MODULE 13: DERIVATIVES OF PARAMETRIC EQUATIONS AND PARTIAL DERIVATIVES

PARAMETRIC EQUATIONS
Suppose that 𝑥 and 𝑦 are both given as functions of a third variable 𝑡 (called a parameter) by the equations

𝑥 = 𝑓 (𝑡) and 𝑦 = 𝑔(𝑡)

then, these equations are called parametric equations.

The derivatives of parametric equations can be obtained by

𝑑𝑦
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑡
= or = ⋅
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑡

and
𝑑 𝑑𝑦
𝑑2 𝑦 𝑑 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑡 (𝑑𝑥 ) 𝑑 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑡
= ( )= = ( )⋅
𝑑𝑥 2 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑡

EXERCISES 13.1
𝑑𝑦 𝑑2𝑦
Find the 𝑑𝑥
and 𝑑𝑥 2
of the given parametric equations.
𝑑𝑦 3 1 𝑑2𝑦 3(𝑡 2+1)
1. 𝑥 = 𝑡 2 , 𝑦 = 𝑡 3 − 3𝑡 ans: 𝑑𝑥
= 2 (𝑡 − 𝑡 ) ; 𝑑𝑥 2
= 4𝑡 3

𝑑𝑦 3 𝑑2 𝑦 3
2. 𝑥 = 4 + 𝑡 2 , 𝑦 = 𝑡 2 + 𝑡 3 ans: 𝑑𝑥
= 1+2 𝑡 ; 𝑑𝑥 2
= 4𝑡

𝑑𝑦 𝑑2 𝑦 𝑒 −𝑡
3. 𝑥 = 𝑡 − 𝑒 𝑡 , 𝑦 = 𝑡 + 𝑒 −𝑡 ans: 𝑑𝑥
= −𝑒 −𝑡 ; 𝑑𝑥 2
= 1−𝑒 𝑡

𝑑𝑦 3 𝑑2 𝑦 3
4. 𝑥 = 2 sin 𝑡 , 𝑦 = 3 cos 𝑡 ans: 𝑑𝑥
= − 2 tan 𝑡 ; 𝑑𝑥 2
= − 4 sec 3 𝑡

APPLICATIONS OF THE DERIVATIVES OF PARAMETRIC EQUATIONS

EXERCISES 13.2
1. Find an equation of the tangent to the curve defined by the parametric equations 𝑥 = 𝑡 4 + 1, 𝑦 = 𝑡 3 + 𝑡 at 𝑡 =
−1 ans: 𝑦 = −𝑥
2. Find an equation of the tangent to the curve defined by the parametric equations 𝑥 = 1 + ln 𝑡 , 𝑦 = 𝑡 2 + 2 at
(1, 3) ans: 𝑦 = 2𝑥 + 1
3. At what points on the curve 𝑥 = 2𝑡 3 , 𝑦 = 1 + 4𝑡 − 𝑡 2 does the tangent line have slope 1?
16 29
ans: (27 , 9 ) , (−2, −4)
PARTIAL DERIVATIVES
In general, if 𝑧 is a function of two variables 𝑥 and 𝑦, that is 𝑧 = 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦), and suppose we let only 𝑥 vary while
keeping 𝑦 fixed, say 𝑦 = 𝑏, where 𝑏 is a constant. Then we are really considering a function of a single variable 𝑥,
that is 𝑧 = 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑏). If 𝑧 has a derivative at 𝑥 = 𝑎, then we call it the partial derivative of 𝑓 with respect to 𝑥 at
(𝑎, 𝑏) and denoted by 𝑓𝑥 (𝑎, 𝑏). The same principle applies if we let only 𝑦 vary while keeping 𝑥 fixed.

NOTATIONS FOR PARTIAL DERIVATIVES

If 𝑧 = 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦), we write
𝜕𝑓 𝜕 𝜕𝑧
𝑓𝑥 (𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑓𝑥 = = 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) = = 𝐷𝑥 𝑓
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥
and
𝜕𝑓 𝜕 𝜕𝑧
𝑓𝑦 (𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑓𝑦 = = 𝑓 (𝑥, 𝑦) = = 𝐷𝑦 𝑓
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦

RULE FOR FINDING PARTIAL DERIVATIVES OF 𝑧 = 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦)

1. To find 𝑓𝑥 , regard 𝑦 as constant and differentiate 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) with respect to 𝑥.
2. To find 𝑓𝑦 , regard 𝑥 as constant and differentiate 𝑓 (𝑥, 𝑦) with respect to 𝑦.

EXERCISES 13.3
𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑧 𝝏𝒛 𝝏𝒛
5. If 𝑧 = 2𝑥 + 3𝑦 − 6 , find and . ans: =𝟐 ; =𝟑
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝝏𝒙 𝝏𝒚

6. If 𝑓 (𝑥, 𝑦) = 4 − 𝑥 2 − 2𝑦 2 , find 𝑓𝑥 (1, 1) and 𝑓𝑦 (1, 1) . ans: 𝒇𝒙 (𝟏, 𝟏) = −𝟐 ; 𝒇𝒚 (𝟏, 𝟏) = −𝟒

𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓 𝝏𝒇 𝝏𝒇
7. If 𝑓 (𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑥 3 + 𝑥 2 𝑦 3 − 2𝑦 2 , find 𝜕𝑥 and 𝜕𝑦
. ans: 𝝏𝒙
= 𝟑𝒙𝟐 + 𝟐𝒙𝒚𝟑 ; 𝝏𝒚
= 𝟑𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟐 − 𝟒𝒚

8. If 𝑓 (𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑦 5 − 3𝑥 𝑦 , find 𝑓𝑥 and 𝑓𝑦 . ans: 𝒇𝒙 = −𝟑𝒚 ; 𝒇𝒚 = 𝟓𝒚𝟒 − 𝟑𝒙

𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑧 𝝏𝒛 𝝏𝒛
9. If 𝑧 = (2𝑥 + 3𝑦)10 , find 𝜕𝑥
and 𝜕𝑦
. ans: 𝝏𝒙
= 𝟐𝟎(𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑𝒚)𝟗 ; 𝝏𝒚
= 𝟑𝟎(𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑𝒚)𝟗

𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑧 𝝏𝒛 𝝏𝒛
10. If 𝑧 = tan 𝑥𝑦 , find 𝜕𝑥
and 𝜕𝑦
. ans: 𝝏𝒙
= 𝒚 𝐬𝐞𝐜 𝟐 𝒙𝒚 ; 𝝏𝒚
= 𝒙 𝐬𝐞𝐜 𝟐 𝒙𝒚

11. If 𝑓 (𝑥, 𝑡) = 𝑒 −𝑡 cos 2𝑥 , find 𝑓𝑥 (𝑥, 𝑡) and 𝑓𝑡 (𝑥, 𝑡) .

ans: 𝒇𝒙 (𝒙, 𝒕) = −𝟐𝒆−𝒕 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝒙 ; 𝒇𝒕 (𝒙, 𝒕) = −𝒆−𝒕 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝟐𝒙

𝑥−𝑦 𝟐 𝟒
12. If 𝑓 (𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑥+𝑦 , find , 𝑓𝑥 (2,1) and 𝑓𝑦 (2,1) ans: 𝒇𝒙 (𝟐, 𝟏) = 𝟗 ; 𝒇𝒚 (𝟐, 𝟏) = − 𝟗

𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓 𝝏𝒇 𝝏𝒇
13. If 𝑓 (𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑦 𝑥 , find 𝜕𝑥
and 𝜕𝑦
. ans: 𝝏𝒙
= 𝒚𝒙 𝐥𝐧 𝒚 ; 𝝏𝒚
= 𝒙 𝒚𝒙−𝟏

𝟐𝒓 𝟐𝒔
14. If 𝑓 (𝑟, 𝑠) = ln(𝑟 2 + 𝑠 2 ) , find 𝑓𝑟 and 𝑓𝑠 . ans: 𝒇𝒓 = 𝒓𝟐 +𝒔𝟐 ; 𝒇𝒔 = 𝒓𝟐+𝒔𝟐