Math 215 First Exam Solutions October 9, 2003

Problem 1. (15 pts.)

(a 5 pts.) Find the area of the triangle with vertices A(1, 0, 0), B(0, 1, 0), and C(0, 0, 1) and compare it to the area of its
shadow on the xy-plane.
Solution. Since the area of the triangle ABC is half the area of the parallelogram spanned by AB and AC, we
get:
AB = OBOA = 0, 1, 0 1, 0, 0 = 1, 1, 0, AC = 1, 0, 1
ABAC =

i j k
1 1 0
1 0 1

= 1, 1, 1, |ABAC| =

1
2
+ 1
2
+ 1
2
=

3
Area(ABC) =
1
2
Area(AB, AC) =

3
2
.
The area of its shadow (or projection) on the xy-plane is
Area(ABO) =
1
2
Area(AB, A0) =
1
2
(k-th component of the vector ABAC) =
1
2
,
and so the area of the ABC is

3 times larger than the area of its shadow.

(b 5 pts.) Find the distance from the point P(14, 4, 8) to the plane : 6x 2y + 3z = 2.
Solution. From the equation of the plane we can see that its normal vector n = 6, 2, 3. Also, the point
P
0
(0, 1, 0) is clearly a point on this plane. Then
dist(P, ) = |comp
n
P
0
P| =

14, 5, 8 6, 2, 3
|6, 2, 3|

84 10 + 24

6
2
+ (2)
2
+ (3)
2

=
98

49
= 14 .

(c 5 pts.) Find an equation of the sphere centered at the point P(14, 4, 8) and touching the plane 6x 2y + 3z = 2.
Solution. From part (b) we know that the distance from P to the plane is 14, so the radius of the sphere touching
and centered at P is 14 and we get
(x 14)
2
+ (y 4)
2
+ (z 8)
2
= 14
2
.

Problem 2. (10 pts.)

(a 5 pts.) Find an equation of the plane containing the line L : r(t) = (2 + 3t)i + (1 2t)j + (1 + t)k and the point
P(1, 3, 1).
Solution. The point on L corresponding to t = 0 is P
0
(2, 1, 1) and the direction vector of L is v = 3, 2, 1 (it
is the vector of coecients of t.) Then P
0
P = (1, 2, 2 and v are two vectors in the plane and we can get the
normal vector of the plane by taking their cross-product:
n = P
0
Pv =

i j k
1 2 2
3 2 1

= 6, 7, 4
and so the equation of the plane is
6(x 2) + 7(y 1) 4(z + 1) = 0 or 6x + 7y 4z = 23 .

(b 5 pts.) Find a parametric equation of the line of intersections of the planes x y + 2z = 2 and 3x +y z = 4.
1
2
Solution. Taking the cross-product of the normal vectors of the planes, n
1
= 1, 1, 2 and n
2
= 3, 1, 1, we get
the direction vector of the line of their intersection,
v = n
1
n
2
=

i j k
1 1 2
3 1 1

= 1, 7, 4.
To nd a reference point on this line, we need to nd a solution to the following system of equations:

x y + 2z = 2
3x +y z = 4
adding the equations, we obtain 4x +z = 6
so we can take x = 0, z = 6, y = x + 2z 2 = 10, and we get
r(t) = 0, 10, 6 +1, 7, 4t or, in components,
x = t
y = 10 + 7t
z = 6 + 4t
.

Problem 3. (20 pts.) Find or estimate, depending on the type of data provided, partial derivatives f
x
and f
y
at the point
P(3, 2) for the following four functions:
(a) Function f
1
is given by the formula:
f
1
(x, y) = x
2
cos(xy)
Solution. We have
f
x
= 2xcos(xy) x
2
y sin(xy) f
x
(3, 2) = 6 cos(6) 18 sin(6)
f
y
= x
3
sin(xy) f
y
(3, 2) = 27 sin(6) .

(b) Function f
2
is given by the table:
f
2
(x, y) x = 2.8 x = 3.0 x = 3.2 x = 3.4
y = 2.1 1.20 1.35 1.50 1.64
y = 2.0 1.26 1.41 1.55 1.70
y = 1.9 1.31 1.46 1.61 1.75
y = 1.8 1.37 1.52 1.66 1.81
Solution. We can approximate f
x
(3, 2) by using either forward or backward derivatives:
f
x
(3, 2)
f(3.2, 2) f(3, 2)
0.2
=
0.14
0.2
= 0.7 or f
x
(3, 2)
f(3.0, 2) f(2.8, 2)
0.2
=
0.15
0.2
= 0.75
but the best thing to do is to take the average of these approximations:
f
x
(3, 2)
1
2

f(3.2, 2) f(3, 2)
0.2
+
f(3.0, 2) f(2.8, 2)
0.2

=
f(3.2) f(2.8, 2)
0.4
=
0.29
0.4
= 0.725 .
Similarly
, f
y
(3, 2)
1
2

f(3, 2.1) f(3, 2)

0.1
+
f(3, 2) f(3, 1.9)
0.1

=
0.11
0.2
= 0.55 .

(c) Function f
3
is given by its level curves:
3
5
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
2
1
1
0
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
y
1 2 3 4 5
x
Solution. Since the level curve through the point P(3, 2) touches the x-axis, we expect f
x
(3, 2) 0 . For f
y
(3, 2) we use
the (1)-level and (+1)-level curves to get f
y
(3, 2)
2
0.5
= 4 .
(d) The only thing we know about the function f
4
is its gradient vector at P(3, 2):
Solution. From the denition of the gradient vector we get
f(3, 2) = f
x
(3, 2), f
y
(3, 2) = 6, 4,
and therefore f
x
(3, 2) = 6 and f
y
(3, 2) = 4 .
Problem 4. (10 pts.) A gnat with a keen grasp of multivariable calculus notes that the relative humidity in the greenhouse
in which it is ying is given by H(x, y, z) =
1
2
sin(xy) +
1
z + 1
.
(a 5 pts.) Which direction should the gnat y from its current position of (, 2, 1) to decrease the humidity of the air around
it the fastest (it is not necessary to give your answer as a unit vector)?
Solution. We have
H = H
x
, H
y
, H
z
=
y
2
cos(xy),
x
2
cos(xy),
1
(z + 1)
2
, H(, 2, 1) = 1,

2
,
1
4
,
and so to decrease the humidity of the surrounding air the fastest, the gnat has to y in the dirrection opposite to
H(, 2, 1), or 1,

2
,
1
4
.
(b 5 pts.) How does the humidity change if it instead ies in the direction of the point ( + 3, 2, 5)? (Give your answer as
a rate of change in this direction).
Solution. The direction from P(, 2, 1) to Q( + 3, 2, 5) is given by v = PQ = 3, 0, 4, and so the rate of change
of the humidity in this direction is given by
D
v
H(P) = comp
v
H =
1,

2
,
1
4
3, 0, 4
|3, 0, 4|
=
3 + 0 1

25
=
2
5
,
so the humidity increases in this direction at the rate of
2
5
.
Problem 5. (15 pts.) Suppose that three quantities x, y, and z, are constrained by the equation 2x
2
+ 3y
2
+ z
2
= 20. The
graph of this equation is a surface S in space.
4
(a 5 pts.) Verify that the point P(2, 1, 3) is a point on S and nd the equation of the tangent plane to S at this point.
Solution. Let F(x, y, z) = 2x
2
+ 3y
2
+z
2
. Then F(P) = 8 + 3 + 9 = 20, so P belongs to the level surface S given
by F(x, y, z) = 20. Since gradient vectors are perpendicular to levels, F(P) = 4x, 6y, 2z(2, 1, 3) = 8, 6, 6 is
perpendicular to S at P and we can take it as a normal vector n of the tangent plane to S at P. The equation of
the tangent plane then is
8(x 2) + 6(y 1) + 6(z 3) = 0 .

(b 5 pts.) Near P(2, 1, 3) we can think of z as a function of x and y, z = f(x, y). Without nding f(x, y) explicitly,
determine its linear approximation L
f
near x = 2, y = 1.
Solution. Either solving the equation of the tangent plane obtained in part (a) for z,
z = 3
4
3
(x 2) (y 1),
or using implicit dierentiation, f
x
=
F
x
F
z
=
2x
z
, f
y
=
F
y
F
z
=
3y
z
, we get
L
f
(x, y) = f(2, 1) +f
x
(2, 1)(x 2) +f
y
(2, 1)(y 1) = 3
4
3
(x 2) (y 1) .

(c 5 pts.) Approximate the value of z corresponding to x = 1.97 and y = 1.12.

Solution. Using the linearization from part (b), we get
z L
f
(1.97, 1.12) = 3
4
3
x y = 3
4
3
(0.03) (0.12) = 2.92 .

Problem 6. (10 pts.) Corn production, C, is a function of rainfall, R, and temperature, T; C = C(R, T). Of course, R
and T are functions of time t. If at the present moment C
R
= 3.3, C
T
= 5, and the current climate model predicts that
R
t
= 0.2 and T
t
= 0.1, do you expect the corn production to increase or to decrease?
Solution. Using the tree diagram, we get:
C(R, T)
C
R
=3.3

C
T
=5

6
6
6
6
6
6
R
Rt=0.2

7
7
7
7
7
7
7
T
Tt=0.1

t
and so by the Chain Rule we get
dC
dt
=
C
R
dR
dt
+
C
T
dT
dt
= (3.3)(0.2) + (5)(0.1) = 1.16 < 0,
so we expect the corn production to decrease .
Problem 7. (10 pts.) Multiple Choice.
(1) The gradient vector f of the function f(x, y) at the point P
(a) Must be parallel to the level curve of f through P.
(b) Must be perpendicular to the level curve of f through P.
(c) None of the above.
Solution. Gradient vector f is always perpendicular to the level curve of f through P, so the answer is b .
(2) If r

(t) is parallel to r

(t),
(a) The trajectory r(t) must be a straight line.
(b) The trajectory r(t) must be a circle.
(c) None of the above.
5
Solution. Since
r

(t) = a(t) = a
T
(t)T(t) +a
N
(t)N(t), r

(t) = v(t)T(t),
we see that a
N
(t) = 0, and so the direction of the velocity vector (the direction of motion) is not changing. Therefore, the
trajectory r(t) must be a straight line and the answer is a .
(3) If r

(t) is perpendicular to r

(t),
(a) The trajectory r(t) must be a straight line.
(b) The trajectory r(t) must be a circle.
(c) None of the above.
Solution. This time we get a
T
(t) = 0 and so the speed of motion is constant. But the trajectory of the motion can be
arbitrary, and so the answer is c .
(4) If for two non-zero vectors v and w we have v w = 0
(a) v and w must be parallel.
(b) v and w must be perpendicular.
(c) None of the above.
Solution. Recall that |vw| = |v||w| sin (where is the angle between u and v) so = 0 or and the answer is a .
(5) If for two non-zero vectors v and w we have v w = 0
(a) v and w must be parallel.
(b) v and w must be perpendicular.
(c) None of the above.
Solution. Recall that |v w| = |v||w| cos , so =

2
or
3
2
and the answer is b .
Problem 8. (10 pts.) Match the following functions, graphs, level curves
Solution.
(a) f(x, y) = cos(x
2
+y
2
). This graph has rotational symmetry and is oscillating. Also, f(0, 0) = 1.
(II)
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
x
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
y
1
0
1
(E)
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
y
3 2 1 0 1 2 3
x
(b) f(x, y) = 10xye
x
2
y
2
. This function has exponential decay away from the origin, so it can be either (I) or (V). But it is also
zero along the coordinate axis, is odd in both variables, and symmetrix w.r.t. exchanging x and y, so
(V)
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
x
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
y
1
0
1
(A)
2
1
0
1
2
y
2 1 0 1 2
x
6
(c) f(x, y) = cos(3x). This function is independent of y (therefore, so its level curves are vertical lines) and has oscillatory behavior
in x, so
(IV)
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
x
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
y
1
0
1
(C)
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
y
3 2 1 0 1 2 3
x
(d) f(x, y) =
5
x
2
+ 2y
2
+ 1
. This function is decaying away from the origin and its level curves should look like ellipses. It is also
even in both x and y, so
(I)
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
x
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
y
2
4
(B)
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
y
2 1 0 1 2 3
x
(e) f(x, y) = x y + 1. The graph of this function is a plane and its levels are straight lines (and they are not vertical, since an
equation of f(x, y) = k has the form y = x + 1 k), so
(III)
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
x
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
y
4
2
0
2
4
6
(D)
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
y
3 2 1 0 1 2 3
x