Week #18 - Functions of Two Variables

Section 12.2
From Calculus, Single Variable by Hughes-Hallett, Gleason, McCallum et. al.
Copyright 2005 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
This material is used by permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

SUGGESTED PROBLEMS
1. (a) (IV)- Has its minimum at (0, 0, 2) and is bowl-shaped upwards
(b) (II)- Has its maximum at (0, 0, 2) and bowl-shaped downwards
(c) (I) - Has its minimum at (0, 0, 0), and bowl-shaped upwards
(d) (V) - Is linear with changes in x and y
(e) (III) - Has a constant z value for every x, y.
2. (a) (I) - z always positive, has an asymptote at (x, y) = (0, 0)
(b) (V) - z Always negative, has point (-1, 0, 0) and z goes to zero as (x2 + y 2 ) ,
or as you move away from the origin.
(c) (IV) - Function is linear in x and y.
(d) (II) - z is always negative. Function is the same as x changes.
(e) (III) - Process of elimination
3. A flat plane parallel to the xy plane, but at height z = 3.

5. A radially symmetric bowl shape, opening upwards, with its minimum at (0, 0, 4).

7. A parabolic shaped trough. The parabolas are parallel to y axis, while along the x axis,
the shape is constant.

9. z does not appear in this equation, so its value is arbitrary. Since the formula would
be for a circle in 2 dimensions, and we can place that circle at any z value, we get an
infinitely long cylinder.

QUIZ PREPARATION PROBLEMS

11. (a) Could be a bowl. It is radially symmetric, and z increases as we move away from
(0, 0).
2

(b) Is a bowl shape, but upside-down. It is radially symmetric, but z decreases as we

move away from (0, 0).
(c) This is a plane (or could be called a plate-shape).
(d) This represents part of the sphere z 2 + x2 + y 2 = 5. Since we have the negative root,
it represents the bottom of the sphere, and so could be called bowl-shaped.
(e) This is the completely flat plane seen in question 3, which could be a plate.
14. This matching problem requires a combination of intuition, analysis of different properties, and elimination. The key ingredients we used to identify the graphs are indicated
in our selection.
(a) (IV) - Function is positive in opposite quadrants (xy > 0), negative in other two
opposite quadrants (xy < 0). Graph has value z = 0 at (0, 0), at heads towards
z = 0 as we move away from the origin. Along each axis, z = 0.
(b) (IX) - radially symmetric, has value z = 1 at (0, 0), and the peaks are the same
height as you move away from (0, 0).
(c) (VII) - looks like a sin wave when we cut along y, function doesnt change with x
(d) (I) - z always negative, asymptotic at (0, 0).
(e) (VIII) - z always positive and oscillating. Along x = 0 or y = 0, we should get
something like cos graph (really cos2 ).
(f) (II) - radially symmetric, z 1 as (x, y) (0, 0), like sin(x)/x, z 0 as we move
away from the origin
(g) (VI) - oscillates. Along x = 0 and y = 0, the function always has value z = cos(0) =
1.
(h) (III) - z always positive, is linear in each quadrant
(i) (V) - mostly process of elimination, though the fact that z is always positive, and
2
it has some shapes like ex from 1D functions is reassuring.
16. f (3, 2) gives the concentration of drug (mg/liter) in the blood after a dose of x = 3 grams
and t = 2 hours since the injection.

0.2
0.1
0.0

0.3

17. (a) If x is fixed at 4, we have C(t) = tet(54) = tet . We graphed this function a few
weeks ago. For t > 0, C is always positive, and it starts at t = 0, C = 0, and as
t , C 0. This graph shows the drug concentration over time given an initial
injection of x = 4 grams.

2
t

0.2
0.0

0.1

0.3

(b) If t is fixed at w, we have C(x) = 1e1(5x) = ex5 . This represents the amount of
drug in the body after 1 hour, depending in the original dosage.

21. This problem requires some experimentation. Just try selecting some values of x or y,
and see what you get.
(a) Select the plane y = 0. Then z = 4x2 + 1, which is a parabola which opens up
(b) Select the plane x = 0. Then z = y 2 + 1 = 1 y 2 , which is a parabola that opens
down
(c) Select the plane z = 1. Then 1 = 4x2 y 2 + 1, or y 2 = 4x2 . This has the solutions
y = 2x, which makes two straight lines.
22. Again, experimentation is key for solving a problem like this. Try simple values for x, y,
or z, and see what happens to relationship.

Its tempting to try y = 0, but since sin(0) = 0 and 02 = 0,

2

so the sin function is still in play.

we dont have anything left. Selecting y =
2
2
z = (x2 + 1) + x 22 . This is a parabola.

(a) Select the plane y =

(b) We need to get rid of the x2 or y 2 . If we pick a y so that sin(y) = 0, well get that.
Select the plane y = , so z = (x2 + 1) sin() + x 2 = x 2 . This is a straight line
with slope 2 9.
Alternatively, a simpler answer is simply setting y = 0, which makes z = 0. This is
about as simple a straight line as you can get.
(c) Select the plane x = 0. Then z = sin(y) + 0y 2 = sin(y)