CHAPTER 20

DIFFERENTIALS

Learning Outcome
At the end of this learning session, the student must have
1. solved problems involving differentials.

The Differential
Let f be a function, if y=f(x), the differential of y denoted by dy is given by

𝑑𝑦 = 𝑓 ′ (𝑥)𝑑𝑥 = 𝑓′(𝑥)∆𝑥

where x is in the domain of f’ and ∆𝑥 is an arbitrary increment of x. In words, the differential of any
function is equal to its derivative multiplied by the differential of the independent variable. The
differential of the independent variable is by definition equal to the increment of the variable, but the
differential of the dependent variable is not equal to the increment of the variable. That is 𝑑𝑥 = ∆𝑥 but
𝑑𝑦 ≠ ∆𝑦.

Examples:
Find the differential, dy, of the following functions.
1. 𝑦 = 𝑥 3 + 4𝑥 2 − 5𝑥 + 6

3
2. 𝑦 = (2𝑥 3 + 5)2

3. 𝑦 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 2𝑥 + 𝑠𝑖𝑛3𝑥

Approximations by Differentials
Very often we wish to compute, or estimate within safe limits, the change in the value of a
function caused by a small change in the value of the independent variable. If 𝑑𝑥 = ∆𝑥 is relatively small
when compared with x, dy is a fairly good approximation of ∆𝑦.

Examples:

1. Let 𝑦 = 𝑥 2 + 𝑥 + 1 and let x change from x=2 to x=2.01. The actual change in y is given by,
2. Find an approximate formula for the area of a narrow circular ring.

3. The radius of a circle is measured and found to be 36 inches with a maximum error of 0.1 in. Find the
approximate error in the computed area.

CHAPTER 21
APPROXIMATION OF ROOTS BY NEWTON’S METHOD

Learning Outcome
At the end of this learning session, the student must have
1. solved for the roots of polynomial equations using Newton’s method.

Newton’s Method
Let x = x1 be a fairly close approximation of a root r of the equation y = f(x) = 0 and let f(x1) = y1 ≠ 0. Then
y1 differs from 0 by a small amount. Now if x1 were changed to r, the corresponding change in f(x1)
would be ∆𝑦 = −𝑦1 . An approximation of this change in x1 is given by
𝑦1
𝑓 ′ (𝑥1 )𝑑𝑥1 = −𝑦1 or 𝑑𝑥1 = − .
𝑓′(𝑥1 )

Thus, a second and better approximation of the root r is,

𝑦1 𝑓(𝑥1 )
𝑥2 = 𝑥1 + 𝑑𝑥1 = 𝑥1 − = 𝑥1 −
𝑓 ′ (𝑥1 ) 𝑓 ′ (𝑥1 )

and a third approximation is

𝑓(𝑥2 )
𝑥3 = 𝑥2 + 𝑑𝑥2 = 𝑥2 −
𝑓 ′ (𝑥2 )
and so on.

When x1 is not sufficiently close approximation of a root, it will be found that x2 differs materially from
x1. While at times the process is self-correcting, it will be simpler to make a new first approximation.

Example:
1. Find, to four decimal places, the smaller positive root of the equation 𝑥 3 − 4𝑥 + 2 = 0 by Newton’s
method.
 𝛿
𝑥𝑛 𝑓(𝑥𝑛 )
𝑓(𝑥𝑛−1 𝑓(𝑥𝑛 ) 𝑓′(𝑥𝑛 )
n 3
= 𝑥𝑛−1 − = 𝑥 − 4𝑥 + 2 = 3𝑥 2 − 4 𝑓′(𝑥𝑛 )
𝑓′(𝑥𝑛−1 )

1 0.5 0.125 -3.25 -0.04

2 0.54 -0.0025 -3.13 0.0008

3 0.5392 -0.00003 -3.13 0.0001

4 0.5392

The graph of 𝑦 = 𝑥 3 − 4𝑥 + 2 is,

2. Find the other roots of the equation 𝑥 3 − 4𝑥 + 2 = 0 by Newton’s method.

𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 3 − 4𝑥 + 2
𝑓 ′ (𝑥) = 3𝑥 2 − 4
Assume 𝑥1 = −2.5,
𝑥𝑛 𝑓(𝑥𝑛 )
𝑓(𝑥𝑛−1 𝑓(𝑥𝑛 ) 𝑓′(𝑥𝑛 )
n
= 𝑥𝑛−1 − = 𝑥 3 − 4𝑥 + 2 = 3𝑥 2 − 4 𝑓′(𝑥𝑛 )
𝑓′(𝑥𝑛−1 )

1 -2.5 -3.625 14.75 -0.2458

2 -2.2542 -0.4377 11.244 -0.0389

3 -2.2153 -0.0105 10.7227 -0.001
4 -2.2143 -0.0002 10.7094 -0.00001
5 -2.2143

Hence, the other root is approximately -2.2143.

Assume 𝑥1 = 1.5,
𝑥𝑛 𝑓(𝑥𝑛 )
𝑓(𝑥𝑛−1 𝑓(𝑥𝑛 ) 𝑓′(𝑥𝑛 )
n
= 𝑥𝑛−1 − = 𝑥 3 − 4𝑥 + 2 = 3𝑥 2 − 4 𝑓′(𝑥𝑛 )
𝑓′(𝑥𝑛−1 )

1 1.5 -0.625 2.75 -0.2273

2 1.7273 -0.2443 4.95 0.0494
3 1.6779 0.0123 4.446 0.0028
4 1.6751 -0.0001 4.4179 0.00002
5 1.6751

Hence, the other root is approximately at 1.6571. Note that the fast convergence of these solutions
to the actual roots depend on how close your assumption of x1 to the actual root.

CHAPTER 22
PARTIAL DERIVATIVES

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this learning session, the student must have
1. evaluated the partial derivatives of functions, and
2. solved for the higher order partial derivatives and total differentials.
Partial Derivatives
If f is a function of two or more independent variables and all but one of those variables are held fixed,
then the derivative of f with respect to that one remaining independent variable is called partial derivative
of f. For example, if z = f(x, y), then its partial derivative with respect to x is

𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑓 𝑓(𝑥 + ∆𝑥, 𝑦) − 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦)

= = 𝑓𝑥 (𝑥, 𝑦) = lim
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 ∆𝑥→0 ∆𝑥

while its partial derivative with respect to y is

𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑓 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦 + ∆𝑦) − 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦)

= = 𝑓𝑦 (𝑥, 𝑦) = lim
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦 ∆𝑦→0 ∆𝑦

Examples
1. The hypotenuse of a right triangle is given by the equation 𝑧 = √𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 , with the variables x and y
as the sides of the right triangle. Find the partial derivatives of z.

2. Consider the volume of the cone. Find the partial derivatives of the volume with respect to its
parameters.

Total Differential
For the function z = f(x, y), we define the total differential of a function z of two independent variables x
and y by
𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑧
𝑑𝑧 = 𝑑𝑥 + 𝑑𝑦
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦

That is, the total differential is the sum of the partial derivatives each multiplied by its proper differential.
The concept can be extended to more than two variables. For, example, if z = f(x, y, w), then

𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑧
𝑑𝑧 = 𝑑𝑥 + 𝑑𝑦 + 𝑑𝑤
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑤
Examples:
Find the total differential of the following functions.
1. For the function 𝑧 = 𝑥 2 + 𝑥𝑦 + 𝑦 2

2. For 𝑧 = 2𝑤 − 𝑥 2 + 𝑥𝑦𝑤

Higher-order Partial Derivatives

Let z = f(x, y). For the second-order partial derivative of z with respect to x and with respect to x again,

𝜕 𝜕𝑧 𝜕2𝑧
( ) = 2 = 𝑓𝑥𝑥 (𝑥, 𝑦)
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥

which means that we take partial derivatives of the function with respect to x twice. For the second-order
partial derivatives of z with respect to x and then with respect to y,

𝜕 𝜕𝑧 𝜕2𝑧
( )= = 𝑓𝑦𝑥 (𝑥, 𝑦)
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦𝜕𝑥

which denotes that we take first partial derivative of the function with respect to x and then with respect to
y. The other second order partial derivatives are given as follows:

𝜕 𝜕𝑧 𝜕2𝑧
( ) = 2 = 𝑓𝑦𝑦 (𝑥, 𝑦)
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦
𝜕 𝜕𝑧 𝜕2𝑧
( )= = 𝑓𝑥𝑦 (𝑥, 𝑦)
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥𝜕𝑦

If the partial derivatives are continuous functions, the order of the derivative doesn’t matter, that is,
𝜕2 𝑧 𝜕2 𝑧
= . The process could be repeated to find other higher-order partial derivatives.
𝜕𝑥𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦𝜕𝑥
Example:
𝑥 𝜕2 𝑧 𝜕2 𝑧
For 𝑧 = 𝑥𝑒 𝑦 − 𝑠𝑖𝑛 ( ) + 𝑥 3 𝑦 2 , find: (1) 2
and (2) .
𝑦 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥𝜕𝑦