Formulas for Midterm 1

Length of a vector v

(a,b, c) is a 2

b2

c2

Vector equation of line through point P and direction v

r (t )

Scalar equations when P

P1

tv1, y

tv

(P1, P2, P3 ), v
P2

tv2, z

(v1, v2, v3 )
P3

tv3

Vector equation of line through two points P and Q is

r (t ) P
r (t ) Q

t(Q P ) (1 t )P tQ
t(P Q ) (1 t )Q tP

Intersection point of two lines r1(t ) and r2(t ):

Solve r1(t )

r2(s)

Remark: Lines can fail to have an intersection point

or

Formulas for Midterm 1

Dot/scalar product of v

v1w1

(v1, v2, v3 ), w
v2w2

(w1, w2, w3 )

v3w3

Remarks: The rules for dot products are

v w

w v

u (v

w)

u v

u w ( u) v

(u v)

Cosine/angle formula for dot product

v w

v w cos

Remark: The vectors are orthogonal if their dot product is zero.

Angle is obtuse if dot product is negative and acute otherwise.

Projection u|| of vector u onto vector v

u||

(u ev )ev

u v
v
v v

Orthogonal Projection

u||

( u cos )ev

Formulas for Midterm 1

Cross/Vector product of vectors u and v

u v

(u2v3

u3v2, u1v3

u3v1, u1v2

u2v1 )

Remarks: The rules for cross products are

v w
w v v
v 0
u (v w ) u v u w
v ( w)
(v w )
Remarks: Recall u v is orthogonal to both u and v and points
in the direction defined by the right hand rule.

Geometric properties of cross product:

v

v w sin

[Areaofparallelogramwithsidesvandw]

u (v w )

11

[Volofparallelepipedwithsidesu, vandw]

Equation of a plane with normal vector n through point P:

n (x , y, z )
So if

(a,b, c) and n
rx

sy

n P

(r , s, t ) then the equation is

tz

ra

sb ct

Formulas for Midterm 1

12 Equation

of plane through three points P, Q and R not all on one

line: use the following normal vector at P:

PQ PR

Equation of plane through point P and line

r (t ): pick two points Q

and R on the line and use the normal vector above.

Equation of plane through two lines: pick points P, Q and R not all
on the same line and use the normal vector above.

13

Intersection of line r (t ) and plane ax

by

cz

d:

substitute the general point (x(t ), y(t ), z(t )) on the line into
the plane equation
solve for t
then the intersection point is r(t ), unless line and the plane
dont intersect or line is contained in the plane.

13

Intersection of two planes:

solve the simultaneous equations of the planes for two variables

in terms of the third
then let the third variable be t to get the line of intersection of
the planes, unless the planes dont intersect or are equal

Formulas for Midterm 2

Position vector/Curve/Path

r (t )

Velocity vector/Derivative

r (t )

Speed
Integral

r (t )

x (t )2

r (t ) dt

y (t )2

(x (t ),y(t ), z (t ))
(x (t ), y (t ), z (t ))

z (t )2

x (t ) dt,

y(t ) dt,

z (t ) dt

c1,c2,c3

Length of a curve/path/arc length/distance travelled

Length of curve from a to b:

b
a

r (t ) dt

Definition of the limit

lim

(x ,y ) (a,b)

if and only if for all

f (x, y )

f (x , y )

> 0 there exists

whenever (x a )2

(y b)2

> 0 such that

and (x, y) (a,b)

Definition of continuity
f (x , y ) is continuous at a point (a,b) in the domain of f if and only if
lim

(x ,y ) (a,b)

f (x , y )

f (a,b)

Proving limits
Using squeeze theorem, polar co-ordinates, and the definition.

Showing limits do not exist

Using lines y

mx or polar co-ordinates.

Definition of partial derivatives

The partial derivatives of f at (a,b) are
fx (a,b)
fy (a,b)

f
(a,b)
x
f
(a,b)
y

h,b) f (a,b)
h
h 0
f (a,b h ) f (a,b)
lim
h
h 0
lim

f (a

To compute fx treat y as a constant and do ordinary differentiation.

Definition of Differentiability and Tangent Planes

A function f is differentiable at (a,b) if and only if
f (x , y ) f (a,b) fx (a,b)(x a ) fy (a,b)

lim

(x a )2

(x ,y ) (a ,b)

(y b)2

exists.

If the limit exists then the equation of the tangent plane to the surface
z

f (x ,y ) at the point (a,b) is

z

f (a,b)

fx (a,b)(x a )

fy (a,b)(y b)

Gradient vector
The gradient of f at (a,b) is
f
f
(a,b), (a,b)
x
y

f (a,b)

This is the direction of greatest increase of the surface z

f (x ,y )

Directional derivative
Let u

(u1,u2 ) be a unit vector. Then the directional derivative of f at

(a,b) in the direction of u is

Du f (a,b)

lim

It is the slope of the surface z

If

f (a

hu1,b

hu2 ) f (a,b)
h

f (x ,y ) in the direction of u .

is the angle between u and the gradient

Du f (a,b)

f (a,b) u

f (a,b) , then

f (a,b) cos

Chain Rule
If f (y1,y2,..., yn ) is a function and y1,y2,..., yn are a functions of (x1,..., xm ) ,
then for any xi ,
f
xi

f y1
y1 xi

f y2
y2 xi

In particular, if we have f (x,y, z ) where x

f
x (t )
x

f (t )

f yn
yn xi

x (t ),y

f
y (t )
y

y (t ), z

z (t ) then

f
z (t )
z

Implicit Differentiation and Tangent Planes

A surface z

f (x, y ) can be represented by F (x , y, z )

the tangent plane at point P

0 . The equation of

(a,b,c) is

F (a,b,c) (x, y, z )

F (a,b,c) (a,b,c)

The partial derivatives of z are

z
x

The gradient of surface z

Fx
Fz

z
y

Fy
Fz

f (x ,y ) given by F (x, y, z )
f (a,b)

Fy
Fx
,
Fz
Fz

0 at point (a,b) is