4.

VECTOR PARTIAL

DIFFERENTIATION

Definition: For a given vector valued function A depending on more than

one variable, say x, y, z , we then write this as A  A( x, y, z ) Suppose now

the scalar variable x changes by small value x , while other y and z are

held fixed. Then the vector function A changes with respect to the

variable x and is defined as

A  A( x  x, y, z )  A( x, y, z ) 
 lim  
x x0  x 

Similarly for y, z we have

A  A( x, y  y, z )  A( x, y, z )  A  A( x, y, z  z )  A( x, y, z ) 
 lim   and  lim  
y y 0  y  z z 0  z 

Rules for partial differentiation

If A and B are functions of x, y, z then

Notes By JD Madasi
  B A
(i)
x

A B  Ax
 B
x

 B A
(ii)
x

A B  A  
x x
B

Example

A A
If A   4 x3 y  x5  iˆ   e xy  y sin x  ˆj  x 2 cos ykˆ , Find and
x y

Solution:

A
Given that A   4 x3 y  x5  iˆ   e xy  y sin x  ˆj  x 2 cos ykˆ , we need to find
x

A
 12 x 2 y  5 x 4  iˆ   ye xy  y cos x  ˆj  2 x cos ykˆ
x

A
Similarly for we get
y

A
 4 xiˆ   xe xy  y sin x  ˆj  x 2 sin ykˆ
y

Notes By JD Madasi
Exercise 4

1 (a) What is derivative of a vector?

𝜕𝐴
(b) If 𝐴⃗= (2𝑥 2 𝑦 − 𝑥 4 )𝑖 + (𝑒 𝑥𝑦 − 𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑥)𝑗 + (𝑥 2 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑦)𝑘 find (a)
𝜕𝑥

𝜕𝐴
(b)
𝜕𝑦

1. (a) If A is a vector depending on more than one scalar variable,

say 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧 and can be written for 𝐴 = 𝐴(𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) how can you

define its first order partial derivatives?

𝜕𝐴
(b) If A = (cos(𝑥𝑦)𝑖 + (3𝑥𝑦 − 2𝑥 2 )𝑗 + (3𝑥 + 2𝑦)𝑘.Find (i)
𝜕𝑥

𝜕𝐴
(ii)
𝜕𝑦

2. (a) Explain the meaning of partial derivative of 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧)

∂(3A) ∂(4A)
(a) If A = (cos(xy)i + (3xy − 2x 2 )j + (3x + 2y)k.Find (i) (ii)
∂x ∂y

Notes By JD Madasi