INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY TIRUPATI

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS

MA103L-ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS-I
TUTORIAL-III 01-09-2023

Partial Derivatives
1. Find fx and fy
x
(a) f (x, y) =
x2
+ y2
"p #
x2 + y 2 − x
(b) f (x, y) = ln p
x2 + y 2 + x
∞
X
(c) f (x, y) = (xy)n , |xy| < 1
n=0

2. Find fx , fy and fz

(a) f (x, y, z) = sin−1 (xyz)

(b) f (x, y, z) = yz ln(xy)
(c) f (x, y, z) = ex/y + ey/z

3. Use the limit definition of partial derivative to compute partial derivatives fx and fy of
the functions at the specified points
√
(a) f (x, y) = 2x + 3y − 1, (−2, 3)
(b) Point (0, 0)  3 4
 sin(x + y )

(x, y) ̸= (0, 0)
f (x, y) = x2 + y 2
0

(x, y) = (0, 0)

4. Find the value of xz at the point (1, −1, −3) if the equation

xz + y ln x − x2 + 4 = 0

defines x as a function of the two independent variables y and z and the partial derivative
exists.
 5. Let  2 2
xy x − y

if (x, y) ̸= (0, 0)
f (x, y) = x2 + y 2
0

if (x, y) = (0, 0)

(a) Show that fy (x, 0) = x, fx (0, y) = −y

(b) Show that fyx (0, 0) ̸= fxy (0, 0)

Directional Derivatives

6. Find the derivative of the function at P0 in the direction u.

(a) f (x, y) = 2xy − 3y 2 , P0 (5, 5), u = (4, 3)

x−y
(b) g(x, y) = , P0 (1, −1), u = (12, 5)
xy + 2
7. Find the directions in which the functions increase and decrease most rapidly at P0 . Then
find the derivatives of the functions in these directions.

(a) f (x, y) = x2 + xy + y 2 , P0 (−1, 1)

x
(b) g(x, y, z) = − yz, P0 (4, 1, 1)
y
(c) h(x, y, z) = ln(x2 + y 2 − 1) + y + 6z, P0 (1, 1, 0)
 
x−y 1 3
8. Let f (x, y) = . Find the directions u and the values of Du f − , for which
x+y 2 2
 
1 3
(a) Du f − , is largest
2 2
 
1 3
(b) Du f − , = −2
2 2
 
1 3
(c) Du f − , =1
2 2

Tangent Planes and Normal Lines

9. Find equations for the tangent plane and normal line at the point P0 on the given surface

(a) x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 3 at P0 (1, 1, 1)
(b) x + y + z = 1 at P0 (0, 1, 0)
(c) x2 + y 2 − z 2 = 18 at P0 (3, 5, −4)

10. By about how much will

p
f (x, y, z) = ln x2 + y 2 + z 2
change if the point P (x, y, z) moves from P0 (3, 4, 12) a distance of ds = 0.1 unit in the
direction of (3, 6, −2).
 Extreme Values and Saddle Points

11. Find the local maxima, local minima and saddle points of the following functions

(a) f (x, y) = x2 + xy + 3x + 2y + 5
(b) f (x, y) = x3 − y 3 − 2xy + 6
(c) f (x, y) = x3 + 3xy 2 − 15x + y 3 − 15y
(d) f (x, y) = e−y (x2 + y 2 )

12. Find the absolute maxima and minima of the functions on the given domain

(a) f (x, y) = x2 + xy + y 2 − 6x + 2 on the rectangular plate 0 ≤ x ≤ 5, −3 ≤ y ≤ 0

π π
(b) f (x, y) = (4x − x2 ) cos y on the rectangular plate 1 ≤ x ≤ 3, − ≤ y ≤
4 4
13. A flat circular plate has the shape of the region x2 + y 2 ≤ 1. The plate including the
boundary where x2 + y 2 = 1 is heated so that the temperature at the point (x, y) is
T (x, y) = x2 + 2y 2 − x. Find the temperature at the hottest and coldest points on the
plate.

Practice Problems
1. Laplace Equation: Show that the following functions satisfy the two-dimensional Laplace
equation
uxx + uyy = 0
x
(a) u(x, y) = tan−1
y
x
(b) u(x, y) = e (x cos y − y sin y)
(c) u(x, y) = 3x2 y + 2x2 − y 3 − 2y 2

2. Laplace Equation: Show that the following functions satisfy the three-dimensional
Laplace equation
uxx + uyy + uzz = 0
1
(a) u(x, y, z) = p
x + y2 + z2
2

(b) u(x, y, z) = e3x+4y cos 5z

(c) u(x, y, z) = 2z 3 − 3(x2 + y 2 )z

Note: This is also called as Potential equation by fluid dynamics engineers, steady-state
heat equation by thermal engineers, electrostatic equation by electrical engineers and it
has plenty of applications in edge detection, image sharpening, image restoration in AI,
ML and image processing. Refer what is Laplacian filter.
3. Show that if w = f (u, v) satisfies the Laplace equation fuu +fvv = 0 and if u = (x2 −y 2 )/2
and v = xy, then w satisfies the Laplace equation wxx + wyy = 0.

4. Wave Equation: Show that the following functions satisfy the one-dimensional wave
equation
utt = c2 uxx

(a) u(x, t) = sin(x + ct) + cos(2x + 2ct)

(b) u(x, t) = ln(2x + 2ct)
(c) u(x, t) = 5 cos(3x + 3ct) + ex+ct

Note: This is called as Helmholtz equation by electrical engineers, vibration equation

by mechanical engineers.

5. Heat Equation: Show that the function u(x, t) = sin(αx)e−βt satisfy the one-dimensional
heat equation
ut = uxx
for constants α and β. What is the relationship between α and β for this function to be
a solution?
Note: This is called as diffusion equation by mechanical and chemical engineers, consol-
idation equation by civil engineers, telegraph equation by electrical engineers and Black-
Scholes equation by economists.

6. Temperature on a Circle: Let T = f (x, y) be the temperature at the point (x, y) on

the circle x = cos t, y = sin t, 0 ≤ t ≤ 2π and suppose that

Tx = 8x − 4y, Ty = 8y − 4x

(a) Find where the maximum and minimum temperature on the circle occur by exam-
ining the derivatives dT /dt and d2 T /dt2 .
(b) Suppose that T = 4x2 − 4xy + 4y 2 . Find the maximum and minimum values of T
on the circle.

7. Kortweg-deVries Equation The nonlinear differential equation, which describes wave

motion on shallow water surfaces, is given by

4ut + uxxx + 12uux = 0

Show that u(x, t) = sec h2 (x − t) satisfies the the Kortweg-deVries equation

1
8. Show that T = p satisfies the equation Txx + Tyy = T 3 .
2
x +y 2

9. Temperature Change along a Circle Suppose that the Celsius temperature at the
point (x, y) in the xy− plane is T (x, y) = x sin 2y and that distance in the xy− plane is
measures in meters. A particle is moving clockwise around the circle of radius 1 centered
at the origin at the constant rate of 2m/sec
 (a) How fast is the temperature experienced by the particle changing in degrees Celsius
√
per meter at the point P (1/2, 3/2)?
(b) How fast is the temperature experienced by the particle changing in degrees Celsius
per second at P ?
p
10. Find the maximum distance from the cone z = x2 + y 2 to the point (−6, 4, 0)

11. Find the dimensions of the rectangular box of maximum volume that can be inscribed
inside the sphere x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 4

12. Among all closed rectangular boxes of volume 27cm2 , what is the smallest surface area?

13. CS/AI/ML Problem: Least Squares and Regression Lines: When we try to fit a
line y = mx + b to a set of numerical data points (x1 , y1 ), (x2 , y2 ), · · · , (xn , yn ), we usually
chose the line that minimizes the sum of the squares of the vertical distances from the
points in the line. In theory, this means find the values of m and b that minimizes the
value of the function

w = (mx1 + b − y1 )2 + (mx2 + b − y2 )2 + · · · + (mxn + b − yn )2

Show that the values of m and b that do this are

( nk=1 xk ) ( nk=1 yk ) − n nk=1 xk yk
P P P
m= 2
( nk=1 xk ) − n nk=1 x2k
P P

n n
!
1 X X
b= yk − m xk
n k=1 k=1

The line y = mx + b determined by these values of m and b is called the least squares
line, regression line or trend line for the data under study.

14. EE Problem: Variation of Electrical Resistance The resistance R produce by wiring

resistors of R1 and R2 ohms in parallel can be calculated from the formula
1 1 1
= +
R R1 R2
You have designed two-resistor circuit with R1 = 100 ohms and R2 = 400 ohms, but
there is always some variation in manufacturing and the resistors received by your firm
will probably not have these exact values. Will the value of R be more sensitive to
variation in R1 or to variation in R2 ?

15. ME Problem : Velocity after a ricochet A particle traveling in a straight line

with constant velocity i + j − 5k passes through the point (0, 0, 30) and hits the surface
z = 2x2 + 3y 2 . The particle ricochets off the surface, the angle of reflection being equal
to the angle of incidence. Assuming no loss of speed, what is the velocity of the particle
after ricochet?
16. CH Problem: Path of a heat-seeking particle A heat seeking particle has the
property that at any point (x, y) in the plane it moves in the direction of maximum
temperature increase. If the temperature at (x, y) is T (x, y) = −e−2y cos x, find an
equation y = f (x) for the path of a heat-seeking particle at the point (π/4, 0).

17. CE Problem: Drilling another borehole On a flat surface of land, geologists drilled
a borehole straight down and hit a mineral deposit at 1000f t. They drilled a second
borehole 100f t to the north of the first and hit the mineral deposit at 950f t. A third
borehole 100f t east of the first borehole struck the mineral deposit at 1025f t. The
geologists have reasons to believe that the mineral deposit is in the shape of a dome, and
for the sake of economy, they would like to find where the deposit is closest to the surface.
Assuming the surface to be the xy-plane, in what direction from the first borehole would
you suggest the geologists drill their fourth borehole.