M1120 Calculus (III) Lecture

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Math1120 - Mathematics II

Calculus (III): Functions of Several Variables


§1 Functions of Two Variables

In Math1110 we studied "(real valued) functions of one variable", that is functions of


the form
f :D ,
where D  is called the domain. We used the notation y  f ( x) to denote such functions
where x denotes the independent variable and y the dependent variable.

We have seen that functions of one variable are useful in practice but (of course) there
are many real world relationships that are more complicated and can't be well modelled by
these functions.

Example 1: Suppose that we have a thin metal plate and that we are interested in the
temperature T on this plate. In general the temperature will vary from point to point. If
we imagine a coordinate grid on the plate then points on the plate can be identified by
their coordinates  x, y  . Thus T will depend on two independent variables, x and y.
Thus we would write
T  x, y 
and say that T is a function of two variables.

Note that functions of two variables are of the form


f : D  ,.
where D  2
is again the domain. Formally, we define a function of two variables as:

A (real valued) function f of two variables is a rule that assigns to each ordered pair of
real numbers  x, y  in a set D a unique (real) number denoted by f  x, y  .

Thus,
sin(t  1)
g ( s, t )  , h( x, y)  ( x  y)2 e( x y )  6
s t
2 2

are examples of functions of two variables.

The set D is called the domain of the function. Unless specified otherwise, we take D to
be the largest possible set of ordered pairs for which we can calculate f. The range of f is the
associated set of values that f takes on.

Example 2: Consider the function f ( x, y)  ln  x  y  1 .


(a) Find the domain of f
(b) Find f (3,1) , f ( 12 ,  5) and f (1,3)

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Calculus (III) - Lecture Notes

(a) Since the argument of the log function has to be positive, the domain D is the set
of points in the plane satisfying
D  ( x, y) : y  x  1
(b) f (3,1)  ln(3 1 1)  ln(1)  0
f ( 12 ,  5)  ln( 12  5  1)  ln( 5  12 )  0.5516 (to 4 d.p.)
Since (1,3) is not in the domain of f, f (1,3) is not defined

Example 3: Consider the function f ( x, y)  y  xy .
(a) Find the domain of f
(b) Find f (3,1) , f ( 12 ,  5) and f (1,3)

2
(a) Since we can calculate f for all values of x and y the domain of f is .
(b) f (3,1)  1  3 1  2
1 5
f ( 12 ,  5)   5   5  
2 2
f (1,3)  3 1 3  0

The graph of a function of two variables is a surface in 3 which passes the vertical
line test. In general it is hard to draw the graph of a function of two variables by hand and so
usually we get a computer to do it. The following plots have been done using the specialist
mathematical software Maple but Wolfram Alpha will produce such plots too.

Example 4: Produce the graph of the function z  f  x, y   x 2  y 2

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Math1120 - Mathematics II

Example 5: Produce the graph of the function f ( x, y)  x(3 y  2)(5 x  2)e( x  y 2 )/5
2


 ( x2  y 2 )
Example 6: Produce the graph of the function f ( x, y)  x  y e
2 2


3
Not all surfaces in represent the graph of a function of two variables.

Example 7: The surface associated the equation x2  y 2  z 2  4 is a sphere of radius 2


and whose centre is the origin. Clearly this surface does not pass the vertical line test.
For example when  x, y    0,0  z could be either 2 or 2 .

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Calculus (III) - Lecture Notes

Example Tasks

sin( y )
ET 1: Determine the domain of the function f ( x, y )  .
xy  1

ET 2: Sketch the graph of the following functions.


(a) f ( x, y)  3
(b) f ( x, y)   x  2 y  2

ET 3: Sketch the surface associated with the equation f ( x, y)  x2  y 2  4 . Could the


surface be the graph of a function of two variables?

§2 Level Curves

As we have seen, visualising the surface corresponding to the function z  f  x, y  can


be quite difficult. One method that aids in this task is to draw level curves (sometimes known
as contours). Level curves are the equivalent of contours on a topographical map. In such a
map the terrain is shown by drawing curves through all points which have the same height
above sea level. The numbers on the curves in the map shown below are the heights above
sea level in metres.

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Math1120 - Mathematics II

Sample Topographic Map


(Part of the Watagan Mountains)

The level curves of a function z  f  x, y  are curves in the xy-plane on which the
function has the same value, i.e. on which z  k , where k is some constant.

Note:
1. Each point in the domain of the function lies on exactly one level curve.
2. When a collection of level curves for a function are drawn on the same plane it is
sometimes called a contour plot.
3. We can also think of level curves as the intersection of the surface and the
horizontal plane z  k .

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Calculus (III) - Lecture Notes

Example 8: Draw the level curves associated with k  2, 1,0,1, 2 for the function
z  xy .

The level curves of a function satisfy the equation z  k . So for this function the level
curves are:
k
xy  k , or y 
x

Thus the level curves are rectangular hyperbolae (except for k  0 ). The level curves
for k  2, 1,0,1, 2 are shown in following diagram.

Example 9: Draw a contour plot for the function z  x 2  y 2 .

The contours (i.e. level curves) of a function satisfy the equation z  k . So for this
function the level curves are:
x2  y 2  k ,
that is, circles centred on the origin and whose radius is k.

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Math1120 - Mathematics II

Notice that there are no level curves when k  0 . This tells us that the surface does not
go below the xy-plane.

Example Tasks

ET 1: Draw the level curves associated with k  2, 1,0,1, 2 for the function
z  2x  x2  y .

ET 2: Make a rough sketch of the contour map (centred on the origin) for the function
whose graph is:

ET 3*: Make a rough sketch of the contour map (centred on the origin) for the function
whose graph is:

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Calculus (III) - Lecture Notes

§3 Surfaces of Revolution

The surface associated with the graph of f ( x, y)  x 2  y 2 e( x  y ) (see the example
2 2

on page 3) is an example of a special kind of surface…a surface of revolution.

3
A surface of revolution is a surface in obtained by rotating a curve about an axis.

Example 10: Determine the equation of the surface obtained by rotating the curve in the
xz-plane z  2  3x , x  0 about the z-axis.

Let the equation of the surface be z  f ( x, y) . Then the equation of the level curves of
the surface will be
f ( x, y)  k (1)

Now, note that the cross-sections of the surface of revolution perpendicular to the z-axis
(i.e. the level curves) will be circles. For example the cross section at z  k will be a
2k
circle with centre  0, 0  and radius and hence has equation
3
 2k 
2

x2  y 2    .
 3 
On re-arranging this equation we obtain
k  2  3 x2  y 2 .

Putting this into equation (1) gives


f ( x, y)  2  3 x 2  y 2

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Math1120 - Mathematics II

On repeating what we did in the above example in general gives:

The equation of a surface of revolution obtained by rotating the curve z  f ( x) , x  0


in the xz-plane about the z-axis will be
z f  x2  y 2 . 
Example 11: Determine the equation of the surface obtained by rotating the curve in the
xz-plane
z  xe x , x  0
2

about the z-axis.

The equation of the surface of revolution will be


z f  x2  y 2  where f ( x)  xe  x2
.
that is,
 
2
 x2  y 2
z x y  x 2  y 2 e( x  y2 )
2
2 2
e

Example 12: Is the graph of f ( x, y)  4  x2  y 2 a surface of revolution?

Since we can write the function as

 
2
f ( x, y)  4  x2  y 2
this surface can be obtained by rotating the curve in the xz-plane
z  4  x2 , x  0

Example Tasks
ET 1: Determine the equation of the surface obtained by rotating the curve z  4  x 2 ,
x  0 about the z-axis. Make a sketch of the surface.

ET 2: Is the graph of f ( x, y)  xy 2  x3 a surface of revolution?

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Calculus (III) - Lecture Notes

§4 Functions of 3 (or more) Variables

Although we won’t do much with them in this course it is possible to define (real
valued) functions in n variables where n is any natural number, that is functions of the form
f: n .
Example 13: The function f ( x, y, z )  x 2  y 2  z 2 is a function of the form f : 3  .

w
Example 14: The function f ( w, x, y, z )  2wx 2  yz  is a function of the form
( x  z)
f: 4
 .

Of course, for such functions geometric representations are somewhat impractical.

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