Prelims Introductory Calculus, Problem Sheet 7

1. The Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z) in R3 may be represented in terms of spherical coordinates

(ρ, ϕ, θ) by the equations
p
p x2 + y 2 y
ρ = x2 + y 2 + z 2 , tan ϕ = , tan θ =
z x
where 0 ≤ ϕ ≤ π and 0 ≤ θ < π.
(a) Regarding ϕ and θ as functions of (x, y, z) implicitly given by
p
x2 + y 2 y
tan ϕ = , tan θ = ,
z x
to find ∂ϕ , ∂ϕ , ∂ϕ , ∂θ , ∂θ , ∂θ .
∂x ∂y ∂z ∂x ∂y ∂z
(b) Calculate the Jacobian  
 ∂ρ ∂ρ ∂ρ 
∂x ∂y ∂z
∂(ρ, ϕ, θ)  ∂ϕ ∂ϕ ∂ϕ

= .

∂x ∂y ∂z
∂(x, y, z)  ∂θ ∂θ ∂θ 
∂x ∂y ∂z
 

2. (a) Use the method of separation of variables to obtain solutions for the following partial
differential equations
∂z ∂z
=y
∂y ∂x
and
∂z ∂z
x =z+y .
∂x ∂y
(b) Use the change of variable u = eβt g(x) to find solutions of the equation

∂ 2u ∂ 2u ∂ 2u
+ 2 + = 0.
∂x2 ∂x∂t ∂t2

3. Let a > 0 be a constant. Let γ be the planer curve determined by the equation xy = a2 .
Given a point (x0 , y0 ) on γ, find an equation for the line tangent to γ at (x0 , y0 ), and find the
area enclosed by the tangent line, the x-axis and the y-axis.

4. For each of the following curves in the space R3 , find an equation for the tangent line at a
general point on the curve.
(a) A parameterized curve defined by

x = a cos t, y = a sin t, z = ct

where a > 0, c > 0 are two constant, t is the parameter.

(b) The intersection of the sphere x2 + y 2 + z 2 = R2 and the surface given by x2 + y 2 = Rx,
where R > 0 is a constant.
5. Consider the parametrized surface

 x(u, v) = v cos u;
y(u, v) = v sin u;
z(u, v) = au .


Compute its normal vector n(u, v), and find the plane tangent to the surface at the point where
u = π4 , v = 1.

6. (a) Find Taylor’s expansion of the two variable function f (x, y) = sin x ln(1+y) at a = (0, 0)
up to degree 3.
(b) Let ψ(t) be a function with bounded derivatives of any order on R. Find Taylor’s expansion
for the two variable function f (x, y) = ψ(x + y) at a = (0, 1).