Vector-Valued Functions

1. Here are several curves.

x
y
z
x
y
z
x
y
z
(I) (II) (III)
x
y
z
x
y
z
x
y
z
(IV) (V) (VI)
Find the curve parameterized by each vector-valued function.
(a) r(t) = cos t, sint, t.
(b) r(s) = cos s, sins, sin4s.
(c) r(s) = cos s, sins, 4 sins.
(d) r(u) = cos u
3
, sinu
3
, u
3
.
(e) r(u) = 3 + 2 cos u, 1 + 4 cos u, 2 + 5 cos u.
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2. Let L be the line tangent to curve (III) at the point (1, 0, 2). Find parametric equations for L.
3. A y is sitting on the wall at the point (0, 1, 3). At time t = 0, he starts ying; his velocity at time t
is given by v(t) = cos 2t, e
t
, sint. Find the ys location at time t.
4. (a) The surfaces 9x
2
+
y
2
4
= 1 and z = sin(xy) intersect in a curve. Find a parameterization of the
curve.
x
y
z
(b) The surfaces z = sin(xy) and y = 2x intersect in a curve. Find a parameterization of the curve.
x
y
z
2
Vector-Valued Functions
1. Here are several curves.
x
y
z
x
y
z
x
y
z
(I) (II) (III)
x
y
z
x
y
z
x
y
z
(IV) (V) (VI)
Find the curve parameterized by each vector-valued function.
(a) r(t) = cos t, sint, t.
Solution. Remember that we visualize this by imagining a particle in space whose position at
time t is (cos t, sint, t). Lets rst just think about what the particles x- and y-components are
doing. (One way to visualize this is to imagine looking down on the particle from above; then
you cant really see what its height is, so youre looking only at what its x- and y-components are
doing.) We know that x = cos t, y = sint traces out a circle (the unit circle x
2
+y
2
= 1), repeating
its path every 2. Since the z component is just t, each time the particles x- and y-components
trace out a circle, the particle rises by 2. This matches picture (III) .
(b) r(s) = cos s, sins, sin4s.
Solution. The x- and y-components here are the same as in (a). However, from time s = 0 to
s = 2, the particles height is given by sin4s, whose graph looks like this:
1
2
1
1
That is, each time the x- and y-components of the particle make a loop, the height should rise
and fall four times. This matches (V) .
(c) r(s) = cos s, sins, 4 sins.
Solution. Using the same line of reasoning as in (a) and (b), we see that this is (II) . Notice
that the entire curve appears to lie in a single plane. This is indeed the case, which is easy to
check from the equations: if x = cos s, y = sins, and z = 4 sins, then z is always equal to 4y, so
the curve sits in the plane z = 4y.
(d) r(u) = cos u
3
, sinu
3
, u
3
.
Solution. Observe that the particles position at time t = u
3
is just (cos t, sint, t), which is
exactly the same as in (a). Thus, the curve traced out by this function is again (III) . The
dierence between this function and the one in part (a) is the time it takes the particle to reach
a given point on the curve. (Another way of saying the same thing is that a particle traveling
according to the function in (a) and a particle traveling according to the function here travel the
same path, but they go at dierent speeds.)
Here is a visual illustration:
x
y
z
0 5 10 15 20
t
x
y
z
0 5 10 15 20
u
The left picture shows r(t) = cos t, sint, t, with the value of t at a particular point on the curve
indicated by color. A particle traveling according to this parameterization reaches the top point
at time t = 6 (6 18.8, so this point is colored purple).
On the other hand, a particle traveling according to the parameterization r(u) = cos u
3
, sinu
3
, u
3

reaches the top point much more quickly (in fact, at time u =
3

6 2.7), as shown in the right

picture.
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(e) r(u) = 3 + 2 cos u, 1 + 4 cos u, 2 + 5 cos u.
Solution. This is simpler than it looks. At time t = cos u, the particle is at the point (3 +2t, 1 +
4t, 2 + 5t). You should recognize this as parameterizing a line, so the correct picture is (I) .
Notice that, when u = 0, the particle is at (5, 5, 7); when u = , the particle is at (1, 3, 3).
When u = 2, the particle is back at (5, 5, 7). Since t = cos u oscillates between 1 and 1 forever,
the particle just travels back and forth along the line segment between (5, 5, 7) and (1, 3, 3).
2. Let L be the line tangent to curve (III) at the point (1, 0, 2). Find parametric equations for L.
Solution. In #1, we saw that curve (III) could be parameterized by the vector-valued function
r(t) = cos t, sint, t. If we use this parameterization, then the point (1, 0, 2) corresponds to t = 2.
The derivative

r

(t) is equal to sint, cos t, 1, so

r

(2) = 0, 1, 1. This gives a vector which is

parallel to the tangent line, and (1, 0, 2) is a point on the tangent line.
To summarize, the tangent line contains the point (1, 0, 2) and is parallel to 0, 1, 1. We know that
such a line is given parametrically by the vector equation

f(t) = 1, 0, 2 + t0, 1, 1, or by the scalar
equations x = 1, y = t, z = 2 + t .
Here are the line and the curve (the blue point is (1, 0, 2)), shown from two dierent angles.
x
y
z
x
y
z
3. A y is sitting on the wall at the point (0, 1, 3). At time t = 0, he starts ying; his velocity at time t
is given by v(t) = cos 2t, e
t
, sint. Find the ys location at time t.
Solution. Let r(t) be the ys location at time t. We know that

r

(t) = v(t), so r(t) is an antiderivative

of v(t). Since we dierentiate component by component, we can also antidierentiate component by
component, so r(t) =

1
2
sin2t + C
1
, e
t
+ C
2
, cos t + C
3

where C
1
, C
2
, and C
3
are constants which
are still to be determined.
To nd the constants, we need an initial condition. In this case, we know that the ys position at
time 0 is (0, 1, 3), so r(0) = 0, 1, 3. Plugging t = 0 into our expression for r(t) gives 0, 1, 3 = r(0) =
C
1
, 1 + C
2
, 1 + C
3
, so C
1
= 0, C
2
= 0, and C
3
= 4. Therefore, the ys location at time t is
r(t) =

1
2
sin2t, e
t
, cos t + 4

.
4. (a) The surfaces 9x
2
+
y
2
4
= 1 and z = sin(x y) intersect in a curve. Find a parameterization of
the curve.
Solution. Notice that it is easy to express z in terms of x and y: z = sin(x y). Therefore, if
3
we can express both x and y in terms of a parameter t, we will automatically be able to express
z in terms of t as well.
So, lets focus on the relationship between x and y, which is given by the equation 9x
2
+
y
2
4
= 1.
If we rewrite this as (3x)
2
+ (y/2)
2
= 1, then we see that we can write 3x = cos t, y/2 = sint, or
x =
1
3
cos t and y = 2 sint.
Since z = sin(x y), we now have z = sin

1
3
cos t 2 sint

. We can also write this as the

vector-valued function r(t) =

1
3
cos t, 2 sint, sin

1
3
cos t 2 sint

.
(This is certainly not the only correct answer; there are innitely many ways to parameterize a
given curve.)
(b) The surfaces z = sin(x y) and y = 2x intersect in a curve. Find a parameterization of the
curve.
Solution. As in the previous part, its easy to express z in terms of x and y, so we should focus
on writing x and y in terms of a parameter t. Notice, however, that this time its also easy to
write y in terms of x: y = 2x.
Therefore, we can simply let x be the parameter, x = t. Then, y = 2x = 2t, and z = sin(x y) =
sin(t 2t) = sin(t). Written as a vector-valued function, r(t) = t, 2t, sin(t) .
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