝑥

𝜕 𝜕𝑧
b) 𝜕𝑦
𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑓𝑦 (𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑧𝑦 = 𝜕𝑦

Example: For each of the following f(x, y), find fx and fy.

a) 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦 ) = 2𝑥 − 3𝑦 + 5

𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓
=2 = −3
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦

b) 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑥√𝑦

𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓 1 1 𝑥
= √𝑦 = 𝑥 ( 𝑦 −2 ) =
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 2 2√𝑦

c) 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦 ) = 𝑥 2 𝑒 2𝑦

𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓
= 2𝑥𝑒 2𝑦 = 2𝑥 2 𝑒 2𝑦
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦

d) 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦 ) = 𝑒 𝑦 sin(𝑥𝑦)

𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓
= 𝑦𝑒 𝑦 cos(𝑥𝑦) = 𝑒 𝑦 𝑦 cos(𝑥𝑦) + sin(𝑥𝑦) 𝑒 𝑦 = 𝑒 𝑦 [𝑦𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝑥𝑦) + sin(𝑥𝑦)]
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦
e) 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦 ) = 3𝑥 − 𝑥 2 𝑦 2 + 2𝑥 3 𝑦

𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓
= 3 − 2𝑥𝑦 2 + 6𝑥 2 𝑦 = −2𝑥 2 𝑦 + 2𝑥 3
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦

𝑥+𝑦
f) 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦 ) = 𝑥−𝑦

𝜕𝑓 (𝑥 − 𝑦)(1) − (𝑥 + 𝑦)(1) 𝜕𝑓 (𝑥 − 𝑦)(1) − (𝑥 + 𝑦)(−1)

(𝑥 − 𝑦 − 𝑥 − 𝑦) (𝑥 − 𝑦 + 𝑥 + 𝑦)
= =
(𝑥 − 𝑦)2 (𝑥 − 𝑦)2

−2𝑦 2𝑥
= =
(𝑥 − 𝑦)2 (𝑥 − 𝑦)2

Notation for Higher Order Partial Derivatives

For z = f(x, y ), the partial derivatives fxx and fyy are denoted by

𝜕2𝑓 𝜕 𝜕𝑓
a) 𝜕𝑥𝜕𝑥
= ( ) = 𝑓𝑥𝑥
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥

𝜕2 𝑓 𝜕 𝜕𝑓
b) = ( ) = 𝑓𝑦𝑦
𝜕𝑦𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦

Notation for Mixed Partial Derivatives

For z = f(x, y ), the partial derivatives fxy and fyx are denoted by

𝜕2𝑓 𝜕 𝜕𝑓
a) = ( ) = 𝑓𝑦𝑥
𝜕𝑥𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦

𝜕2𝑓 𝜕 𝜕𝑓
b) 𝜕𝑦𝜕𝑥
= ( ) = 𝑓𝑥𝑦
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥
Example : Find the 𝑓𝑥𝑥 , 𝑓𝑦𝑦 , 𝑓𝑥𝑦 , 𝑓𝑦𝑥 , 𝑓𝑧𝑧 , 𝑓𝑧𝑥 , 𝑓𝑥𝑦 ( where applicable ).

a) 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦 ) = 3𝑥𝑦 2 − 2𝑦 3 + 5𝑥 2

𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓
= 3𝑦 2 + 10𝑥 = 6𝑥𝑦 − 6𝑦 2
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦

𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑦
𝑓𝑥𝑥 = ( ) = 10 𝑓𝑦𝑦 = ( ) = 6𝑥 − 12𝑦
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦

𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑦
𝑓𝑥𝑦 = ( ) = 6𝑦 𝑓𝑦𝑥 = ( ) = 6𝑦
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦

b) 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧 ) = 𝑦𝑒 𝑥 + 𝑥 ln 𝑧
𝑥
𝑓𝑥 = 𝑦𝑒 𝑥 + ln 𝑧 𝑓𝑦 = 𝑒 𝑥 𝑓𝑧 = 𝑧
First partial
diff.

𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑦
Higher partial 𝑓𝑥𝑥 = ( ) 𝑓𝑦𝑦 = ( ) 𝑓𝑧𝑧 = ( )
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑧
diff. 𝑥 𝑧(0)−𝑥(1) −𝑥
= 𝑦𝑒 =0 = = 2
2𝑧 𝑧

𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓
𝑓𝑥𝑦 = ( ) 𝑓𝑦𝑥 = ( ) 𝑓𝑧𝑥 = ( )
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑧
= 𝑒𝑥 = 𝑒𝑥 1
=
𝑧
Mixed partial
𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓
diff. 𝑓𝑥𝑧 = ( ) 𝑓𝑦𝑧 = ( )=0 𝑓𝑧𝑦 = ( )=0
𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
1
=
𝑧
Small Increment
Notation for small increment is δ. Let z  f (x ,x ,…, x ).
1 2 n

A small increment δz is given by

Example
A cylinder has radius, r is 6 cm and height, h is15cm. Find approximate increase in volume when r
increases by 0.4 cm and h decreases by 0.2cm.
Solution:

Rate of Change

Let z = f (x ,x ,…, x ). Rate of change z with respect to time t is given by

dz z dx1 z dx2 z dxn

dx1 dx2 dx
, ,, n
where dt dt dt are rates of change for the variables with respect t.
Example

Solution: