MTH154S

ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS

Differential Calculus
Chapter 3.4
Partial differentials
Introduction
 If f is a function of two variables x and y,
suppose we let only x vary while keeping y
fixed, say y = b, where b is a constant.
 Then we are really considering a function of a
single variable x, namely, g(x) = f(x, b).
 If g has a derivative at a, then we call it the partial
derivative of f with respect to x at (a, b) and denote
it by fx(a, b).
Introduction (cont’d)
 Thus

 The definition of a derivative gives

Introduction (cont’d)
 Similarly, the partial derivative of f with respect to y
at (a, b), denoted by fy(a, b), is obtained by holding
x = a and finding the ordinary derivative at b of
the function G(y) = f(a, y):
 Partial Derivatives-Definition

If z = f (x, y) is a function of two variables, its

partial derivatives are the functions ∂z/∂x and
∂z/∂y defined by

z f ( x  h, y )  f ( x, y )
 lim
x h  0 h
z f ( x, y  h )  f ( x, y )
 lim
y h  0 h
Notations
 There are many alternate notations for partial
derivatives:
Rule for Finding Partial Derivatives of
z = f (x, y)

1. To find ∂z/∂x, regard y as a constant and

differentiate f (x, y) with respect to x.
2. To find ∂z/∂y, regard x as a constant and
differentiate f (x, y) with respect to y.
Example 1:
 If f(x, y) = x3 + x2y3 –2y2, find fx and fy.
Solution :
 Holding y constant and differentiating with
respect to x, we get
fx(x, y) = 3x2 + 2xy3

 Holding x constant and differentiating with

respect to y, we get
fy(x, y) = 3x2y2 – 4y
Class problem 1 : 3 minutes
Example 2:

 If

 Solution Using the Chain Rule for functions of

one variable, we have
Example 3:

 Find ∂z/∂x and ∂z/∂y if z is defined implicitly as

a function of x and y by
x3 + y3 + z3 + 6xyz = 1
 Solution To find ∂z/∂x, we differentiate
implicitly with respect to x, being careful to treat
y as a constant:
Solution (cont’d)

 Solving this equation for ∂z/∂x, we obtain

 Similarly, implicit differentiation with respect to

y gives
 Higher Derivatives

 If f is a function of two variables, then its partial

derivatives fx and fy are also functions of two
variables, so we can consider their partial
derivatives
(fx)x , (fx)y , (fy)x , and (fy)y ,

which are called the second partial derivatives of f.

cont’d

 If z = f(x, y), we use the following notation:

Example 4:

 Find the second partial derivatives of

f(x, y) = x3 + x2y3 – 2y2
 Solution Earlier we found that
fx(x, y) = 3x2 + 2xy3 fy(x, y) = 3x2y2 – 4y
 Therefore
Class problem 2: 5 minutes
Thank You