Christopher

Johnson
Calculus III
Project Matlab 3-D Surfaces
4/20/15

OBJECTIVE

Use Matlab and knowledge of derivatives to map a 3-D surface and its tangent lines.

METHOD

1)
Given the following equation:

!!
25
! !, ! = ! ! +
2
8

!"
at point P: (2,4, ! )

Find partial derivatives with respect to x & y, which gives the slope in each
respective direction. !! !, ! = ! ; !! !, ! = 2!

This gives the slopes in each direction. !! 2,4 = 2 ; !! 2,4 = 4

2) Use Matlab code to define variables (x,y) with their domain and range, solve
for function and its derivatives, equations for lines in x & y, create a for loop

using the above equation, and finally use the plot and surf commands to

create a 3-D surface of the function and its directional slopes in separate

colors for visibility.

CONCLUSIONS

Mapping a 3-D surface function and its tangent lines at a point using Matlab
gives a powerful visual tool to understand how derivatives work with
regards to a volume.

The bounds can be easily changed, or different functions can be evaluated
and graphed using similar code. This is what a 3-D graphing utility typically
does for the user when it is given a function, it solves for the function at all
the different points. By emphasizing the tangent lines, it is easier to
understand how the surface is behaving at exactly that point in terms of its
slope in x and y.