MATH201

(2015)

Tutorial 2 (Preparation for 1617 March)

Attempt the following problems before the tutorial. Your solutions to questions 4 and 5 are to be
handed in by 4pm on Thursday 19 March. The problems should be done by hand, though Maple or
Matlab may be used to check computations.
1. Compute the gradients of the following functions at the given points:
(a) f (x, y) = y ln(2x2 y) at (2, 1).
(b) F (x, y, z) = xy cos(yz) at (2, 1, ).
2. Find the directional derivative Du f (x, y) for f (x, y) = x2 + y 2 when u is the unit vector making an angle
of 30 with the x-axis.
3. Let x2 + 2xy y 2 + z 2 = 7 define a surface in R3 . Calculate the normal line and tangent plane to this
surface at the point (1, 1, 3).
4. Find and classify all critical points of
f (x, y) = 2xy 5x2 2y 2 + 4x + 4y 4.

5. Find the extrema of f (x, y) = xy subject to the constraint g(x, y) = x2 + y 2 10 = 0.

In-tutorial problems 2
1. A timber plantation grows trees which are perfect right-circular cylinders of girth g(t) and height h(t)
(girth is circumference). If the tree grows in height by 1m per year, and by 15cm per year in girth, how
quickly is the volume of timber increasing when the height is 10 metres and the girth 1.5 metres?
(Hint: Start by finding a formula V = V (g, h) for the volume of timber.)
2. A function f (x, y, z) is defined implicitly through the following equation:
5f 2 + xef + yzf = 0.
Calculate

f
x

when y and z are held constant.

3. Let f (x, y) = ln(x2 + y 2 ). Compute f (1, 1). Calculate the contour of f through (1, 1), and sketch it,
together with the gradient.
4. On a certain mountain, the elevation z above a point (x, y) in an xy-plane at sea level is
z = 2000 0.02x2 0.04y 2 ,
where x, y and z are in metres. The positive x-axis points east, and the positive y-axis north. A climber
is at the point (20, 5, 1991).
(a) If the climber uses a compass reading to walk due west, will she begin to ascend or descend?
(b) If the climber uses a compass reading to walk northeast, will she ascend or descend? At what rate?
(c) In what compass directions should the climber begin walking to travel a level path (give two answers)?

5. Find the rectangle of greatest area that can be inscribed in the ellipse
x2 y 2
+
= 1,
16
9
with sides parallel to the coordinate axes.
6. Use Lagrange multipliers to find the dimensions of a right circular cylinder with maximum volume if its
surface area is 24.