xaktly | Multivariable calculus

Quadric surfaces

Quadric surfaces


In general, three-dimensional functions (functions of variables $x, y$ and $z$) can be written as

$$Ax^2 + By^2 + Cz^2 + Dxy + Exz + Fyz + Gx + Hy + Iz + J,$$

where the $A, B, \dots, J$ are all parameters that are fixed for any set of $x, y$ and $z$.


These equations can be written as functions of $x, y$ or $z$:

  • $z = f(x, y)$
  • $y = f(x, z)$
  • $x = f(y, z).$

They have two-dimensional domains and 1-D ranges.

There are an infinite number of three-dimensional graphs — surfaces in 3D as compared with curves in 2D. Quadric surfaces are the three-dimensional analogs of the conic sections: parabolas, hyperbolas, ellipses.

Just as in our studies of those 2D functions, it's useful to highlight a few key surfaces so that we might gain some insights into the variety of quadric surfaces that can arise, and to the kinds of features — maxima, minima, saddle points &c. they can have.

There are many parallels between 2D and 3D curves and surfaces, such as

  • line ↔ plane
  • ellipse ↔ ellipsoid
  • parabola ↔ paraboloid
  • hyperbola ↔ hyperboloid

We'll discuss these and other quadric surfaces here.

Cylinder


First let's have a quick review of circles. Here are two circles of radius $r$, one centered at the origin $(0, 0)$ and the other centered at coordinates $(h, k)$:

The equation of the circle centered at the origin is

$$x^2 + y^2 = r^2$$

The dashed circle is the same, just translated from the origin $h$ units to the right and $k$ units upward. Its equation (the general equation of a circle centered at $(h, k)$ and of radius $r$) is

$$(x - h)^2 + (y - k)^2 = r^2$$

The cylinder is just a stretching of the circle along the axis orthogonal to the plane containing the circle, in this case, the $z$ axis:

The cylinder is the collection of these points:

$$\{ (x, y, z): \; x^2 + y^2 = r^2, \; z \in \mathbb{R} \}$$

Strictly speaking, this is the equation of a right circulal cylinder, the figure formed by extending a circle along an axis at a right angle (orghogonal) to the plane containing the circle. The definition of a cylinder is actually broader.

Cylinder

A surface generated by extending any plane curve along an axis perpendicular to the plane that holds the curve

Noncircular cylinders: examples



This parabolic cylinder is formed by extending the parabola $y = x^2$ along the $z$ axis.

This cubic cylinder is formed by extending the cubic function $y = x^3$ along the $z$ axis.

This is an elliptical cylinder. Its cross sections parallel to the $x-y$ plane are ellipses, $x^2 + \left( \frac{y}{2} \right)^2 = 1$.

Ellipsoid


The equation of a sphere of radius $r$ is

$$\frac{x^2}{r^2} + \frac{y^2}{r^2} + \frac{z^2}{r^2} = 1.$$

If we modify that equation so that there is a different "radius" associated with each direction $(x, y, z)$, then we have an ellipsoid:

$$\frac{x^2}{a^2} + \frac{y^2}{b^2} + \frac{z^2}{c^2} = 1 \tag{1}$$

where $a, \; b$ and $c$ are the radii along each of the $x, \; y$ and $z$ axes, respectively.

In a more general way, we can locate an ellipsoid with its center at any 3D coordinates $(h, k, l)$ with the equation

$$\frac{(x-h)^2}{a^2} + \frac{(y-k)^2}{b^2} + \frac{(z-l)^2}{c^2} = 1,$$

In most cases, we'll locate our ellipsoid at the origin of our coordinate system, so equation (1) is the most important.

Here's an example of a simple ellipsoid with $a = 1$, $b = 2$ and $c = 3$:


Paraboloid


The paraboloid is just an extension of the 2D parabola into three dimensions. There are two flavors of paraboloid, elliptical paraboloid, which resembles a bowl, and the hyperbolic paraboloid, which ... well, it's like a paraboloid turned inside-out.

Elliptical


An elliptical paraboloid with vertex $(0, 0, 0)$ has the form

$$\frac{x^2}{a^2} + \frac{y^2}{b^2} = z,$$

where $a$ and $b$ are parameters. This is the equation of a paraboloid with its vertex at the origin and with horizontal (parallel to the $x-y$ plane) cross sections that are ellipses (circles if $a = b$). Here's an example, the paraboloid

$$x^2 + y^2 = z$$

We can show that the cross sections parallel to the $x-y$ plane are circles (ellipses if $a \ne b$) if we set $z$ equal to a constant, $k$: $x^2 + y^2 = k$ is the quation of a circle.

Likewise, if we set $x$ or $y$ equal to zero, we get the trace of the function in the $x-z$ or $y-z$ plane, respectively:

$$\frac{x^2}{a^2} = z \phantom{00000} \frac{y^2}{b^2} = z$$

Hyperbolic


The equation of a hyperbola centered at the origin of a 2D coordinate system is

$$\frac{x^2}{a^2} - \frac{y^2}{b^2} = 1 \text{ or } \frac{y^2}{a^2} - \frac{x^2}{b^2} = 1$$

The first opens in the left-right direction and the second upward and downward:

The hyperbolic paraboloid is just a 2D hyperbola,

with parabolic cross sections in the third dimension ($z$ in this case).

Here is the graph of the elliptical paraboloid $x^2 - y^2 = z$.

This view of the same function looks down the $z$-axis. Notice that the contours in the planes parallel to the $xy$ plane are hyperbolas. The traces in the $xz$ and $yz$ planes are parabolas.


When we set $z$ equal to a constant (let's use 1 to make it simple), we get the equation of a hyperbola:

$$x^2 - y^2 = 1$$

Likewise, when we set $x$ or $y$ equal to zero, so that we're in the $yz$ or $xz$ planes, respectively, we have parabolas:

$$ \begin{align} x = 0: \; x^2 - y^2 = z \; &\longrightarrow \; -y^2 = z \\[5pt] y = 0: \; x^2 - y^2 = z \; &\longrightarrow \; x^2 = z \end{align}$$


Extrema

The critical points of a 3D graph are places where the first derivative of the function is zero in both of the $x$ and $y$ directions. We'll learn more about this later when we discuss partial derivatives, but for now just notice that a paraboloid has a global minimum (shown) or maximum (if that same graph were turned upside down). There is a greatest or least value of the function. For a hperbolic paraboloid, we have a saddle point. The saddle point is like the middle of a mountain pass: hills go up on both sides in one dimension and down on both sides in the other dimension.

Hyperboloid


The hyperboloid comes in two forms, hyperboloids of one sheet and of two sheets. Here's an example of the former, the hyperboloid

$$\frac{x^2}{a^2} + \frac{y^2}{b^2} - \frac{z^2}{c^2} = 1$$

Here is a 3D graph of the hyperboloid $x^2 + y^2 - z^2 = 1$. The horizontal traces (parallel to the $xy$ plane) are ellipses, or in this case, in which $a = b$, circles. The traces in the $xz$ and $yz$ planes are hyperbolas. You can prove that to yourself by setting $x$ or $y$ equal to zero and finding the resulting 2D equation.

The hyperboloid of two sheets can be modeled by the equation

$$\frac{z^2}{a^2} \color{magenta}{-} \frac{x^2}{b^2} - \frac{y^2}{c^2} = 1$$

Notice that the change is just in the first minus sign.

Here, for example, is the graph of $z^2 - x^2 - y^2 = 1$:

The horizontal traces of this curve are ellipses and the vertical traces, in the $xz$ and $yz$ planes, are hyperbolas.

Elliptical cone


The equation of a paraboloid is

$$z = \frac{x^2}{a^2} + \frac{y^2}{b^2}$$

If we square the $z$, we effectively linearize this equation to form a cone — actually two cones because of the squaring. Here is the graph of the simple elliptical cone, $z^2 = x^2 + y^2$

The general form of an elliptical cone is

$$\frac{z^2}{c^2} = \frac{x^2}{a^2} + \frac{y^2}{b^2}$$

The openings of the opposing cones lie along the axis with its variable alone on one side of the equal sign.

For example, the elliptical cone

$$\frac{x^2}{a^2} = \frac{z^2}{c^2} + \frac{y^2}{b^2}$$

opens along the $x$-axis.

We can solve for one of the cones of this double cone by solving for $z$:

$$ \begin{align} z^2 &= c^2 \frac{x^2}{a^2} + c^2 \frac{y^2}{b^2} \\[5pt] z &= \pm \sqrt{ \frac{c^2 x^2}{a^2} + \frac{c^2 y^2}{b^2} } \end{align}$$

This splits the two cones into upper and lower versions.

The dot product

Back up and learn about the dot product (scalar product) of vectors.

Vector product or cross product

Finding a vector orthogonal to two other vectors in a plane.

X

Orthogonal

In two dimensions, orthogonal means perpendicular. But when we proceed to three or more dimensions, "perpendicular" isn't good enough. In 3-D a line and a plane can be perpendicular when viewed from one direction, but not perpendicular when viewed from an angle 90˚ away on the plane. The word orthogonal means perpendicular in every conceivable direction, no matter how many dimensions.

X

Parameter

A parameter is an adjustable constant in the definition of a function that is different from the independent variable(s). Parameters are not independent variables. For example, in the quadratic function

f(x) = Ax2 + Bx + C

A, B and C are parameters which change the shape of the graph of the function. x is the independent variable. A, B and C are fixed for any particular version of f(x), but x can range from -&inf; to +&inf;

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