Arkansas Tech University

MATH 2934: Calculus III

Dr. Marcel B Finan
2 Graphs of Functions of Two Variables
If you recall that the graph of a function f of one variable x is the set of all
points (x, y) in the two dimensional plane such that y = f(x) and x in the
domain of f. That is, the graph is a curve in the 2-D system. In a similar
way, the graph of a function f of two variables x and y is the set of all
ordered points (x, y, z) such that z = f(x, y) and (x, y) is in the domain of
f. The graph is a surface in the 3-D space.
Example 2.1
Sketch the graph of z = f(x, y) =

1 x
2
y
2
.
Solution.
Using a graphing tool such as a computer we nd the surface shown in Figure
2.1. This surface is the upper half of the sphere centered at the origin and
with radius 1
Figure 2.1
As you can see, graphing functions in space manually is quite dicult and is
not an easy matter. You will not need to do this. We usually graph function
of two variables using a graphical device such as a computer or a graphing
calculator.
Example 2.2
Sketch the graph of z = f(x, y) = x
2
+ y
2
.
Solution.
The graph is the surface shown in Figure 2.2. This surface is called a
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paraboloid and is a bowl-shaped surface. The vertex of the paraboloid
is the origin
Figure 2.2
A paraboloid is one of the surfaces that we will encounter very often in this
course. Therefore, you are encouraged to remember these specic surfaces
and their corresponding formulas. A catalog of surfaces is found on Page
671 of your textbook. The example below describes a surface that can be
obtained from a paraboloid.
Example 2.3
Sketch the graph of z = f(x, y) = 6 x
2
y
2
.
Solution.
First note that z = 6 (x
2
+ y
2
). The graph of this function is a reection
of the previous paraboloid about the xyplane followed by a vertical trans-
lation 6 units up along the zaxis as shown in Figure 2.3 .
Figure 2.3
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Example 2.4
Sketch the graph of z = f(x, y) = 12 3x 4y.
Solution.
The graph is a plane shown in Figure 2.4. A function of the form z =
f(x, y) = c + ax + by is called a linear function. The graph is a plane in
the 3-D space. To graph the plane one usually nds the intersection points
with the three axes and then graphs the triangle that connects those three
points. This triangle will be a portion of the plane and it will give us a fairly
decent idea on what the plane itself should look like. A more discussion of
linear functions of two variables will be covered in Section 12.4
Figure 2.4
Cross-Sections
A very useful way to describe the graph of a function of two variables is
to generate cross sections of the graph by xing one of the variables and
varying the other. By holding one of the variables xed, we eectively reduce
the function from two to a single variable. The resulting graph is a curve
that represents a slice through the graph of the function at the location
of the xed variable.
Example 2.5
Describe the cross-sections of z = f(x, y) = x
2
+ y
2
with y xed and then
with x xed.
Solution.
The cross-sections with y xed at y = b are given by
z = f(x, b) = x
2
+ b
2
.
These are parabolas opening upward, located in the plane parallel to the
xzplane at y = b, and with a minimum at (0, b, b
2
). Similar argument for
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the cross-sections at x = a. See Figure 2.5
Figure 2.5
Functions with Missing Variables: Cylinders
A cylinder is a surface traced out by translation of a plane curve along a
straight line in space. For example, the right circular cylinder x
2
+ y
2
= 1
shown in Figure 2.6(a) is the translation of the circle centered at the origin
and with radius 1 in the xyplane along the z-axis. A similar argument for
the cylinder y
2
+ z
2
= 1 shown in Figure 2.6(b)
Figure 2.6
Note that the variable z is missing in the equation x
2
+y
2
= 1. In fact, when
a variable is missing, the cylinder is obtained by moving a plane curve along
a line parallel to the axis of the missing variable.
Example 2.6
Use a computer or a graphing calculator to graph the cyclinder z = f(x, y) =
x
2
.
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Solution.
Note that the missing variable is y. So the culinder has axis of symmetry
the y-axis. The graph is shown in Figure 2.7
Figure 2.7
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