University of KwaZulu–Natal

Engineering Mathematics 2(a): June 1998 1

Question 1.
a) Sketch the surface given by the equation

x2 y 2 z2
+ + = 1. [3p]
4 9 25
b) Find the domain and range of

f (x, y) = 1 + ln(arccos(2x2 + y 2 )).

Sketch typical level curves. [4p]

c) Find the following limits, if they exist
à !
x2 − y 2 x2 y 2
(i) lim arctan p 2 , (ii) lim [4p]
(x,y)→(0,0) x + y2 (x,y)→(0,0) x6 + y 3

Question 2.
a) Find all the first order partial derivatives of the function
µ ¶
x
f (x, y) = arctan [4pt]
x + y2
2

b) Let w = f (x, y) be a twice differentiable function of x and y, and let x = u − v and y = u + v.

Express the second order partial derivatives fxx , fyy , fxy in terms of derivatives of w with respect to
u and v. [6p]
c) Using the results of b), find the general solution of the wave equation fxx − fyy = 0. [5p]

Question 3.
a) Let f be a differentiable function of variables x, y, and let P0 (x0 , y0 ) be any point in the domain of
f . In what direction does f increase most rapidly at the point P0 ? Prove your statement. [4p]
b) Find the parametric equations of the line which is tangent to the curve defined as the intersection
of the surfaces
S1 : x2 + 2y 2 + 3z 2 = 6
and
S2 : xyz = 1
at the point (1, 1, 1). [5p]

Question 4.
a) Find the maximum and minimum values and saddle points (whichever applicable) for the function

f (x, y) = 2x3 + y 3 + 3x2 − 3y − 8.

Determine whether maxima/minima are local or absolute. [6p]

b) Find the extreme values of f (x, y) = x2 + 3y 2 + 6y − 2x on the ellipse x2 + 3y 2 = 1. [7p]
University of KwaZulu–Natal
Engineering Mathematics 2(a): June 2000 2

Question 1 16 points
(a) Find the equation of the level curve of the surface

3x2 + 5
z=
x2 − y 2 + 1
√
that passes through the point (5, 6) in the xy plane. Classify (or describe) this curve. (4)

(b) Show that the following limits exist and find them:

y2
lim p ,
(x,y)→(2,0) x2 + y 2 − x
q
lim x2 + y 2 tanh(1/y).
(x,y)→(0,0)

Justify your answers. (6)

(c) Find the Taylor expansion of the function

f (x, y) = x3 y − 2xy 3

about the point P0 = (1, 1), up to terms of order 2 inclusive. (6)

Question 2 10 points
(a) Find the normal line and the tangent plane to the surface (ellipsoid) 2x2 + 3y 2 + z2 = 12, at the
point P with coordinates x = 2, y = 1, z > 0. (6)

(b) Find the directional derivative of the function f (x, y) = y + ln(x2 + y 4 ) at the point P = (1, 0),
in the direction of the vector joining P to the point Q = (5, 3). (4)

Question 3 13 points
(a) Find and classify the critical point(s) of the function

z = x2 + y 2 − 3xy − 12 x + 2y.

Also, find its absolute maximum over the closed triangle bounded by the x axis, the y axis, and the
line x + y = 2. (8)

(b) Find the distance of the cone (x − 1)2 + (y − 2)2 − z 2 = 0 from the origin. Use any method you
want. (5)
University of KwaZulu–Natal
Engineering Mathematics 2(a): June 2001 3

Question 1 12 points
(a) Draw a rough sketch of the domain of the function
p
x − y2
f (x, y) = √ ,
y−x

indicating in particular what parts of the boundary are included/not included in the domain. (4)
Is the domain (i) open (ii) closed (iii) neither open nor closed? (1)
Find the range of f (x, y). (1)

(b) Determine if the following limits exist. Where the limit exists, find it; where it does not exist,
prove your statement.

x4 − y 4 x2 y
(i) lim , (ii) lim . (6)
(x,y)→(1,1) x−y (x,y)→(0,0) x4 + y 2
x6=y

Question 2 15 points
(a) Find the Taylor expansion of the function

f (x, y) = x2 y + xy 4 + 1/x

about the point P0 = (1, 1), up to terms of order 2 inclusive. (6)

(b) Find the normal line and the tangent plane to the surface 2x2 z + yz − y 2 = 0, at the point P on
the surface having coordinates x = 1, y = 2. (6)

(c) The derivative of f (x, y) at a certain point P0 , in the direction of the vector 3 ı̂−4 ̂, is equal to 4/5;
the derivative at the same point in the direction of 12 ı̂ + 5 ̂ is equal to 58/13. Find the directional
derivative of f at P0 in the direction of 4 ı̂ − 3 ̂. (3)

Question 3 12 points
(a) Find and classify the critical point(s) of the function

z(x, y) = x3 − xy + y 2 − y.

Also, find its absolute maximum over the closed square bounded by the x axis, the y axis, the straight
line x = 1 and the straight line y = 1. (8)

µ ¶ µ ¶
∂u ∂u
(b) Find the partial derivatives and , at the point P0 = (1, 1, 1), of the function
∂x y ∂x z

xz
u(x, y, z) = ,
y
if the variables are related by the equation

x3 + y 3 + z 3 = x + y + z. (4)
 University of KwaZulu–Natal
Engineering Mathematics 2(a): June 2003 4

Question 1 [8 marks]

(a) Find the domain and range of the given functions:

(i) f (x, y) = y 2 − x2 (ii) f (x, y, z) = z 2 − x2 − y 2 .

Sketch or describe its typical level curve/surface. (4)

(b) Determine if the following limits exist. Where the limit exists, find it; where it does not exist,
prove your statement:
xy
lim − 2
(x,y)→(0,0) x + y 2

lim (x2 + y 2 ) ln(x2 + y 2 )

(x,y)→(0,0)

(4)

Question 2 [6 marks]
Z x2 p
(a) Find the derivative with respect to x of the integral I(x) = t4 + x3 dt. (3)
0
µ ¶ µ ¶ µ ¶
∂z ∂x ∂y
(b) Establish the fact that if f (x, y, z) = 0, then = −1. (3)
∂x y ∂y z ∂z x

Question 3 [12 marks]

(a) Let f (x, y) = x2 ey . Find the maximum value of a directional derivative at (−2, 0), and find the
unit vector in the direction in which the maximum value occurs. (3)

(b) Find an equation of the tangent plane to the ellipsoid x2 + 4y 2 + z 2 = 18 at the point (1, 2, 1)
and determine the acute angle that the plane makes with the xy–plane. (4)

(c) Find parametric equations of the tangent line to the curve of intersection of the paraboloid
z = x2 + y 2 and the ellipsoid 3x2 + 2y 2 + z 2 = 9 at the point (1, 1, 2). (5)

Question 4 [10 marks]

(a) Locate all relative extrema and saddle points of f (x, y) = 4xy − x4 − y 4 . (4)

(b) Use the method of Lagrange multipliers to determine at what point or points on the circle
x2 + y 2 = 1 does f (x, y) = xy have an absolute maximum, and what is that maximum? (6)

Question 5 [4 marks]

Use Taylor’s formula to find a quadratic approximation of f (x, y) = cos x cos y at the origin.
Estimate the error in the approximation if |x| ≤ 0.1 and |y| ≤ 0.1.
University of KwaZulu–Natal
Engineering Mathematics 2(a): June 2005 5

Question 1 12 points
(a) Give a graphical representation of the domain of the function
q
f (x, y) = 9 − x2 − y 2 + ln(x + y)

and determine whether the domain is (i) open, closed or neither open nor closed, and (ii) bounded or
unbounded. Find the equation of the level curve of f passing through the point (−1, 2). (5)
(b) Evaluate the following limits (show your working):
x3 − y 3 x3 − y 3
(i) lim (ii) lim (4)
(x,y)→(1,1) x2 − y 2 (x,y)→(0,0) x2 + y 2
x6=y

(c) Is the function


 5x2 y
for (x, y) 6= (0, 0)
f (x, y) = 4 2
 x + 3y
0 for (x, y) = (0, 0)
continuous? Explain. (3)

Question 2 12 points
(a)
¡ ¢
(i) Define Du f P , i.e. the derivative of function f (x, y) at the point P(a, b) in the direction of the
unit vector u = u1 i + u2 j, in terms of a limit.

(ii) Use this definition to prove that if f is differentiable at P, then we can write
¡ ¢
Du f P
= fx (a, b)u1 + fy (a, b)u2 .

(iii) Hence find the derivative of f (x, y) = y 2 + 2y sinh(3x) at the point (0, −2) in the direction of
the point (−3, 2). (7)

(b) Find equations for the normal line and tangent plane to the surface 5xy + 4 arctan(yz) = −π at
the point (0, −1, 1). (5)

Question 3 16 points
(a) Use the method of Lagrange multipliers to determine how close the surface z 2 = xy − 4 gets to
the origin. (You may assume that such a minimum distance does exist). (6)
(b) Given that the function
g(x, y, z) = x2 yz 3
is constrained by the equation
x2 + y 2 − z 2 = x + 3y − z,
µ ¶ µ ¶
∂g ∂g
find and at the point (2, 3, −1). (5)
∂y x ∂y z
(c) Use Taylor’s formula to find a second–order polynomial approximation of the function
1
f (x, y) =
3x − 2y + 1

near the origin. (5)