Math 3202 Vector Calculus Fall 2015 - Dr H K Kunduri

Assignment 1: Vector Functions and Directional Derivatives

Due 5pm Wednesday Sept 23 Box 57
1. Find parametric equations for the following curves:
(a) the line passing through (5, 1, 4) and (0, 3, 4)
(b) the graph of x y 3 = 1 in R2 for 0 y 1
(c) the intersection of the planes x + y z = 2 and 2x 5y + z = 3
2. Determine whether and where the two lines r1 (t) = (t + 1, 5t + 6, 2t) and r2 (t) = (3t 3, t, t + 1)
intersect.
3. Find parametric equations for the line in R3 given by
x2
y3
z+1
=
=
5
2
4

(1)

What direction is the line moving in?

4. Parameterizing Circles Recall that a parameterization for the curve x2 + y 2 = R2 , the circle of
radius R centred at the origin lying on the plane z = 0, is C(t) = (R cos t, R sin t, 0).
(a) Find a parameterization for a unit (R = 1) circle centred at (0, 0, 5) lying in the plane z = 5.
(b) Find the parameterization for a unit circle lying on the plane z = 5 with centre at (4, 3, 5).
(Hint: the equation for a circle in the plane z = 0 with centre at (a, b, 0) is (x a)2 + (y b)2 =
1, z = 0.)
(c) Find the curve parameterizing the intersection of the sphere x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 8 with i) the plane
z = 2 and ii) the plane z = 2y (what shape is this curve?)
5. Consider the circle of radius R parameterized by r1 (t) = (R cos t, R sin t, 0). Compute the tangent

vector r1 0 (t), its norm |r1 0 (t)|, the unit tangent vector T(t)
and the scalar S = r1 0 (t) r1 00 (t). From
0
00
this, determine the angle of intersection of r1 (t) and r1 (t). Then compute |r1 0 (t) r1 00 (t)| (recall
that |~a ~b| = |~a||~b| sin where is the angle between the two vectors)
6. If r(t) represents a particles position at time t, the speed is given by the magnitude of the velocity
vector r0 (t). Suppose r(t) = (3et cos t, 3et sin t) where 1 t 3. When and where does the
particle achieve its maximum speed?
7. Using components (e..g writing u(t) = (f (t), g(t), h(t)), etc) and the definition of the dot product,
show that
d
du(t)
dv(t)
[u(t) v(t)] =
v(t) + u(t)
.
dt
dt
dt
8. Calculate the directional derivative of the given function at the point P in the direction v :
(a) f (x, y) =

x2

1
at P = (3, 2), v = (1, 1)
+ y2
1

(b) f (x, y, z) =

xey
at P = (2, 1, 0), v = i 2j + 3k
3z 2 + 1

9. A scalar function is given by T (x, y, z) = 30(x2 + y 2 + z 2 )1 for all points (x, y, z) 6= (0, 0, 0). (a)
Find the rate of change of the function at the point (1, 2, 0) in the direction v = (2, 1, 1). (b)
Find the direction and magnitude of the maximum rate of change of T (x, y, z) at the point (0, 0, 1).
(c) Find a direction along which the function does not change at the point (1, 0, 0).
10. Consider the function G(x, y) = 3x2 y 2 2. (a) Compute the directional derivative v G in
the direction of the tangent vector to the curve r(t) = (cos t, t sin t). (b) Consider the function
g(t) = G(r(t)). Show that the derivative of the one-variable function g 0 (t) = dg(t)/dt is the same
as the result of (a).