Math 53: Worksheet 5

September 26

1. Sketch the following surfaces.

(a) y 2 + 4 = x2 + 4z 2 .

This equation represents a hyperboloid of one sheet wrapped around the y-axis.

-1
2.6904

-2
1.61424

Z axis
0.53808

-0.53808

-1.61424

-2.6904

5.38516

3.23459

5 1.08402
3 xis
-1.06656 Xa
1
Y axis
-1 -3.21713
-3
-5.3677
-5

(b) y 2 + 2z 2 = 6.

This equation represents a cylinder

√ wrapped around the√ x-axis. Note that the
cylinder will have a radius of 6 in the y direction and 3 in the z direction.

1.5

0.5

-0.5

1.73065 -1

-1.5
1.03839
Z axis

0.346129

-0.346129

-1.03839

-1.73065

-5
-2.44155
-3
-1.46334
-1
-0.485132 is
X ax
0.493075 1
Y axis
1.47128 3

2.44949 5

1
 (c) x2 − y 2 − z 2 = 4.

We have x2 = 4 + y 2 + z 2 . This represents a hyperboloid of two sheets about the

x-axis.

-2

5.65227 -4

3.39136

1.13045
Z axis

-1.13045

-3.39136

-5.65227
-5.63851
-3.37944 -6
-1.12036 -3.6
Y axi -1.2
s 1.13871
1.2 X axis
3.39778
3.6
5.65685 6

2. Find a vector function that represents the curve of intersection of the cylinder x2 +y 2 =
9 and the plane x + 2y + z = 3.

Note that the cylinder can be parametrized as x = 3 ∗ cos(t), y = sin(t), where

0 ≤ t < 2π, with z ∈ R. Plugging these in the equation of the plane gives
z = 3 − x − 2y = 3 − 3 cos(t) − 6 sin(t).
The curve of intersection is therefore given by

r(t) =< 3 cos(t), 3 sin(t), 3 − 3 cos(t) − 6 sin(t) > , 0 ≤ t < 2π.

3. Find the point of intersection of the tangent lines to the curve r(t) =< sin(πt), 2 sin(πt), cos(πt) >
at the points where t = 0 and t = 0.5.

We have
r0 (t) =< π cos(πt), 2π cos(πt), −π sin(πt) > .
At t = 0 and t = 0.5, we get v := r0 (0) =< π, 2π, 0 > and w := r0 (0.5) =< 0, 0, −π >.
Also let a := r(0) =< 0, 0, 1 > and b := r(0.5) =< 1, 2, 0 >. The two tangent lines
have equations
r1 (s) = a + sv =< πs, 2πs, 1 >
r1 (u) = b + uw =< 1, 2, −πu >
where s, u ∈ R. At the point of intersection, we require
πs = 1, 2πs = 2, 1 = −πu
1
so that s = π
and u = − π1 . The point of intersection is therefore

r1 (1/π) = r2 (−1/π) = < 1, 2, 1 > .

2
4. Show that the curve with parametric equations x = sin(t), y = cos(t), z = sin2 (t) is
the curve of intersection of the surfaces z = x2 and x2 + y 2 = 1. Use this fact to help
sketch the curve.

Note that the parametric equations of the curve obey both z(t) = x(t)2 and x(t)2 +
y(t)2 = 1 for all values of t.

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6
z-axis

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
1
0.5
1
0 0.5
-0.5 0
-0.5
y-axis -1 -1
x-axis

5. Draw contour maps of the following functions showing several level curves.

(a) f (x, y) = y sec(x).

Observe that f (x, y) = k ⇒ y sec(x) = k ⇒ y = k cos(x). The level curves of

f are therefore just cosine waves of differing amplitudes. Note that the points
where the level curves meet are not actually part of the domain of f .

0
y

-1

-2

-3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
x

x
(b) f (x, y) = x2 +y 2
.

3
 Let k 6= 0 first. Observe that f (x, y) = k ⇒ k1 x = x2 + y 2 ⇒ (x − 2k
1 2
) + y 2 = 4k12 .
The level curves of f are therefore just circles centered at different points on the
x-axis and passing through the origin. Note again that the origin is not actually
part of the domain of f . For k = 0, we simply get f (x, y) = 0 ⇒ x = 0, i.e, the
y-axis.

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
y

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
x

(c) f (x, y) = sin(xy).

Let −1 ≤ k ≤ 1. Observe that f (x, y) = k ⇒ sin(xy) = k ⇒ xy = arcsin(k) ⇒

y = arcsin(k)
x
. The level curves of f therefore are the inverse proportionality curves
between x and y.

0
y

-1

-2

-3
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
x

6. Find the limit, if it exists, or show that the limit does not exist.
5x2 y
(a) lim(x,y)→(0,0) x2 +y 2
.

We show that the limit is zero. Switching to polar coordinates gives

5x2 y 5r3 cos2 (θ) sin(θ)
lim = lim = lim 5r cos2 (θ) sin(θ).
(x,y)→(0,0) x2 + y 2 r→0 r2 r→0

4
 Since 5 cos2 (θ) sin(θ) is bounded, we conclude that the limit is zero.
sin(xy 2 )
(b) lim(x,y)→(0,0) x2 +y 4
.
sin(0)
Along the y-axis, we have x = 0 so we get limy→0 y4
= 0. Along the curve
4)
x = y 2 , however, we get limy→0 sin(y
= 21 . Since we get different values along
2y 4
different paths, we conclude that the required limit does not exist.
2x
(c) lim(x,y)→(0,0) x2 +x+y 2
.

Along the y-axis, we have x = 0 so we get limy→0 y02 = 0. Along the x-axis, we
have y = 0 so we get limx→0 x22x+x = 2. Since we get different values along different
paths, we conclude that the required limit does not exist.
x2 +y 2
(d) lim(x,y)→(0,0) √ .
x2 +y 2 +1−1

Note that rationalization yields

p p
x2 + y 2 x2 + y 2 + 1 + 1 (x2 + y 2 )( x2 + y 2 + 1 + 1)
lim p ×p = lim
(x,y)→(0,0) x2 + y 2 + 1 − 1 x2 + y 2 + 1 + 1 (x,y)→(0,0) x2 + y 2 + 1 − 1
p
whence we get lim(x,y)→(0,0)
√ x2 + y 2 + 1 + 1. Since this function is continuous at
(0, 0), the limit is 0 + 0 + 1 + 1 = 2.
2 2
e−x −y −1
(e) lim(x,y)→(0,0) x2 +y 2
.

Switching to polar coordinates gives

2 2 2 2
e−x −y − 1 e−r − 1 −2re−r 2
lim 2 2
= lim 2
= lim = lim −e−r = −1
(x,y)→(0,0) x +y r→0 r r→0 2r r→0

where we used L’Hopital’s rule.