Lecture 2

Partial Derivatives
Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nitima Aschariyaphotha
Contents

 Partial Derivatives
 Linear Approximation
 Differentials
 Chain Rule
 Implicit Differentiation
3 Partial Derivatives

To find the derivatives of f(x,y), we need to calculate with

respect to each independent variable separately. We call
it “partial derivative”

To find a partial derivative of f(x,y) with respect to one

variable, we consider another input variable a constant.
For example, the partial derivative of f(x,y) with respect to x
considers y a constant. Then we take an ordinary
derivative of f(x,y) with respect to x as in the case of one
variable function.
4 Notation for Partial Derivatives
Let z = f (x,y)
Partial derivative of f (x,y) w.r.t. x

z or f ( x, y ) or f
x
x
x
If we want to evaluate at (x0,y0), we use notation:

z f
or ( x0 , y0 ) or f x ( x0 , y0 )
x ( x0 , y0 ) x
 Partial Derivative with Respect to x
5 Def. Partial derivative of f(x,y) w.r.t. x at (x0,y0) is

f d f ( x0 + x, y0 ) − f ( x0 , y0 )
= f ( x , y0 ) = lim
x ( x0 , y0 ) dx x = x0
x →0 x

Think of y in f (x,y) as a constant.

Example 1 f ( x, y) = x3 − 3x2 y + 3xy 2 − y3

f
=
x
 Partial Derivative with Respect to y
6 Def. Partial derivative of f(x,y) w.r.t. y at (x0,y0) is

f d f ( x0 , y0 + y ) − f ( x0 , y0 )
= f ( x0 , y ) = lim
y ( x0 , y0 ) dy y = y0
y →0 y

Think of x in f(x,y) as a constant.

Example 2 f ( x, y ) = x 3
− 3 x 2
y + 3 xy 2
− y 3

f
=
y
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 , (fy)y

These are called the second partial derivatives of f.

Notation
If z = f(x, y), we use the following notation:
Higher Derivatives

Partial derivatives of order 3 or higher can also

be defined.
For instance,

   2 f  3 f
f xyy = ( f xy ) y =  = 2
y  y x  y x
10 Example 3
Find the partial derivatives 𝑓𝑥 , 𝑓𝑦 and 𝑓𝑥𝑦 if f ( x, y) = cos(3x − y 2 )
 Geometrical Interpretation of z / x
11 z means Slope of the tangent line to the curve
x ( x0 , y0 ) (x,y0,f(x,y0)) at (x0,y0)

(From Thomas’ Calculus)

 Geometrical Interpretation of z / y
12 z means slope of the tangent line to the curve
(x0,y,f(x0,y)) at (x0,y0)
y ( x0 , y0 )

(From Thomas’ Calculus)

13 Example 4
The plane 𝑥 = 1 intersects the paraboloid 𝑧 = 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 in a
parabola. Find the slope of the tangent to the parabola at
(1,2,5).
Tangent Planes
Tangent Planes
Suppose a surface S has equation
𝑧 = 𝑓 𝑥, 𝑦 , where 𝑓 has continuous
first partial derivatives, and let
𝑃(𝑥0 , 𝑦0 , 𝑧0 ) be a point on S. Let 𝐶1
and 𝐶2 be the two curves obtained
by intersection the vertical planes
𝑦 = 𝑦0 and 𝑥 = 𝑥0 with the surface.
Let 𝑇1 and 𝑇2 be the tangent lines to
the curves 𝐶1 and 𝐶2 at point 𝑃.

Then the tangent plane to the

surface S at point 𝑃 is defined to be
the plane that contains both
tangent lines 𝑇1 and 𝑇2 .
An equation of the tangent plane to the surface
𝑧 = 𝑓 𝑥, 𝑦 at the point 𝑃(𝑥0 , 𝑦0 , 𝑧0 ) is

𝑧 − 𝑧0 = 𝑓𝑥 𝑥0 , 𝑦0 𝑥 − 𝑥0 + 𝑓𝑦 (𝑥0 , 𝑦0 )(𝑦 − 𝑦0 )

𝑧 = 𝑧0 + 𝑓𝑥 𝑥0 , 𝑦0 𝑥 − 𝑥0 + 𝑓𝑦 (𝑥0 , 𝑦0 )(𝑦 − 𝑦0 )

Example 5 Find the tangent plane to the elliptic

paraboloid 𝑧 = 2𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 at the point (1, 1, 3)
Linear Approximation

The linearization of 𝑓 at (a,b) is the linear functions whose

graph is the tangent plane, namely

𝐿(𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑓(𝑎, 𝑏) + 𝑓𝑥 𝑎, 𝑏 𝑥 − 𝑎 + 𝑓𝑦 (𝑎, 𝑏)(𝑦 − 𝑏)

The approximation

𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) ≈ 𝑓(𝑎, 𝑏) + 𝑓𝑥 𝑎, 𝑏 𝑥 − 𝑎 + 𝑓𝑦 (𝑎, 𝑏)(𝑦 − 𝑏)

is called the linear approximation or tangent plane

approximation of 𝑓 at (a,b).
Example 6
Find the linear approximation of 𝑓 𝑥, 𝑦 = 𝑥𝑒 𝑥𝑦 at (1,0)
and use it to approximate 𝑓 1.1, −0.1
Differentials

For a differentiable function of two variables, 𝑧 = 𝑓 𝑥, 𝑦 ,

we define the differentials 𝑑𝑥 and 𝑑𝑦 to be independent
variables. Then the differential 𝑑𝑧, also called the total
differential, is defined by
𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑧
𝑑𝑧 = 𝑑𝑥 + 𝑑𝑦 = 𝑓𝑥 𝑎, 𝑏 𝑑𝑥 + 𝑓𝑦 𝑎, 𝑏 𝑑𝑦
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦
Note : The increment of 𝑧 is defined to be

∆𝑧 = 𝑓 𝑥 + ∆𝑥, 𝑦 + ∆𝑦 − 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦)
Example 7
Let 𝑓 𝑥, 𝑦 = 𝑥 2 + 3𝑥𝑦 − 𝑦 2 .
(a)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.
The Chain Rule

𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑧
𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑧
𝑑𝑧 = 𝑑𝑥 + 𝑑𝑦
𝜕𝑥
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦
𝜕𝑦

𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑧 𝜕𝑧 𝑑𝑥 𝜕𝑧 𝑑𝑦
𝑑𝑦
𝑑𝑡 = +
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝜕𝑥 𝑑𝑡 𝜕𝑦 𝑑𝑡
Example 8
𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑧
If 𝑧 = (sin 𝑥) 𝑒 𝑥𝑦 , 𝑥 = 𝑠𝑡, 𝑦 = 𝑠 3 𝑡, find and .
𝜕𝑠 𝜕𝑡
Implicit Differentiation

Suppose that z is given implicitly as a function 𝑧 = 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) by

an equation of the form 𝐹 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧 = 0. By using the chain
rule, we get
𝜕𝐹
𝜕𝐹 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝐹 𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑧
+ =0 = − 𝜕𝑥
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝐹
𝜕𝑧
𝜕𝐹
𝜕𝐹 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝐹 𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑦
+ =0 =−
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝐹
𝜕𝑧
Example 9
𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑧
If 𝑥 3𝑦 + 6𝑦 − 4𝑥 2 + 𝑦2𝑧3, find and .
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦
Practice
1. Use a linear approximation to estimate 3.01 2 + 3.98 2

2. The length and width of a rectangle are measured as 30 cm and 24

cm, respectively, with an error in measurement of at most 0.1 cm in
each. Use the differentials to estimate the maximum error in the
calculated area of the rectangle.
3. The temperature at a point (𝑥, 𝑦) is 𝑇(𝑥, 𝑦), measure in degrees
Celsius. A bug crawls so that its position after 𝑡 seconds is given by
𝑡
𝑥 = 1 + 𝑡, 𝑦 = 2 + , where 𝑥 and 𝑦 are measured in centimeters. The
3
temperature function satisfies 𝑇𝑥 2,3 = 4 and 𝑇𝑦 2,3 = 3. How fast is
the temperature rising on the bug’s path after 3 seconds?
𝜕𝑤 𝑥−1
4. Find if 𝑧 ln 𝑥 2 𝑦 − 𝑥𝑦𝑧 𝑒 𝑧𝑤 + = 5𝑤𝑦.
𝜕𝑧 𝑥𝑦𝑧