Department of Mathematics

Nationl University of Singapore

(AY2023/24) Semester I Homework 8/Tutorial 8 (Week 10)

Submission Deadline: Sunday 22 October, 23:59 pm

1. Find the first partial derivatives of the following functions:

(i) f (x, y) = xe3y ,

(ii) g(x, y, z) = xy 2 z3 + 3yz.
∂f ∂f ∂g ∂g ∂g
Ans. (i) ∂x
= e3y , ∂y
= 3xe3y . (ii) ∂x
= y 2 z3 , ∂y
= 2xyz3 + 3z, ∂z
= 3xy 2 z2 + 3y,
2
2. Let f (x, y, z) = exy . Find fxxy .
2
Ans. fxxy = 2y 3 exy (2 + xy 2 .)

3. In an electric circuit, the voltage of V volts (V), current of I amperes (A), and resistance
of R ohms (Ω) are governed by Ohm’s Law: V = I × R.

(i) If the resistance is fixed at 15 Ω, how fast is the current increasing with respect
to voltage?
(ii) If the voltage is fixed at 120 V, how fast is the current increasing with respect to
resistance at the instant when resistance is 20 Ω?
(iii) If the resistance is slowly increasing as the resistor heats up, how is the current
changing at the moment when R = 400Ω, I = 0.08A, dV /dt = −0.01 V/s and
dR/dt = 0.03 Ω/s?

Ans. (i) ≈ 0.0667 A/V, (ii) decreasing at 0.3 A/Ω, (iii) decreasing at 3.1 × 10−5 A/s.

4. Find the directional derivative of f (x, y) = xe2y−x at P (1, 1) in each of the following the
directions
1 1
(i) √ i + √ j, (ii) 3i + 4j.
2 2
Find the direction that gives the largest possible directional derivative of f at P .
√
Ans. (i) 2e; (ii) 8e/5; in the direction of ∇f (1, 1) = fx (1, 1)i + fy (1, 1)j = 2ej.

5. Let f (x, y, z) = sin (xyz) and P = ( 12 , 13 , π).

1 1 1
(i) Find the rate of change of f at P in the direction u = √ i − √ j + √ k.
3 3 3

1
 (ii) Suppose P moves 0.1 unit along u in part (i). How much will the value of f have
changed?
1
Ans. (i) 12 (1 − π); (ii) decreases by ≈ 0.01785.

Self-Practice Exercises (not to be collected or discussed in tutorial class)

1. The temperature at a point (x, y) on a plane is T (x, y), measured

√ in degrees1Celsius. A
bug crawls so that its position after t seconds is given by x = 1 + t, y = 2 + 3 t, where x
and y are measured in centimeters. The temperature function satisfies Tx (2, 3) = 4 and
Ty (2, 3) = 3. How fast is the temperature (experienced by the bug) rising on the bug’s
path after 3 seconds?
Ans. 2C◦ /s.

2. Let f (x, y, z) = xy 2 z3 and P = (1, −2, 1). Find the rate of change of f at P in the direction
1 1 1
u = h √ , − √ , √ i. (That is to find Du f (P )).
3 3 3
20
Ans. √ .
3