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Section 14.3
Partial derivatives
Definition

Formal Definition
 The partial derivative of f ( x, y ) w.r.t. ‘x’ at the point  x0 , y0  is

f
denoted as and is defined as
x
Rate of change
f f (x 0  h , y 0 )  f (x 0 , y 0 )
(x 0 , y 0 )  lim . in ‘x’ direction
x h 0 h
 The partial derivative of f ( x, y ) w.r.t. ‘y’ at the point  x0 , y0  is

f
denoted as and is defined as
y
Rate of change
f f ( x0 , y0  h)  f ( x0 , y0 ) in ‘y’ direction
( x0 , y0 )  lim .
y h 0 h

f f
Informal Definition Informal Definition
x y
Ordinary derivative of f ( x, y) w.r.t. ‘x’ Ordinary derivative of f ( x, y) w.r.t. ‘y’
 keeping ‘y’ as constant  keeping ‘x’ as constant

Note:
f
(a,b )  g (a ) where g (x )  f (x ,b ),
x
f
(a,b )  h (b ) where h ( y )  f (a, y ).
y
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Partial derivatives: Basic computations

Notation
Consider z  f ( x, y ) .
The partial derivatives w.r.t. ‘x’ and ‘y’ are denoted respectively by

The partial derivatives at the point ( x0 , y0 ) are

f z f z
f x ( x0 , y0 ) , , and f y ( x0 , y0 ) , ,
x x  x0 , y  y0 x ( x0 , y0 ) y x  x0 , y  y0
y ( x0 , y0 )

Example If f (x , y )  x 2  y 3  x y 2 , find f x (x , y ), f x (0,1) and f y (0,1).

Implicit partial differentiation

 Learn through an example

Example If z is defined implicitly as a function of x and y by the equation

z z
x 3z  5 x y 5z 2  x 2  y 3 . Find and .
x x (1, 0)

Exercise If z is defined implicitly as a function of x and y by the equation

z z
x 2 sin  2 y  5 z   1  y cos  6 xz  . Find and .
x y
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Interpretation of partial derivatives of z = f(x,y)

If f (a,b )  c , then

f Slope of the tangent line T 1 to the curve C 1

(a,b )
x of intersection of the surface z=f(x,y) and the
plane y  b at the point P (a, b , c ) .

f Slope of the tangent line T 2 to the curve C 2

(a,b )
y of intersection of the surface z=f(x,y) and the
plane x  a at the point P (a, b , c ) .

Examples Find the slope of the tangent line at  1,1,1 to the curve of

intersection of the surface z  4  x 2  2 y 2 and

(a) the plane x  1 i.e. y-direction
(b) the plane y  1 i.e. x-direction
(c) Find parametric equations for the tangent line given in part (b).
Solution Done
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Higher order partial derivatives

f f
 Since , are also functions of x & y, so we can differentiate them further
x y
 For z=f(x,y), the four second order partial derivatives are
 2 f   f 
     f xx
x 2 x  x 

2 f   f 
     f xy Called mixed
yx y  x 
partial derivatives
2 f   f 
     f yx
xy x  y 

 2 f   f 
   f yy
y 2 y  y 

If the function ‘f’ is nice

Equality of mixed Partial derivatives
then the order in mixed
Let f be a function of two variables. If
derivatives is not
f xy and f yx are continuous on some
important, i.e. f xy  f yx
disk contains (a,b ) , then
f xy (a,b )  f yx (a,b ) .

Examples The 1st order partial derivative of f ( x, y )  cos 2 x  x 2e5 y  3 y 2

are f x  2sin 2 x  2 xe5 y and f y  5 x 2e5 y  6 y . Find all 2nd

order partial derivatives.

Solution Done in class

Let f ( x, y)  xe x
2 y2
Exercise . Verify that f xy  f yx .
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Partial derivatives of functions of more than two variables

 Until now we have only studied partial derivatives of functions of two

variables.

 But the concept & computations of partial derivatives of functions of

more than two variables are similar. [See example below]

Examples Calculate f x and f xz for f ( x, y, z )  z 3 y 2 ln x .

Solution Done in class

Exercise Calculate f xxyzz for f ( x, y, z )  z 3 y 2 ln x .

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Partial differential equations

Equations involving partial derivatives

Some important examples of partial differential equations are

 2u  2u
  0 Laplace’s equation
x 2 y 2

u 2  u
2
 c heat equation
t x 2
 2u 2  u
2
 c Wave equation
t 2 x 2
Note:
In the wave equation, u (x , t ) represents the displacement of a vibrating violin
string at time t and at a distance from one end of the string x .

Exercise Show that u  x 2  y 2  2xy satisfies Laplace’s equation.

End of Section 14.3