Mathematics

Week 7

Functions of Several Variables

 Learning Objectives

LO 3 :
Use several variable function for
optimization problems
 Sub Topics

• Functions of Two or More Variables

1

• Partial Derivatives
2

• The Chain Rule

3

• Extrema of Function of Two Variables

4

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 Function of Two Variables

Let D = {(x,y)|x,yR} be a subset of the xy-plane. A function

of two variables is a rule that assigns to each ordered pair of
real numbers (x,y) in D a unique real number z.

The set D is called the domain of f, and the set of

corresponding values of z is called the range of f.

The number z is usually written f(x,y). The variables x and y

are independent variables, and z is the dependent variable.

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 Example 1

Find and sketch the domain of the function

Solution
a. f(x,y) is a real number
provided that y2 – x ≥ 0.
Therefore, the domain of f is
D = {(x,y)| y2 – x ≥ 0}

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 Graph of a Function
of Two Variables

Let f be a function of two

variables with domain D.
The graph of f is the set

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 Example 2

Sketch the graph of What is the range

of f?

Solution
The domain of f is D = {(x,y)|x2 + y2 ≤ 9}, the disk with radius
3, centered at the origin. Writing z = f(x,y), we have

The equation represents a sphere of

radius 3 centered at the origin. Since,

z ≥ 0 we see that the graph of f is just an

upper hemisphere. Furthermore, z must
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 Level Curves

The level curves of a function f of two variables are the curves in

the xy-plane with equations f(x, y) = k, where k is a constant in
the range of f. 8
 Example 3

Sketch a contour map for the surface described by f(x,y) = x 2

+ y2, using the level curves corresponding to k = 0, 1, 4, 9,
and 16.

Solution

The level curve of f corresponding to each value of k is a

circle x2 + y2 = k of radius √k, centered at the origin.
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 Partial Derivatives
of a Function of Two Variables

Let z = f(x,y). Then the partial

derivative of f with respect to x (fx) is

and the partial derivative of f with

respect to y (fy) is

provided that each limit exists. 10

 Example 4 (1/2)

Find fx and fy if f(x,y) = x cos xy2

Solution
To compute fx, we think of the variable y as a constant and
differentiate with respect to x. Thus,

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 Example 4 (2/2)

Next, to compute fy, we treat x as a constant and differentiate

with respect to y.
Thus,

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 Example 4:
Implicit Differentiation (1/2)

Suppose z is a differentiable function of x and y that is

defined implicitly by x2 + y3 – z + 2yz2 = 5. Find ∂z/∂x and
∂z /∂y.

Solution
Differentiating the given equation implicitly with respect to x,
we find

and
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 Example 4 :
Implicit Differentiation (2/2)

Next, differentiating the given equation with respect to y, we

obtain

and

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 Higher-Order Derivatives

Consider the function z = f(x,y) of two variables. Each of the

partial derivatives ∂f/∂x and ∂f /∂y are functions of x and y.

Therefore, we may take the partial derivatives of these

functions to obtain the four second-order partial derivatives

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 Clairaut’s Theorem

If f(x,y) and its partial derivatives f x, fy, fxy, and fyx are
continuous on an open region R, then

for all (x, y) in R.

A function of two variables and is called a harmonic function

if

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 The Chain Rule
(One Independent Variable)

Let w = f(x,y), where f is a differentiable function of x and

y. If x = g(t) and y = h(t), where g and h are differentiable
functions of t, then w is a differentiable function of t, and

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 Example 5

Let w = x2y – xy3, where x = cos t and y = et. Find dw/dt and
its value when t = 0.

Solution
Using the Chain Rule, we have

Observe that if t = 0, then x = cos 0 = 1 and y = e 0 = 1. So

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 The General Chain Rule

if w = f(x1,x2,….,xn), where f is a differentiable function of n

intermediate variables, x1,x2,….,xn, and x1 = f1 (t1,t2,….,tm), x2
= f2(t1,t2,….,tm),…. , xn = fn(t1,t2,….,tm), where f1,f2,….,fn are
differentiable functions of m variables, t 1,t2,….,tm, then

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 Directional Derivative

Let f be a function of x and y and let u = u1i + u2j be a unit

vector. Then the directional derivative of f at (x,y) in the
direction of u is

If f is a differentiable function of x
and y, then f has a directional
derivative in the direction of any
unit vector u = u1i + u2j and

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 Example 6

Find the directional derivative of f(x,y) = 4 –

2x2 – y2 at the point (1,1) in the direction of

the unit vector u that makes an angle of
π/3 radians with the positive x-axis.

Solution
Here

We find that

In particular 21
 Relative Extrema

Let f be a function defined on a region R containing the

point (a,b). Then f has a relative maximum at (a,b) if
f(x,y) ≤ f(a,b) for all points (x,y) in an open disk
containing (a,b). The number f(a,b) is called a relative
maximum value.

Similarly, f has a relative minimum at (a,b) with relative

minimum value f(a, b) if f(x, y) ≥ f(a, b) for all points (x, y)
in an open disk containing (a, b).

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 Absolute Extrema

If the inequalities in this last definition hold for all points (x,y)
in the domain of f, f then
has an absolute maximum
(absolute minimum) at (a,b)
with absolute maximum
value (absolute minimum
value) f(a,b).

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 Critical Points—
Candidates for Relative Extreme

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 Example 7 (1/2)

Let f(x,y) = x2 + y2 – 4x – 6y + 17. Find the critical point of f,

and show that f has a relative minimum at that point.

Solution
To find the critical point of f, we compute
fx(x,y) = 2x – 4 = 2 (x - 2) and f y(x,y) = 2y – 6 = 2 (y - 3)
Setting fx and fy equal to zero, we find that x = 2 and y = 3,
so is the only critical point of f.

Next, to show that has a relative minimum at this point, we

complete the squares in x and y and write f(,y) in the form

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 Example 7 (2/2)

Notice that (x - 2)2 ≥ 0 and (y - 3)2 ≥ 0 ,

so f(x,y) ≥ 4 for all (x,y) in the domain
of f.

Therefore, f(2,3) = 4 is a relative

minimum value of f.

In fact, we have shown that 4 is the

absolute minimum value of .

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The Second Derivative Test
for Relative Extrema

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 Example 8 (1/3)

Find the relative extrema of f(x,y) = x 3 + y2 – 2xy + 7x – 8y + 2.

Solution
First, we find the critical points of f.

From the second equation we obtain y = x + 4, which upon

substitution into the first equation yields

Therefore, the critical points of f are (-1/3, 11/3) and (1,5).

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 Example 8 (2/3)

Next, we use the Second Derivative Test to determine the

nature of each of these critical points.

To test the point (-1/3, 11/3) , we compute

from which we deduce that (-1/3, 11/3) gives rise to the

saddle point (-1/3, 11/3, -373/27) of f.

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 Example 8 (3/3)

Next, to test the critical point (1,5), we compute

which indicates that (1,5) gives a relative extremum of .

Since

we see that yields a relative minimum of . Its value is

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Soo.T.Tan. Mutivariable Calculus. 2010.
Brooks/Cole. ISBN-13: 978-0-534-46575-9
Thank You