MA 26100 - FALL 2019

Study Guide # 1

1. Vectors in R2 and R3
(a) ~v = ha, b, ci = a~i + b~j + c ~k; vector addition and subtraction geometrically√ using paral-
lelograms spanned by ~u and ~v; length or magnitude of ~v = ha, b, ci, |~v| = a2 + b2 + c2 ;
directed vector from P0 (x0 , y0 , z0 ) to P1 (x1 , y1 , z1 ) given by ~v = P0 P1 = P1 − P0 =
hx1 − x0 , y1 − y0 , z1 − z0 i.
(b) Dot (or inner) product of ~a = ha1 , a2 , a3 i and ~b = hb1 , b2 , b3 i: ~a · ~b = a1 b1 + a2 b2 + a3 b3 ;
properties of dot product; useful identity: ~a · ~a = |~a|2 ; angle between two vectors ~a and ~b:
~a · ~b
cos θ = ; ~a ⊥ ~b if and only if ~a · ~b = 0; the vector in R2 with length r with angle θ is
|~a| |~b|
~v = hr cos θ, r sin θi :

(c) Cross product (only for vectors in R3 ):

 ~i ~j ~k  
 
    
  a2 a3   a1 a3   a1 a2 
~a × ~b =  a1 a2 ~i −  ~  ~

a3  =   b1 b3  j +  b1 b2  k
 b1 b 2 b 2 b 3

b3 

properties of cross products; ~a × ~b is perpendicular (orthogonal or normal) to both ~a and

~b; area of parallelogram spanned by ~a and ~b is A = |~a × ~b|:

the area of the triangle spanned is A = 12 |~a × ~b|:

 Volume of the parallelopiped spanned by ~a, ~b,~c is V = |~a · (~b × ~c)|:

2. Equation of a line L through P0 (x0 , y0 , z0 ) with direction vector ~v = ha, b, ci:

Vector Form: ~r(t) = hx0 , y0 , z0 i + t ~v.


 x = x0 + a t
Parametric Form: y = y0 + b t
z = z0 + c t


3. Equation of the plane through the point P0 (x0 , y0 , z0 ) and perpendicular to the vector ~n = ha, b, ci
(~n is a normal vector to the plane) is h(x − x0 ), (y − y0 ), (z − z0 )i · ~n = 0; Sketching planes
(consider x, y, z intercepts).

4. Quadric surfaces (can sketch them by considering various traces, i.e., curves resulting from the
intersection of the surface with planes x = k, y = k and/or z = k); some generic equations have
the form:

x2 y 2 z 2
(a) Ellipsoid: + 2 + 2 =1
a2 b c
x2 y 2 z 2
(b) Hyperboloid of One Sheet: + 2 − 2 =1
a2 b c
x2 y 2 z 2
(c) Hyperboloid of Two Sheets: − 2 − 2 =1
a2 b c
z x2 y 2
(d) Elliptic Paraboloid: = 2+ 2
c a b
z x2 y 2
(e) Hyperbolic Paraboloid (Saddle): = 2− 2
c a b
z2 x2 y 2
(f) Cone: = + 2
c2 a2 b
 5. Vector-valued functions ~r(t) = hf (t), g(t), h(t)i; tangent vector ~r 0 (t) for smooth curves, unit tan-
~ ~r 0 (t)
gent vector T(t) = 0 ; differentiation rules for vector functions, including:
|~r (t)|

(i) {φ(t) ~v(t)} 0 = φ(t) ~v 0 (t) + φ0 (t) ~v(t), where φ(t) is a real-valued function
(ii) (~u · ~v) 0 = ~u · ~v 0 + ~u 0 · ~v
(iii) (~u × ~v) 0 = ~u × ~v 0 + ~u 0 × ~v
(iv) {~v(φ(t))} 0 = φ0 (t) ~v 0 (φ(t)), where φ(t) is a real-valued function
Z Z Z Z 
6. Integrals of vector functions ~r(t) dt = f (t) dt, g(t) dt, h(t) dt ; arc length of curve
Z b Z t
0
parameterized by ~r(t) is L = |~r (t)| dt; arc length function s(t) = |~r 0 (u)| du; reparameterize
a a
by arc length: σ (s) = ~r(t(s)), where t(s) is the inverse of the arc length function s(t); the
~
|T~ 0 (t)| √
curvature of a curve parameterized by ~r(t) is κ = 0 . Note: α2 = |α|.
|~r (t)|

7. ~r(t) = position of a particle, ~r 0 (t) = ~v(t) = velocity; ~a(t) = ~v 0 (t) = ~r 00 (t) = acceleration;
~ = m ~a; motion in space F
|~r 0 (t)| = |~v(t)| = speed; Newton’s 2nd Law: F ~ =< 0, 0, −mg >.

8. Domain and range of a function f (x, y) and f (x, y, z); level curves (or contour curves) of f (x, y)
are the curves f (x, y) = k; using level curves to sketch surfaces; level surfaces of f (x, y, z) are the
surfaces f (x, y, z) = k.

9. Limits of functions f (x, y) and f (x, y, z); limit of f (x, y) does not exist if different paths approach
to (a, b) yield different limits; continuity.

∂f f (x + h, y) − f (x, y)
10. Partial derivatives (x, y) = fx (x, y) = lim ,
∂x h→0 h
∂f f (x, y + h) − f (x, y) ∂ 2f
(x, y) = fy (x, y) = lim ; higher order partial derivatives: fxy = ,
∂y h→0 h ∂y ∂x
∂ 2f ∂ 2f
fyy = , f yx = , etc; mixed partial derivatives.
∂y 2 ∂x ∂y

11. Equation of the tangent plane to the graph of z = f (x, y) at (x0 , y0 , z0 ) is given by
z − z0 = fx (x0 , y0 )(x − x0 ) + fy (x0 , y0 )(y − y0 ).

∂f ∂f
12. Total differential for z = f (x, y) is dz = df = dx + dy; total differential for w = f (x, y, z)
∂x ∂y
∂f ∂f ∂f
is dw = df = dx + dy + dz; linear approximation for z = f (x, y) is given by ∆z ≈ dz,
∂x ∂y ∂z
∂f ∂f
i.e., f (x + ∆x, y + ∆y) − f (x, y) ≈ dx + dy , where ∆x = dx, ∆y = dy ;
∂x ∂y
Linearization of f (x, y) at (a, b) is given by L(x, y) = f (a, b) + fx (a, b)(x − a) + fy (a, b)(y − b);
L(x, y) ≈ f (x, y) near (a, b).
13. CHAIN RULE; different forms of the Chain Rule: Form 1, Form 2; CHAIN RULE (Gen-
eral Form): Tree diagrams. For example:

x = x(t) df ∂f dx ∂f dy
(a) If z = f (x, y) and , then = + :
y = y(t) dt ∂x dt ∂y dt


x = x(s, t)
(b) If z = f (x, y) and , then
y = y(s, t)

∂f ∂f ∂x ∂f ∂y ∂f ∂f ∂x ∂f ∂y
= + and = + :
∂s ∂x ∂s ∂y ∂s ∂t ∂x ∂t ∂y ∂t

etc.....

14. Implicit Differentiation:

dy
Part I: If F (x, y) = 0 defines y as function of x (i.e., y = y(x)), then to compute ,
dx
dy
differentiate both sides of the equation F (x, y) = 0 w.r.t. x and solve for .
dx
∂z
If F (x, y, z) = 0 defines z as function of x and y (i.e. z = z(x, y)) , then to compute ,
∂x
∂z ∂z
differentiate the equation F (x, y, z) = 0 w.r.t. x (hold y fixed) and solve for . For ,
∂x ∂y
∂z
differentiate the equation F (x, y, z) = 0 w.r.t. y (hold x fixed) and solve for .
∂y
dy ∂F . ∂F
Part II: If F (x, y) = 0 defines y as function of x =⇒ =− ;
dx ∂x ∂y
∂z ∂F . ∂F ∂z
while if F (x, y, z) = 0 defines z as function of x and y =⇒ = − and =
∂x ∂x ∂z ∂y
∂F . ∂F
− .
∂y ∂z
  
∂f ∂f
15. Gradient vector for f (x, y): ∇f (x, y) = , , properties of gradients; gradient points in
∂x ∂y
direction of maximum rate of increase of f , maximum rate of increase is |∇f |; ∇f (x0 , y0 ) ⊥ level
curve f (x, y) = k and, in the case of 3 variables, ∇f (x0 , y0 , z0 ) ⊥ level surface f (x, y, z) = k:

16. Directional derivative of f (x, y) at (x0 , y0 ) in the direction ~u : D~u f (x0 , y0 ) = ∇f (x0 , y0 ) · ~u,
where ~u must be a unit vector; tangent planes to level surfaces f (x, y, z) = k (a normal vector at
(x0 , y0 , z0 ) is ~n = ∇f (x0 , y0 , z0 )).

17. Relative/local extrema; critical points (points where ∇f = ~0 or ∇f does not exist).
18. 2nd Derivatives Test: Suppose nd
 the 2 partials
 of f (x, y) are continuous in a disk with center (a, b)
 f f 
and ∇f (a, b) = ~0. Let D =  xx xy  .
fyx fyy (a,b)
(a) If D > 0 and fxx (a, b) > 0 =⇒ f (a, b) is a local minimum value.
(b) If D > 0 and fxx (a, b) < 0 =⇒ f (a, b) is a local maximum value.
(c) If D < 0 =⇒ f (a, b) is a not a local min or local max value. So (a, b) is a saddle point of f .

If D = 0 (or if ∇f (a, b) does not exist or f has more than 2 variables) the test gives no information
and you need to do something else to determine if a relative extremum exists.

19. Absolute extrema; Max-Min Problems.