MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 1

CHAPTER 3: FUNCTION OF TWO AND THREE VARIABLES

3.1 Introduction
 Notation and Terminology
- similar to the functions of one variable. Eg:

i) z = f (x,y)
means that z is a function of x and y in the sense that a unique value of the dependent
variable z is determined by specifying values for the independent variables x and y

ii) w = f( x,y,z)
expresses w as a function of x, y and z.

iii) u = f ( x1 ,x2 , …,xn)

expresses u as a function of x1 ,x2 , …, xn

As with the function of one variable, the independent variable of function of two or more
variables may restricted to lie in some set D, which we call the domain of f.

 Definition
A function f of two variables, x and y, is a rule that assigns a unique real number f(x,y) to
each point (x,y) in some set D in xy-plane.

 Definition
A function f of three variables, x, y and z is a rule that assigns a unique real number f(x,y,z)
to each point (x,y,z) in some set D in three dimensional space.
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 2

 Graph of function of two variables

If f is a function of two variables, we define the graph of f(x,y) in xyz-space to be graph of the
equation z = f(x,y)

z = f(x,y) = xy plane 1  x 2  y 2 hemisphere

z=

1
0.75 1
0.5
0.25 0.5
0
-1 0
-0.5
0 -0.5
0.5
-1
1

2z  x 2  y 2 paraboloid z   x 2  y 2 Cone
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 3

3.2 Partial Derivative

If z  f x, y  , then one can inquire how the value of z changes if y is held fixed
and x is allowed to vary, or if x is held fixed and y is allowed to vary.

 Definition partial derivative functions

f x  x, y   f x, y 
f x x, y   lim slope in x direction
x 0 x
f x, y  y   f x, y 
f y x, y   lim slope in y direction
x 0 y

 Notation
Let z  f x, y 

f  x, y  f x  x , y 
Partial derivative of z with respect to z f 
x
x x x
f x, y  fy x, y 
Partial derivative of z with respect to z f 
y
y y y

Remarks: Here “∂” reads as “partial” or “partial d” The “∂” is a stylized d invented
by Legendre in 1786. Notation ∂f ∂x is used instead of df dx if f has more than one
variable.

 Rules of Partial Derivative

Let u and v are the functions of x and y, then
(a) Sum and Difference of functions

u  v   u x  v x
x

u  v   u y  v y
y
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 4

(b) Product Rule


uv   uv x  vu x
x

uv   uv y  vuy
y

(c) Quotient Rule

  u  vu x  uv x
 
x  v  v2
  u  vu y  uv y
 
y  v  v2

(d) Composite Function

If u is a function of a single variable p where p is a function of x and y,
then

u   u ' p x or du  p
x dp x

u   u ' py or du  p
y dp y

(e) Chain Rule

If u = f(x, y) is a function of two variables and x = g(r, s) , y = h(r, s), then
u u x u y
   
r x r y r
u u x u y
   
s x s y s
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 5

Example 1

f x, y 
Given f (x, y) = x3y2 , find fx x, y  and y .

Solution:

Example 2

z z
3 2 2
Given z = 3 + x + y − 2x y, find
x and y .
Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 6

Example 3

z z
2x 5
Given z = e sin y + y tan x, find
x and y .
Solution:

Example 4

1
x z z
Given z = e cos y + sin x ln y, find
2
x and y .

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 7

Example 5

3
x z z
Given z = tan x ln y − e y + ln x cos y, find
4
x and y .

Solution:

Example 6

u u
4 2 2 4
Show that u = Ax + 2Bx y +Cy satisfies the function x  y  4u .
x y
Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 8

Example 7

Given f (x, y) = x2y4, find fx(x, y),fx(1,2),fy(x, y),fy(1,2).

Solution:

Example 8

Given f (x, y) = x+y and g(x,y)= e xy , find


f  g ,  f  g ,  fg ,  fg ,   f  .
x x x y y  g 

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 9

Example 9

Find fx and fy for f(x,y)=tan-1(lnxy).

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 10

Example 10

Find fx and fy for f(x,y)=x4cot(xy3).

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 11

Example 11

e xy
Find fx and fy for
f ( x, y )  .
xy
Solution:

Example 12

v v
If v=f(p2+q2), show that p q 0.
q p

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 12

Example 13
2

For f ( x, y )  e xy  ( x 2  y 3 )2 , find fx(0,1) and fy(0,1).

Solution:

Example 14

a) Find fx x, y  and fy x, y  for f ( x, y )  4 x  x y  y  2 x y

3 2 3 4

b) Find the partial derivatives of the following functions with respect to x and y.
i) f x , y   x 5 e 2 y
ii) z  ln x  3y 
2 2

c) If f x, y   e lnx  y  . Find fx and fy

xy

d) If u  f  x, y  where x  p2  q 2 and y  3 pq , prove that

p
u
p
q
u
q

 2 p2  q 2
u
x

 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 13

3.3 Higher Order Partial Derivative

If u is a function of x and y , then the notations for the second order partial
derivatives are:

 2u   u   2u   u 
    u xx     uyy
x 2 x  x  y 2 y  y 

 2u   u   2u   u 
    uyx     uxy
xy x  y  yx y  x 

For third order partial derivatives:

 3u     u 
     u xxy
yx 2 y  x  x 
 3u     u 
    u xyy
y 2 x y  y  x 

Example 15

Find the second order partial derivatives of f (x, y) = x2 y3 + x4 y.

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 14

Example 16
 3f
Let f(x, y) = y2ex + y, find y x
2

Solution:

Example 17

 3f
Find if f(x,y)=ln(e2x+ tan4y).
y 2x

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 15

Example 18
t x z z
Show that the function z  e cos  satisfies the heat equation  c2 2
c t x
Solution:

Example 19
2  z 2z 2  z
2 2
y
Given that z  f   . Show that x  2 xy y 0
x x 2 yx y 2
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 16

3.4 Total differential

 Definition
If u  f x, y  , then the differential or total differential du  df  f x x  fy y or
f f
du  df  dx  dy where f  df , x  dx and y  dy are the
x y
increments of function f , variable x and y respectively. The total differential gives
the full information about rates of change of the function in the x-direction and in
the y-direction.
Approximation using total differential formula:
f ( x   x , y   y )  f ( x , y )  f x ( x , y ) x  f y ( x , y ) y

Example 20

Find the differential df given f(x, y) = x cos y + y sin x

Solution:

Example 21

Find the differential df given f(x, y) = x2y4 + 3 tan2y

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 17

Example 22

Estimate by a differential the change in f from (32, 16) to (35, 18), given that
f(x,y)=yx5/2+x√y. (answer: 30.4)

Solution:

Example 23

Use differential to estimate 27 3 1021 . (answer:52.35)

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 18

Example 24

Given that y  kwl ,where k is a constant. Calculate the approximate percentage in

4

dy
y if w is increased by 3% and l is decreased by 2.5%. (answer:  0.07 ).
y
Solution:

Example 25

A right circular cylinder has base radius, r = 9 cm and the height , h = 10 cm. Find
the approximate change in the volume of the cylinder if r is increased by 0.2 cm
and h is decreased by 0.3 cm.

Example 26

Use differential to approximate 3 27.1 15.9 , up to 3 decimal places.

 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 19

Example 27
x3  y
If f ( x, y , z )  , use the differentials to estimate the value of
z
f ( 2.01,3.98,3.02 ) correct to 4 decimal places.

Examples 28
ws 3
If y  4 , find the percentage increase in y when w increases by 2%, s
k
decreases by 3% and k increases by 1% .

3.5 Change of variables (Rate of change problem)

If u  f x  is continuous function of one variable and x  g t  is differentiable,

then by the chain rule:
du du dx
 
dt dx dt

If u  f x, y  is a continuous function of two variables and x  g t  , y  ht  ,

then
du u dx u dy
   
dt x dt y dt

If u  f x, y , z  is a continuous function of three variables and x  g t  , y  ht  ,

z  I t  , then
du u dx u dy u dz
     
dt x dt y dt z dt
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 20

Example 29

dz
Find given z=ln(x2+y2) and x=e-t , y=et.
dt
Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 21

Example 30
dz dz u
xy
Find
du and dv given z=e , x=2u+v, y= v
Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 22

3.6 Partial Differential for implicit function

z z
If z  f x, y  then dz  dx  dy ….(1)
x y
(1) ÷ dx , we obtain:
dz z  z dy
 
dx  x  y dx ….(2)

If z  f x, y   0 , then z = 0 ;
dz
0
dx
z z dy
From (2):  0
x y dx
z
dy dy z
  x or  x
dx z dx zy
y

dy
The equation of the tangent line: y-y1= (x-x1) at (x1,y1).
dx
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 23

Example 31

dy
Find by using implicit differentiation for x3+y3-2x2y=100.
dx

Solution:

Example 32

dy
Find by using implicit differentiation for xtany=ysinx.
dx

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 24

Example 33

dz dz
Find and given that F(x,y,z) = xy2+z3+sin(xyz)=0.
dy dx

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 25

Example 34

The radius of a cylinder increases at the rate of 0.2cm/s while the height decreases
at the rate of 0.5cm/s. Find the rate at which the volume is changing at the instant
when r = 8 cm and h = 12 cm.

Solution:

Example 35
dz
If z  ln2x  2y  , x  e t and y  t , evaluate
3
when t = 2.
dt
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 26

Example 36

The radius of a right circular cone is increasing at a rate of 1.5 cm/s while the
height is decreasing at a rate of 2 cm/s. If the surface area of the cone is
s  r 2  r r 2  h 2 find the rate of change of S when the radius is 4 cm and
height is 6 cm.

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 27

Example 37

Obtain the equation of the tangent to the curve y  6 xy  x  1 at point (1, 2).
3 3

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 28

Example 38

Find the equation of the tangent to the graph of x2 + y3 − 2y = 3 at point (2, 1)

using partial differentiation.

Solution:

Example 39

During heating, the radius of steel cylinder increases at the rate of 0.2 cm/s. while
the height decrease at the rate of 0.1 cm/s. Find the rate at which the surface area is
changing at the instant when r = 10 cm and h = 16 cm.

Example 40

dy
for the function x  3y  6 xy  10  0 .
3 3
Find
dx

Example 42
Obtain the equation of the tangent to the curve x  2 xy  y  1 at point (2,1)
2 2

using partial differentiation.

 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 29

3.7 Extremum of Functions

3.7.1 The Critical Point Criterion

1. If f ( x, y ) has an extremum at point (a, b) then:

f
a, b   0 and f a, b   0
x y

2. The critical point that are neither maximum nor minimum are called saddle
points.

3. For a stationary/ critical point,

f f
0 and 0
x y
fx  0 and fy  0

For Maximum points

f xx  0 and fyy  0

For Minimum points

f xx  0 and fyy  0
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 30

Example 43

Find the critical points for the function f(x,y)=4xy-2x2+y

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 31

Example 44

Find the critical points for the function f(x,y)=3+4xy+2x2-y3

Solution:

Example 45

Find the critical points for the function f(x,y)=2x3+y3+3x2-18y2+81y+5

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 32

3.7.2 The Second Partial Derivative Test

Let f be a function of two variables with continuous second-order partial

derivatives in some disk centered at a critical point (a,b) and let
 
D  f xx a, b f yy a, b   f xy a, b  2

(a) If D > 0 and f xx a, b   0 then f has minimum point at (a, b)

(b) If D > 0 and f xx a, b   0 then f has maximum point at (a, b)

(c) If D < 0 then f has saddle point at (a, b)

(d) If D = 0 then no conclusion can be made

(not minimum, not minimum or saddle point)
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 33

Example 46

Find the critical points for the function f(x,y)=3-y3+4xy+2x2 are (0,0) and (4/3,-
4/3). Classify the critical points.

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 34

Example 47

Locate and classify the critical points for the function f(x,y)=3x2-2xy+y2-8y.

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 35

Example 48

Find the stationary point for the function and determine the nature
f(x,y)=2x3+6xy2-3y3-150x.

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 36

Example 49

Find all the critical points for the function f(x,y)=4xy-x4-y4. Determine which give
relative minima, maxima or saddle points.

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 37

Example 50

A rectangular box open at the top is to have a volume of 32 cm3. What must be the
dimensions so that the total surface is minimum?

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 38

Example 51

Find the dimensions of a six-faced box that has the shape of a rectangular prism
with the largest possible volume that you can make with 12 square meters of
cupboard.

Solution:
 MAT235, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 39

Example 52

Given that f x, y   2x  3y  4x  12y  5 , find the critical point f x, y  and
2 2

determine the nature of the point.

Example 53

Find the relative maxima, relative minima and the saddle points (if they exist) of
the function f x, y   12 x y  9 xy  6 xy
2 2