Chapter 12: Exercises 6 and 8

Evaluate \(f_x(x,y)\) and \(f_y(x,y)\) at the indicated point.

We need to find the derivatives with respect to x and y separately and then evaluate them at the given point.

6. \(f(x,y) = x^3 - 3x + y^2 -6y ~at ~(-1,3)\)

a. Partial derivative with respect to x \(f_x(x,y)\)

\(\frac{df}{dx} x^3 - 3x + y^2 -6y\)

Differentiate each term separately

\(\frac{df}{dx} x^3 = 3x^2\)

\(\frac{df}{dx} -3x = -3\)

\(\frac{df}{dx} y^2\) and \(\frac{df}{dx} -6y\) don’t have any x’s their derivatives with respect to x are 0

\(f_x(x,y) = 3x^2 - 3\)

b. Partial derivative with respect to y \(f_y(x,y)\)

$ x^3 - 3x + y^2 -6y$ Differentiate each term separately

\(\frac{df}{dy} x^3\) and \(\frac{df}{dy} -3x\) don’t have any y’s so their derivatives with respect to y are 0

\(\frac{df}{dy} y^2 = 2y\)

\(\frac{df}{dy} -6y = -6\)

\(f_y(x,y) = 2y - 6\)

c. Evaluating \(f_x(x,y)\) and \(f_y(x,y)\) at point (-1,3)

\(f_x(x,y) = 3x^2 - 3\) = \(3(-1)^2 - 3\) = 0

\(f_y(x,y) = 2y - 6\) = \(2(3) - 6\) = 0

8. \(f(x,y) = ln(xy) ~at ~(-2,-3)\)

a. Partial derivative with respect to x \(f_x(x,y)\)

\(\frac{df}{dx} ln(xy)\)

Using the chain rule we get…

\(\frac{df}{dx} ln(xy) = \frac{1}{xy} * y\)

\(f_x(x,y) = \frac{1}{x}\)

b. Partial derivative with respect to y \(f_y(x,y)\)

\(\frac{df}{dy} ln(xy)\)

Using the chain rule we get…

\(\frac{df}{dy} ln(xy) = \frac{1}{xy} * x\)

\(f_y(x,y) = \frac{1}{y}\)

c. Evaluating \(f_x(x,y)\) and \(f_y(x,y)\) at point (-2,-3)

\(f_x(x,y) = \frac{1}{x}\) = \(\frac{1}{(-2)}\) = \(-\frac{1}{2}\)

\(f_y(x,y) = \frac{1}{y}\) = \(\frac{1}{(-3)}\) = \(-\frac{1}{3}\)