MA134 Geometry and Motion

Examples Sheet 5

Answers to Part B questions must be handed in to your supervisor via the pigeon loft by
2pm Thursday, 11 February, 2015 (week 6).

Part A. Easier and background questions to be done first. Not to be handed in for marking.

1. Verify the following linear approximations at (0, 0)

2x + 3 p 1
(a) 3 + 2x 12y (b) y + cos2 x 1 + y
4y + 1 2

2. Consider a circular cone of base radius R and height h. Write down the expression for the differential
of volume dV of the cone in terms of the differentials dR and dh. What is the condition on R/h for
infinitesimal increases in h to increase the volume more than infinitesimal increases in R?

3. Find the equation for the tangent plane to the elliptic paraboloid z = 2x2 + y 2 at the point (1, 1, 3).

4. Consider the following nonlinear ordinary differential equations

x = f (x, y) = tan(x2 + y) y = g(x, y) = tan(y 2 x)

Approximate each of the right hand sides by a linear approximation about (0, 0) to obtain a system of
linear ODEs. You should be able to solve these ODEs for initial conditions x(0) = 0.1, y(0) = 0.

5. Find and classify the critical points of

f (x, y) = 4 + x3 + y 3 3xy

Suppose this f was used to generate a system of ODEs

f f
x = (x, y) y = (x, y)
x y
Based on the above analysis of critical points, where would the initial condition x = y = 1/2 go as
t ? (You dont need to calculate anything here.)

B. Questions for credit

6. Find all points at which the direction of steepest descent of the function

f (x, y) = x2 + y 2 2x 4y

is in the direction (1/ 2, 1/ 2). Sketch at least three contours Lk of f with equal spacing between the
contour levels k. Indicate the set of points you found on the sketch.

7. Consider a circular cone of base radius R and height h. The total area of the surface of cone (total
surface area A) is the area of the lateral surface plus the area of the base. Write down the expression for
the differential of the total surface area dA in terms of the differentials dR and dh. For which values of
R/h will infinitesimal increases in h increase the area more than infinitesimal increases in R? You may
assume R > 0 and h > 0. (Look up the formula for A if you do not know it. The last part is harder than
it looks.)
 8. Suppose you know that the following two curves lie on a surface S
r1 (t) = (2 + 3t, 1 t2 , 3 4t + t2 )
r2 (t) = (1 + t2 , 2t3 1, 2t + 1)
Find a normal to the surface at the point (2, 1, 3) and from this find an equation for the tangent plane
to S at this point.

9. Two surfaces are called orthogonal at a point of intersection if their normals are perpendicular at that
point. Show that the surfaces z 2 = x2 + y 2 and x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1 are orthogonal at every point of
intersection. Sketch the surfaces.

10. Assume the pressure in some region of the plane is given by

7
p(x, y) = x 2y + x2 + 3y 2
12
Assume a particle initially at (x, y) = (1, 1) moves along a path that is always tangent to p, moving in
the direction of p. Find the path of the particle and its final position as t . Sketch contours of
p together with the path.

11. A toy model for a drop of paint spreading on an inclined plane is given by level sets of the function
yx
u(x, t) = u(x, y, t) = 2A(t)
1 + x2 + y 2
where A(t) = t1/2 . The edge of the drop at each time t 1 is the k = 1 level set L1 in spatial coordinates
x = (x, y). Describe these time-dependent level sets. Sketch the drop at a few times starting from t = 1.

C. More exercises.
(They should not be handed in for marking.)
12. Consider the following nonlinear ordinary differential equations
x x2 y 2 x2 y2
x = f (x, y) = e 8 2 y = g(x, y) = ye 8 2
4
These are difficult to solve. You should approximate each of the right hand sides by a linear approximation
about (0, 0). This will give you two linear ODEs. You should then give the general solution to these
equations.

13. Find and classify all the critical points of the function
f (x, y) = y 2 2y cos x, where 1 < x < 7
Then based on this analysis, sketch the contours of the function. Check the contours with Matlab or
other software.

14. Suppose that the directional derivatives of f (x, y) are known at a given point in two nonparallel directions
u and v. Is it possible to find f there, and if so how?

15. Show that the equation of the tangent plane to the ellipsoid
x2 y 2 z 2
+ 2 + 2 =1
a2 b c
at point (x0 , y0 , z0 ) can be written
xx0 yy0 zz0
+ 2 + 2 =1
a2 b c