1.

Find the tangent plane to the surface p(x, y, z) = 6 at the point (1, 1, 1)
if p(x, y, z) = x2 + 2y 2 + 3z 2 . Write the equation of the plane as a graph
over the xy plane (i.e. as a function z = h(x, y)).
To find the tangent plane we will remember that the gradient is normal
to level sets. We begin by finding the gradient

∇p(x, y, z) = (2x, 4y, 6z)

At the point (1, 1, 1) we have

∇p(1, 1, 1) = (2, 4, 6)

So we can write the tangent plane using a normal vector and a point.

∇p(1, 1, 1) · (x − 1, y − 1, z − 1) = 0
(2, 4, 6) · (x − 1, y − 1, z − 1) = 2x − 2 + 4y − 4 + 6z − 6 = 0
−2x − 4y + 12 −x − 2y + 6
z= =
6 3

2. Find the directional derivative of the given function at the given point P0
and in the direction of the given vector v.
In all these problems we will follow the same strategy. We will compute
the gradient at the point P0 written ∇f (P0 ), convert v to a unit vector
v
u = |v| . Finally we will compute ∇f (Po ) · u

(a) ex cos(xz) v = (2, 1, −2) P0 = (0, 0, 0)

To begin we let f (x, y, z) = ex cos(xz), so

∇f = (ex cos(yz), −zex sin(yz), −yex sin(yz))

Evaluating at the point P0 = (0, 0, 0) we have

∇f (0, 0, 0) = (1, 0, 0)

Now we would like to create a unit vector from v = (2, 1, −2)

 
2 1 −2
u = (2, 1, −2)/3 = , ,
3 3 3
Finally the directional derivative in the direction of v is
 
2 1 −2 2
(1, 0, 0) · , , =
3 3 3 3

(b) xy + yz + xz v = (0, 3, 4) P0 = (1, 1, 2)

To begin we let f (x, y, z) = xy + yz + xz, so

∇f = (xy, yz, xz)

 Evaluating at the point P0 = (1, 1, 2) we have

∇f (1, 1, 2) = (3, 3, 2)

Now we would like to create a unit vector from v = (0, 3, 4)

 
3 5
u = (0, 3, 4)/5 = 0, ,
5 6

Finally the directional derivative in the direction of v is

 
3 5 17
(3, 3, 2) · 0, , =
5 6 5

(c) 2xyz + x2 y v = (1, 1, 1) P0 = (2, 3, 4)

To begin we let f (x, y, z) = 2xyz + x2 y, so

∇f = 2xy + 2yz, x2 + xz, 2xz

Evaluating at the point P0 = (2, 3, 4) we have

∇f (2, 3, 4) = (36, 20, 12)

Now we would like to create a unit vector from v = (1, 1, 1)

√
 
1 1 1
u = (1, 1, 1)/ 3 = √ , √ , √
3 3 3
Finally the directional derivative in the direction of v is
√
 
3 5 20
(3, 3, 2) · 0, , = √ + 16 3
5 6 3

3. Let z = f (x, y) = cos(2xy)Sin(y) be a surface, if you are standing on the

surface at the point (0, 0, 0) what direction should you move in order to
increase value of z as quickly as possiable.
4. Calculate the directional derivative of f (x, y, z) = x cos(y) sin(z) at the
point a = (1, π/4, 5π/6) in the direction of u = (3, 0, 1)
The first thing to do with a problem like this is to convert ~v into a unit
vector. To find the unit vector ~u = |~~vv| .
 
(3, 0, 1) (3, 0, 1) 3 1
~v = √ = √ = √ , 0, √
2
3 +1 2 10 10 10
Now we will proceed to compute the gradient at of f at the point

∇f (x, y, z) = (cos(y) sin(z), −x sin(y) sin(z), x cos(y) cos(z))

 Evaluating at the point 1, π4 , 5π


6 we have
  √ √ √ !
π 5π 2 6 6
∇f 1, , = ,− ,−
4 6 4 4 4

Then using the formula for directional derivatives this is

√ √ √ !   √
2 6 6 3 1 3+ 3
,− ,− · √ , 0, √ = √
4 4 4 10 10 4 5

5. Find a direction for which the directional derivative of the function w(x, y, z) =
y(x2 + z 2 ) − z 3 at the point (1, 1/2, 1) is zero.
In general we compute the directional derivative based on the gradient.
We can compute the partial derivatives

∂w
= 2xy
∂x
∂w
= x2 + z 2
∂y
∂w
= 2yz − 3z 2
∂z
Which gives the gradient, evaluated at the point (1, 1/2, 1)

∇f (1, 1/2, 1) = (2xy, x2 + z 2 , 2yz − 3z 2 ) = (1, 2, −2)

The directional derivative is given as ∇f · u so we must find a vector
u = (x, y, z) such that ∇f · u = 0. Expanding this we have

0 = ∇f · u = x + 2y − 2z = 0
Now we just need to find a solution to this equation. Setting x = 1 y = 1
we can solve z = 3/2. This gives the vector (1, 1, 3/2) and we can check
that it is in fact a direction gives 0 change in w, since

(1, 2, −2) · (1, 1, 3/2) = 1 + 2 − 3 = 0

6. The temperature T (x, y) at a point (x, y) in the plane is a differentiable
function such that ∂T ∂T
∂x (3, −1) = 2 and ∂y (3, −1) = 5.

√
(3, −1) in the direc-

(a) Find the directional derivative of T at√the point
tion given by the unit vector u = 1/ 2, 1/ 2 .
The directional derivative in direction u is given by
 
1 1 7
∇T · u = (2, 5) · √ , √ =√ .
2 2 2
 (b) A bug crawls along a level curve of the temperature function T at
speed one. What are the possible velocity vectors v for the bug at
the moment it crawls through the point (3, −1)?
The directional derivative for T in the direction of a level curve must
be zero. This gives the equation ∇T · v = 0. The speed of the bug is
one, so we also have kvk = 1.
Then the equation ∇T · v = 0, can be written as 2v1 + 5v2 = 0.
This gives v2 = − (2/5) v1 . One can also note by inspection that
(−5, 2) is a solution and
√ that any multiple
√ of (−5, 2) is a solution.
Since kvk = 1, (−5, 2) / 29 or (5, −2) / 29, take note that we have
carefully normalized the solution to unit length.
x+y
7. Compute the value of x2 ∂w 2 ∂w
∂x + y ∂y at the point (1, −1) if w = f ( xy )
and f 0 (0) = −2.
Define

x+y
u(x, y) =
xy

Then f ( x+y
xy ) = f (u(x, y)) is defined in terms of function composition, so
we should first think of the chain rule. The chain rule says

Dw = Dw(x, y) =
 
= ∂w∂x
∂w
∂y =
= D(f ◦ u) =
= Df (u(x, y)) · Du(x, y)

We can compute
 
∂u ∂u −1 −1

Du(x, y) = ∂x ∂y = x2 y2

∂w ∂w
This allows us to compute ∂x and ∂y at the point (1, −1)



Dw(1, −1) = Df (0) · −1, −1 = 2, 2

Which finally allows us to compute

1·2+1·2=4