1 Chapter 1: Functions of Several Variables

Total Differential

 Definition
If z  f ( x, y ) and  x and  y are the increments of x and y, then the differentials of
the independent variables x and y are dx  x and dy  y .
The total differential of the dependent variable z is:
z z
dz  f x ( x, y )dx  f y ( x, y )dy  dx  dy
x y
Similarly, the idea of total differential can be extended to a function of three variables
w  f ( x, y, z ) , where the total differential of the dependent variable w is defined as:
w w w
dw  f x ( x, y, z )dx  f y ( x, y, z )dy  f z ( x, y, z )dz  dx  dy  dz
x y z

 Total differential dz is in fact the approximation of z , where z represents the

change in height of surface z  f ( x, y ) when ( x, y ) changes from (a, b) to
(a  x, b  y ) .

Example 1

(a) If z  f ( x, y )  x 2  3xy  y 2 , find the differential dz.

(b) If x changes from 2 to 2.05 and y changes from 3 to 2.96, compare the values of z
and dz.

Solution

(a) Given that z  x 2  3xy  y 2

z z
  2 x  3 y and  3x  2 y
x y

z z
dz  dx  dy
x y

 (2 x  3 y )dx  (3x  2 y )dy

(b) Putting x  2 , dx x  0.05 , y  3, dy  y  0.04 , we get

dz  [2(2)  3(3)](0.05)  [3(2)  2(3)]( 0.04)  0.65
z  f (2.05,2.96)  f (2,3)
 [(2.05)2  3(2.05)(2.96)  (2.96) 2 ]  [(2) 2  3(2)(3)  (3)2 ]
 0.6449
Notice that z  dz , but dz is easier to compute
 2 Chapter 1: Functions of Several Variables

Example 2

A solid cylinder of radius r and height h is heated. Calculate the increment in volume V, if r
and h increase from 3.0 to 3.01 and from 7.0 to 7.31, respectively.

Solution

Let the volume of the cylinder be V   r 2h

V V
  2 rh and    r2
r h

Making use of the total differential,

V V
dV  dr  dh
r h
 (2 rh)dr   r 2dh

Notice that V  dV ,  let r  3 , dr r  0.01, h  7, dh h  0.31

V  2 (3)(7)(0.01)   (3)2 (0.31)

 1.3195  8.7650
 10.0845

Slope of Surface

 For function of single variable, f ( x ) , the slope of the curve/line is obtained by

differentiating f ( x ) with respect to x, and the slope can be represented as f '( x )
 For function of two variables, instead of slope of the curve/line, we are dealing with
slope of the surface.
 The slope of the surface can be evaluated in two directions, i.e., the x direction and y
direction, where we have
f x = slope of the surface in x direction
f y = slope of the surface in y direction

Example 3

x2 25 1
Find the slope of the surface given by f ( x, y )    y2  at the point ( ,1, 2) in the x-
2 8 2
direction and y-direction.
 3 Chapter 1: Functions of Several Variables

Solution

f x ( x, y )   x
f y ( x, y )  2 y

1 1
In the x-direction, the slope is f x ( ,1)  
2 2

1
In the y-direction, the slope is f y ( ,1)  2(1)  2
2

Rate of Change

 For function with single variable, y ( x ) , the rate of change is given by

dy dy dx

dt dx dt
 For function with two variables, z  f ( x, y ) , the rate of change is given by
dz z dx z dy
 
dt x dt y dt

Example 4

Find the rate of change of the volume of a right circular cone with radius 10cm and height
30cm, if the increasing rate if base radius is 1.2 cm/s meanwhile the decreasing rate of height
is 5.0 cm/s.
 4 Chapter 1: Functions of Several Variables

Solution

1
The volume of a right circular is defined as, V   r 2h
3

V 2 V 1 2
   rh and  r
r 3 h 3

dV V dr V dh
Rate of Change,  
dt r dt h dt

2  dr  1  dh
   rh     r 2 
3  dt  3  dt

dr
Given that  1.2 (positive sign, due to increasing)
dt

dh
 5 (negative sign, due to decreasing)
dt

dV  2  1 
 Rate of Change,    rh  (1.2)    r 2  ( 5)
dt  3  3 

2  1 
    (10)(30)(1.2)     (10)2 ( 5)
3  3 

1
 73 
3

1
The volume of cone is increasing at the rate of 73  cm3/s when the radius and height are
3
10cm and 30 cm, respectively.

Increment or Approximation

 For a function of two variables, z  f ( x, y ) , when ( x, y ) moves from the initial point
( x0 , y0 ) to ( x1, y1 ) , by using the total differential and partial derivative, we can:

(1) Case 1: Calculate the approximate change in z, i.e., dz, by:

z z
dz  dx  dy (Formula of Total Differential)
x y

where dx  x1  x0 and dy  y1  y0
 5 Chapter 1: Functions of Several Variables

(2) Case 2: Calculate the exact change in z, i.e., dz, by:

dz  f ( x1, y1 )  f ( x0 , y0 )

(3) Case 3: Calculate the approximate value of z

z  f ( x0 , y0 )  dz , where dz is obtained from Case 1

(4) Case 4: Calculate the exact value of z

z  f ( x1, y1 )

Example 5

For the function f ( x, y )  ln( x  3 y ) , find the approximate value and the exact value for
f (6.9,2.06) .

Solution

Given that z  f ( x, y )  ln( x  3 y )

z 1 z 3
 and 
x x  3 y y x  3 y

Since we want to find the approximate value and exact value for f (6.9,2.06) , we choose
initial point as:
New Point – Original Point
x  7 and y  2

Thus, dx  6.9  7.0  0.1 and dy  2.06  2  0.06

z z
dz  dx  dy
x y

1  3 
 dx    dy
x  3y  x  3y 

 1   3 
  ( 0.1)    (0.06)
 7  3(2)   7  3(2) 

= -0.28

Approximate value of f (6.9,2.06) = f (7,2)  dz

 ln[7  3(2)]  ( 0.28)

 0.28
 6 Chapter 1: Functions of Several Variables

Exact Value of f (6.9,2.06) = ln[6.9  3(2.06)]

= -0.3285

Analysis of Error

 Let z  f ( x, y ) be the quantity to be measured, and dx be the error for x and dy be the
error for y, the error for z is given by:
z z
| dz | dx  dy
x y
and the relative error for z is given by:

dz z dx z dy
 
z x z y z

and the percentage error for z is given by:

dz
 100%
z

Example 6

A box with square base and height t is measured with the possible error of 0.02cm. Calculate
the maximum possible error for its volume if the length is 12cm and the height is 5cm.

Solution

Let x be the length of the base, and thus,

Volume of the box, V  x 2t

V V
 2 xt and  x2
x t
 7 Chapter 1: Functions of Several Variables

V V
dV  dx  dt  2 xtdx  x 2dt
x t

Given that x  12, t  5, dx  0.02, dt  0.02

dV  2 xtdx  x 2dt
| 2(12)(5)(0.02) |  (12)2 (0.02)
= 5.28

Thus, the maximum possible error for volume is 5.28cm3 .