Normal Derivative (d9c15f35-2e58-441e-936b-4794971ea597)

‘ /nawr-muh/ l adjectiv /dih-riv-uh-tiv | adjective

Definition: Normal Derivative of a function say f(x,y) at some

point i.e <a,b> is given by the dot product of the gradient of
function f(x,y)|<a,b> and the unit vector along which we have to
find the normal derivative ; gradient of a function f(x,y) is given
by
$\nabla f(x,y) = (\frac {\partial f(x,y)} {\partial x}, \frac {\partial
f(x,y)} {\partial y}) $
In case of the function is of three variable i.e f(x,y,z) at the
given point (a,b,c)
gradient of a function f(x,y,z) is given by
$\nabla f(x,y,z) = (\frac {\partial f(x,y,z)} {\partial x}, \frac
{\partial f(x,y,z)} {\partial y}, \frac {\partial f(x,y,z)} {\partial
z}) $

Overview of the Normal Derivative: Normal derivative is

also called as the directional derivative as it is the rate of change
of a function in the direction of a unit vector i.e
$ \vec{v} = <a,b> $. It is the rate of change of a multivariable
function i.e f(x,y,z) with respect to a single variable keeping
other two constant along the unit vector direction.
Fig : Representation of the directional derivative along the
vector, Here f(x,y)= 4-2x2 -y2 the unit vector $\vec{v} =
\frac{1}{2} , \frac {\sqrt {3}}{2} $
picture source{https://www.slideshare.net/eurekacifto29/differential-in-several-variables}

Normal Derivative Using Partial Derivative

Let’s we are given a function f(x,y,z) and asked to find the
normal derivative along the vector $\vec{v} = (a,b,c) $
1)
f(x,y,z) = x2z+y3z2-xyz in the direction of $ \vec{v} = (-1 ,0,3) $

So, let’s make the given vector into a unit vector so

Magnitude of $ \vec{v} $ = $ \sqrt {(-1)2 +(0)2 +(3)2} $ =
$\sqrt{10} $
so, the unit vector will be $\frac {(-1,0,3)} {\sqrt{10}}
Hence Normal Derivative will be
$(\frac{-1}{\sqrt{10}})(2xz-yz) +(0)(3y^2z^2-xz)+(\frac{3}
{\sqrt{10}})(x^2+2y^3z-xy)$

Here we have used partial derivative .

Normal derivative using gradient

Given a function f(x,y,z) = $ 4- 2x^2-y^2 $ at the point (1,1)

along the direction of unit vector $ \vec{v} = $\frac {1}{2},
\frac {\sqrt {3}}{2} $

So the gradient of function will be ;

$ \nabla {f(x,y)} $ = $ \nabla ({4 –2x^2-y^2}) $ = < -4x, -2y>
And the point is (1,1) so the value of $ \nabla ({4 –2x^2-y^2}) $
at point (1,1) will be <-4(1), -2(1)> = <-4, -2>
So finally, the normal derivative will be
$ (-4) (\frac {1}{2}) +(-2) (\frac {\sqrt {3}}{2}) = -2- \sqrt {3}
$
The pictorial representation is given in the figure here
Source : https://www.slideshare.net/eurekacifto29/differential-in-several-variables

Maximum Value of the Normal Derivative and it’s direction

The maximum rate of change of f(x,y) is given by the
magnitude of the magnitude of gradient of f(x,y) at the point
(a,b) and the direction of the maximum change is given by
gradient of f(x,y)|<a,b>

Example. Let the temperature of a surface is varying according

to the function f(x,y) = $ 100-0.01x^2-0.01y^2 $. If you selected
randomly a point (10,20) in which direction temperature is
changing fastest and find the rate also.

So, our function f(x,y) = $ 100-0.01x^2-0.01y^2 $

So, the gradient of f(x,y) will be
$\nabla {f(x,y)} = \nabla ({100-0.01x^2-0.01y^2})$ = <-0.02x
-0.02y>
So, the gradient at the given point (10,20) is $\nabla {f (10,20)}
<-0.02(10), -0.02(20)> =<-0.2, -0.4>
Maximum rate of change of temperature at the point is;
$ \mid \mid \nabla {f (10,20)} \mid \mid $ = 0.4472
And the direction of the maximum rate of change of temperature
is <-0.2, -0.4>

Key Takeaways
To find the directional derivative of a function f(x,y,z) we need
to take the point (a,b,c) as origin of the vector on the surface
f(x,y,z) and draw the vector in the direction of the unit vector
$ \vec{c}=(c_x , c_y ,c_z) $ so the slope of the vector is called
directional derivative .
THUMBLINE IMAGE

Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directional_derivative
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