Lectures on Maths for Economics & Managements

Hồ Ngọc Kỳ

Institute of Applied Mathematics, UEH

Email: kyhn@ueh.edu.vn
Webpage: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1362-9321

Hồ Ngọc Kỳ - Institute of Applied Mathematics Lectures on Maths for Economics & Managements Lecture 6: Functions of Several Variables 1 / 14
Lecture 6: Functions of Several Variables

CONTENT
(Section 14.1 & Chapter 17 of Textbook; Chương 6 trong sách Bài tập)

Functions of Several Variables

Limits and Continuity

Partial Derivatives

Differentials

Hồ Ngọc Kỳ - Institute of Applied Mathematics Lectures on Maths for Economics & Managements Lecture 6: Functions of Several Variables 2 / 14
Function of two variables
Definition of Function of two variables: A function f of two variables is a rule
that assigns to each ordered pair of real numbers (x, y ) in a set D ⊂ Oxy ≡ R2 a
unique real number f (x, y ). We write f : D ⊂ R2 → R.
D is called the domain of f .
{f (x, y ) : (x, y ) ∈ D} is called the range of f .

Example 1: The volume V of a circular cylinder with radius r and height h is

V = πr 2 h. We say V is a function of two variables r and h.

Example 2: In 1928, Charles Cobb and Paul Douglas proposed a formula for total
production P (the monetary value of all goods produced in a year) in the form

P = P(L, K ) = bLα K 1−α ,

where L represents the amount of labor (the total number of person-hours worked
in a year) and K represents the amount of capital invested (the monetary value of
all machinery, equipment, and buildings).
Function of n variables: f = f (x1 , x2 , · · · , xn ).
Hồ Ngọc Kỳ - Institute of Applied Mathematics Lectures on Maths for Economics & Managements Lecture 6: Functions of Several Variables 3 / 14
Graph of functions of two variable
The graph of a function z = f (x, y ) is the surface in Oxyz formed by the points
(x, y , z) with (x, y ) in the domain of the function and z = f (x, y ).

Hồ Ngọc Kỳ - Institute of Applied Mathematics Lectures on Maths for Economics & Managements Lecture 6: Functions of Several Variables 4 / 14
Limit and Continuity

Definition (Limit of a function of two variables): We write

lim f (x, y ) = L or lim f (x, y ) = L

x→a
(x,y )→(a,b)
y →b

to indicate that
f (x, y ) → L as x → a and y → b.
x2 + y 3 sin(x 2 + y 2 )
Example: lim 2
= and lim = 1.
(x,y )→(1,2) x + y 5 x→0 x2 + y2
y →0

Definition (Continuity of a function of two variables): If

lim f (x, y ) = f (a, b),

(x,y )→(a,b)

then f is called continuous at (a, b). We say that f is continuous on D ⊂ R2 if f

is continuous at each point (a, b) ∈ D.

Hồ Ngọc Kỳ - Institute of Applied Mathematics Lectures on Maths for Economics & Managements Lecture 6: Functions of Several Variables 5 / 14
Partial Derivatives
Definition: Let z = f (x, y ) be a function of two variables, its partial derivatives
are the functions fx and fy defined by

f (x + h, y ) − f (x, y )
fx (x, y ) = lim ,
h→0 h
f (x, y + h) − f (x, y )
fy (x, y ) = lim .
h→0 h

▶ To find fx , regard y as a constant and differentiate f (x, y ) with respect to x.

▶ To find fy , regard x as a constant and differentiate f (x, y ) with respect to y .

Thus, for z = f (x, y ) we have

zx = the rate of change of z with respect to x when y is fixed.
zy = the rate of change of z with respect to y when x is fixed.
∂f ∂z ∂f ∂z
Notations: fx = zx = = and fy = zy = =
∂x ∂x ∂y ∂y
Hồ Ngọc Kỳ - Institute of Applied Mathematics Lectures on Maths for Economics & Managements Lecture 6: Functions of Several Variables 6 / 14
Second-Order Partial Derivatives
2
Example: Let f (x, y ) = e xy . Evaluate fx (1, 1) and fy (1, 1).
Example: Let z = z(x, y ) be an implicit function give by x 3 + y 3 + z 3 + 3xyz = 6. Find
∂z ∂z
(1, 1), (1, 1).
∂x ∂y
Strategy: To find zx (x0 , y0 ), differentiate both sides of the equation with respect
Fx Fx
to x: Fx + zx Fz = 0 =⇒ zx = − . Similarly, zy = − .
Fz Fz
Second-Order Partial Derivatives: Let z = f (z, y ). Define

∂2f
 
∂ ∂f
fxx (x, y ) ≡ (x, y ) := (x, y )
∂x 2 ∂x ∂x
∂2f
 
∂ ∂f
fxy (x, y ) ≡ (x, y ) := (x, y )
∂y ∂x ∂y ∂x
∂2f
 
∂ ∂f
fyx (x, y ) ≡ (x, y ) := (x, y )
∂x∂y ∂x ∂y
∂2f
 
∂ ∂f
fyy (x, y ) ≡ (x, y ) := (x, y )
∂y 2 ∂y ∂y
Hồ Ngọc Kỳ - Institute of Applied Mathematics Lectures on Maths for Economics & Managements Lecture 6: Functions of Several Variables 7 / 14
Higher-Order Partial Derivatives
Example: Find second-order partial derivatives of f (x, y ) = ln(x 2 + y ).

The symmetry of second derivatives: [Clairaut (1740), Schwarz (1873)]

fxy = fyx .

Example: Given f (x, y ), prove that fxxy = fxyx = fyxx .

Note: Only care about the number of times we take partial derivatives with
respect to each variable; the order of taking the derivatives is not important.

Partial Derivatives of Order m:

∂mf
= The partial derivative of f is taken m times
∂x k ∂y m−k
with k times with respect to x and m − k times with respect to y .

∂3f
Example: Find with f (x, y ) = sin(3x + 2y ).
∂x 2 ∂y
Hồ Ngọc Kỳ - Institute of Applied Mathematics Lectures on Maths for Economics & Managements Lecture 6: Functions of Several Variables 8 / 14
The Chain Rules
The Chain Rule 1: Let z = f (x, y ) with x = g (t) and y = h(t). Then,

dz ∂z dx ∂z dy
z ′ (t) = = + .
dt ∂x dt ∂y dt

The Chain Rule 2: Let z = f (x, y ) with x = g (s, t) và y = h(s, t). Then,

∂z ∂z ∂x ∂z ∂y ∂z ∂z ∂x ∂z ∂y
= + và = + .
∂s ∂x ∂s ∂y ∂s ∂t ∂x ∂t ∂y ∂t
∂z ∂z
Example: Let z = e x sin y with x = st 2 và y = s 2 t. Evaluate and .
∂s ∂t
The Chain Rule: Let u = f (x1 , · · · , xn ) with xj = xj (t1 , · · · , tm ) (j = 1, · · · , n).
Then, u is a function of t1 , · · · , tm and
∂u ∂z ∂x1 ∂z ∂xn
= + ··· + (i = 1, · · · , m).
∂ti ∂x1 ∂ti ∂xn ∂ti

Hồ Ngọc Kỳ - Institute of Applied Mathematics Lectures on Maths for Economics & Managements Lecture 6: Functions of Several Variables 9 / 14
Linear Approximation of One Variable Functions

Linear approximation: Consider y = f (x). For x near a we have

f (x) ≈ L(x) = f (a) + f ′ (a)(x − a).

√
Example: Find a linear approximation f (x) = x + 3 at a = 1.

Hồ Ngọc Kỳ - Institute of Applied Mathematics Lectures on Maths for Economics & Managements Lecture 6: Functions of Several Variables 10 / 14
Differentials of One Variable Functions
Differentials: Let ∆x be the increment in x then the increment approximation of
y = f (x) at a is ∆y = f (a + ∆x) − f (a) ≈ f ′ (a)∆x. The differential of y = f (x)
at a is defined as
dy (a) = y ′ (a)∆x.
For y = x we obtain dx(a) = ∆x for all a. Thus, dx = ∆x and we write
dy (a) = y ′ (a)dx or df (a) = f ′ (a)dx. Generally, dy = y ′ dx or df = f ′ dx.

Note: dy represents the change along the tangent, while ∆y represents the
change along the curve y = f (x):

High-order differentials: d n y = y (n) dx n , d n y (a) = y (n) (a)dx n .

Hồ Ngọc Kỳ - Institute of Applied Mathematics Lectures on Maths for Economics & Managements Lecture 6: Functions of Several Variables 11 / 14
Linear Approximation of Two Variable Functions
For (x, y ) near (a, b), the linear approximation of f at (a, b) is
f (x, y ) ≈ f (a, b) + fx (a, b)(x − a) + fy (a, b)(y − b).

∆z ≈ dz for ∆x, ∆y small

Hồ Ngọc Kỳ - Institute of Applied Mathematics Lectures on Maths for Economics & Managements Lecture 6: Functions of Several Variables 12 / 14
Total Differentials
p
Example: Find a linear approximation of f (x, y ) = x 4 + y 3 near (1, 2).

Total differential: Consider z = f (x, y ) near (a, b). If x changes from a to

a + ∆x and y change from b to b + ∆y , then z changes an amount:

∆z = f (a + ∆x, b + ∆y ) − f (a, b),

which is called an increment of z. By the linear approximation:

∆z ≈ fx (a, b)∆x + fy (a, b)∆y .

The quatity
dz(a, b) := fx (a, b)∆x + fy (a, b)∆y
is called a total differential of z = f (x, y ) at (a, b) corresponding to the
increments ∆x and ∆y of x and y , respectively.

Hồ Ngọc Kỳ - Institute of Applied Mathematics Lectures on Maths for Economics & Managements Lecture 6: Functions of Several Variables 13 / 14
Total Differentials
Clearly, dx = ∆x and dy = ∆y . Hence,

dz(a, b) = fx (a, b)dx + fy (a, b)dy .

Generally,
∂z ∂z
dz = fx dx + fy dy = dx + dy .
∂x ∂y
Thus
∆z ≈ dz (i.e., dz is a linear approximation of ∆z).

Example: Let z = f (x, y ) = 6x 2/3 y 1/2 .

(a) Find df (1000; 100).
(b) By using the linear approximation, evaluate f (998; 101, 5)
The second order differential: Consider f (x, y ). We have
d 2 f (x0 , y0 ) := d(df )(x0 , y0 ) = fxx (x0 , y0 ) dx 2 + 2fxy (x0 , y0 ) dxdy + fyy (x0 , y0 ) dy 2 .
2
Example: Find d 2 f (1, 0), where f (x, y ) = e x y .
Hồ Ngọc Kỳ - Institute of Applied Mathematics Lectures on Maths for Economics & Managements Lecture 6: Functions of Several Variables 14 / 14