DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS

I.I.T. MADRAS
MA 1010 – Functions of several variables
Exercise Set I: Differential Calculus - 1

(1) Find the limit, if exists:

ey sin x
(a) lim
(x,y)→(0,0) x

√ √
x−y+2 x−2 y
(b) lim √ √
(x,y)→(0,0) x− y
x6=y

xy
(c) lim
(x,y)→(0,0) |xy|

x2
(d) lim
(x,y)→(0,0) x2 − y

x3 − y 3
 
(e) lim cos
(x,y)→(0,0) x2 + y 2

2x
(f) lim
(x,y)→(0,0) x2 + x + y2

(2) At what points (x, y) or (x, y, z) are the functions below continuous?
x2 + y 2
(a) g(x, y) = 2
x − 3x + 2

1
(b) h(x, y, z) = .
x2
2
 +2z −21 2
3x − x y + 3y 2

(3) Let f (x, y) = ln for (x, y) 6= (0, 0). Define f (0, 0) in a way that extends f to be
x2 + y 2
continuous at the origin.
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p
(4) Given  = 0.05, find a δ > 0 such that for all (x, y) with x2 + y 2 < δ,
y
|f (x, y) − f (0, 0)| < , where f (x, y) = 2 .
x +1

∂f ∂f
(5) Find ∂x and ∂y :
x
(a) f (x, y) =
x2 + y 2
(b) f (x, y) = exy ln y

(6) Find fx , fy and fz :

(a) f (x, y, z) = sin−1 (xyz)
(b) f (x, y, z) = yz ln(xy)

(7) Find all the second order partial derivatives:

(a) g(x, y) = x2 y + cos y + y sin x

(b) g(x, y) = tan−1 (y/x).

(8) Does a function f with continuous first partial derivatives throughout an open region D have to be
continuous on D?

(9) Express ∂w/∂u and ∂w/∂v in terms of u and v:

(a) w = 4ex ln y, x = ln(u cos v), y = u sin v.
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(b) w = xy + yz + zx, x = u + v, y = u − v, z = uv.

(10) Find dy/dx if xey + sin xy + y − ln 2 = 0.

~
(11) Find the directional derivative of f at P0 in the direction of A:
√
−1 −1
(a) f (x, y) = tan (y/x) + 3 sin (xy/2), P0 (1, 1), A ~ = 3î − 2ĵ

~ = î + ĵ + k̂.
(b) f (x, y, z) = x2 + 2y 2 − 3z 2 , P0 (1, 1, 1), A

(12) Find the directions in which the functions increase and decrease most rapidly at P0 . Then find the
derivative of the function in these directions:
(a) f (x, y) = x2 + xy + y 2 , P0 (1, 1)
(b)

f (x, y, z) = xey + z 2 , P0 (1, ln 2, 1/2).

(13) Find the equation of the tangent plane and normal line at P0 on the given surface.
(a) x2 + y 2 − z 2 = 18, P0 (3, 5, −4).

(b) x2 − xy − y 2 − z = 0, P0 (1, 1, −1).

(14) By about how much will g(x, y, z) = x + x cos z − y sin z + y will change if the point P moves from
(2, −1, 0) a distance ds = 0.2 unit toward the point (0, 1, 2)?