Math 21a Partial derivatives Fall 2016

1 Compute the partial derivatives of f at (x, y), where

(a) f (x, y) = y 5 − 3xy

√
(b) f (x, y) = x log y

For each of these functions, compute also the second partial derivatives fxx , fxy , fyx , and
fyy .
Solution.

(a) fx (x, y) = −3y, fy (x, y) = 5y 4 − 3x

fxx (x, y) = 0, fxy (x, y) = −3, fyx = −3, fyy (x, y) = 20y 3 .
√
log x
(b) fx (x, y) = √y , fy (x, y) =
2 x y
√
− log y 1√ 1√ − x
fxx (x, y) = 4x3/2
, fxy (x, y) = 2y x
, fyx (x, y) = 2y x
, fyy (x, y) = y2
.

2 Here’s a contour plot for the function f (x, y) = sin(x) sin(x + y).
-0.5 2 0.25 -0.25
Without actually computing
0.25 -0.5
the derivatives, what is the
sign of:

-0.25
1 0.75
0
(a) fx at ( π3 , 0)? (+ve).

(b) fy at ( π3 , 0)? (+ve).

0.75 0
(c) fxx at ( π6 , π3 )? (-ve).

(d) fxy at ( π6 , π3 )? (-ve).

-2 -1 0.5 1 2

0.5

-1 -0.25
0 0.25

-0.5

-0.25 0.25 -2 0 -0.5

 3 Look back at the second-order partial derivatives you computed in problem 1.
(a) What do you notice about fxy and fyx ?
(b) Find fxyxyxy where f (x, y) = x2 cos(ey + y 2 ).
√
(c) Find fxyz where f (x, y, z) = xy 2 z 3 + arcsin(x z).
Solution.
(a) They’re the same! This is Clairaut’s theorem.
(b) Find fxxxyyy instead. Get fxxx = 0, so fxyxyxy = 0.
(c) Find fyxz instead. Have fy (x, y) = 2xyz 3 , then fyx = 2yz 3 , so fyxz = 6yz 2 .
4 The van der Waals equation for n moles of a gas is
n2 a
 
P + 2 (V − nb) = nRT
V
where P is the pressure, V is volume, and T is the temperature of the gas. The constant R
is the universal gas constant and a and b are positive constants that are characteristic of a
particular gas. Use implicit differentiation to solve the following:
(a) What is the infinitesimal change in temperature resulting from a change in pressure,
keeping volume constant?
(b) What is the infinitesimal change in pressure, resulting from a change in volume, keeping
temperature constant?
Solution.
∂T
(a) We want to compute ∂P , so we differentiate both sides of the van der Waals equation
∂T
with respect to P , keeping in mind that T depends on P . We have (1)(V − nb) = nR ∂P ,
so rearranging we get
∂T V − nb
= .
∂P nR
∂P
(b) We want to compute ∂V
. Differentiating both sides with respect to V , we get
2n2 a n2 a
   
∂P
− (V − nb) + P + 2 (1) = (0)
∂V V3 V
so rearranging we find
2
∂P 2n2 a P + nV 2a
= − .
∂V V3 V − nb
5 In a simple economy, output Y is determined by labor input L and capital input K
according to the Cobb-Douglas production function Y = CK α Lβ , where C, α, β are positive
constants. Show that the Cobb-Douglas function satisfies the partial differential equation
∂Y ∂Y
L +K = (α + β)Y.
∂L ∂K
 ∂Y ∂Y
Solution. We have ∂L
= βCK α Lβ−1 and ∂K
= αCK α−1 Lβ , so the LHS is

L(βCK α Lβ−1 ) + K(αCK α−1 Lβ ) = (α + β)CK α Lβ = (α + β)Y,

which is the RHS.