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Tangent Plane: Exercise 2

This document presents two methods for finding the tangent plane of the curve x2 + y2 + 4z2 = 16 at the point (a, b, c). Method 1 directly calculates the normal vector and equation of the tangent plane. Method 2 generalizes that the partial derivatives of the function f(x,y,z) at the point must sum to zero on the tangent plane. Applying this to the given curve yields the same equation as Method 1.

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57 views2 pages

Tangent Plane: Exercise 2

This document presents two methods for finding the tangent plane of the curve x2 + y2 + 4z2 = 16 at the point (a, b, c). Method 1 directly calculates the normal vector and equation of the tangent plane. Method 2 generalizes that the partial derivatives of the function f(x,y,z) at the point must sum to zero on the tangent plane. Applying this to the given curve yields the same equation as Method 1.

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ნიკა ქურდაძე
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Tangent plane

Nika kurdadze
June 8, 2020

Exercise 2
We have to find the tangent plane of the curve x2 + y 2 + 4z 2 = 16 at the point
(a, b, c). I will show two different ways of solving this problem.

method 1
lets make z the function of x and y. we will have:
1p
z(x, y) = 16 − x2 − y 2
2
−x
z1 (x, y) = p
2 16 − x2 − y 2
−y
z2 (x, y) = p
2 16 − x2 − y 2
so, normal vector will be:
−a −b
√ i+ √ j−k
2
2 16 − a − b2 2 16 − a2 − b2
so, the equation of tangent plane is:
−a −b
√ (x − a) + √ (y − b) − (z − c) = 0
2
2 16 − a − b2 2 16 − a2 − b2
which simplifies to:
p
a(x − a) + b(x − b) + 2 16 − a2 − b2 (z − c) = 0

method 2
The second method is more easy and simply generalizes in higher dimensions.
let us consider the simpler task. assume that we have to find the tangent line
of f (x, y) = 0 at point (a,b). since, f(x,y) is constant through the curve, its
increase and decrease through x and y directions must add up to zero at any

1
point on this curve. since line is good approximation of the curve near the point,
we will have:
f1 (a, b)(x − a) + f2 (a, b)(y − b) = 0
If we have function of 3 variables, we would have tangent plane, but still sum
of all increases and decreases near the point must be zero, because function is
constant. so for 3 variable function, at point (a,b,c) we would have tangent
plane, that has equation:

f1 (a, b, c)(x − a) + f2 (a, b, c)(y − b) + f3 (a, b, c)(z − c) = 0 (1)

It is clear how we can generalize it in n dimension. if we have function of n


variables f (x1 , x2 ...xn ) = 0 its tangent plane at the point (a1 , a2 ...an ) will have
the equation:

f1 (a1 , a2 ...an )(x1 −a1 )+f2 (a1 , a2 ...an )(x2 −a2 )+...+fn (a1 , a2 ...an )(xn −an ) = 0
(2)
Now, lets solve our problem. we have f (x, y, z) = 16, where
f (x, y, z) = x2 + y 2 + 4z 2

f1 (x, y, z) = 2x
f2 (x, y, z) = 2y
f3 (x, y, z) = 8z
so, the tangent plane will have the equation
2a(x − a) + 2b(y − b) + 8c(z − c) = 0 ⇒ a(x − a) + b(x − b) + 4c(z − c) = 0
(3)
It may look different from the answer√ that we get from method 1, but if we
substitute the value of c, that is 21 16 − a2 − b2 , we will get, that tangent plane
has equation:
p
a(x − a) + b(x − b) + 2 16 − a2 − b2 (z − c) = 0

which is same as we got from method 1.

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