MATH1020U: Chapter 4 cont… 1

DIFFERENTIATION OF FUNCTIONS OF
SEVERAL VARIABLES cont…

Directional Derivatives and the Gradient (Section 4.6; Book 3)

cont...

Question: Last day, we talked about finding the rate of change in any given direction…
which direction produces the largest rate of change?

Theorem: Suppose f is a differentiable function of two variables. The maximum value

of the directional derivative is and it occurs when u has the same
direction as the gradient vector .

Let’s consider this graphically:

Example: If , find the maximum rate of change at the point (1 , -

2) .

Application: Chemotaxis is the chemically directed movement of organisms up a

concentration gradient, that is, in the direction in which the concentration increases most
MATH1020U: Chapter 4 cont… 2

rapidly. The slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum exhibits this phenomenon. In this
case, single-celled amoeba of this species move up the concentration gradient of a
chemical called cyclic AMP. Suppose the concentration of cyclic AMP at the point (x, y)
in the x-y plane is given by . If you place an amoeba at the point
(3, 1), determine in which direction the amoeba will move if its movement is directed by
chemotaxis.
[Source: Calculus for Biology and Medicine, 2nd ed by Claudia Neuhauser]

Maxima/Minima Problems (Section 4.7; Book 3)

Recall: Back in Calc I/Intro Calc, one of our main purposes for studying derivatives was
so that we could solve optimization problems.

Definition: If f is a function of two variables, and when (x, y) is near

(a, b), then is called a local maximum value. If when (x, y) is
near (a, b), then is a local minimum value.

Recall: Back in Calc I/Intro Calc, to look for local max/min, we looked for critical
points of our function.

Theorem: If f has a local maximum or minimum at (a, b), and the first-order partial
derivatives of f exist there, then and .
Example: Find the critical points of
MATH1020U: Chapter 4 cont… 3

Note: Local max/min occur at critical points, but not all critical points are necessarily
max/min.

Second Derivatives Test for Classifying Critical Points: Suppose the second partial
derivatives of f are continuous on a disk with centre (a, b), and suppose that and
. Let

a) If and , then is a local minimum

b) If and , then is a local maximum
c) If , then is not a local maximum or minimum.

Example: Find the local max/min and saddle points of the function
MATH1020U: Chapter 4 cont… 4

Example: Find the local max/min and saddle points of the function

Enrichment (not tested on this): How do we find absolute maxima and minima? In
Calc I/Intro Calc, we compared function values at critical numbers and endpoints. Now,
we’d compare function values at critical numbers and along the boundary.