Section 4.5
Linear Approximations
Goals:
1 Calculate the equation of a tangent plane.
2 Rewrite the tangent plane formula as a linearization or differential.
3 Use linearizations to estimate values of a function.
4 Use a differential to estimate the error in a calculation.
In single-variable calculus, the tangent line was one of the great applications of the derivative. It
solves a difficult geometry problem, but it also gives a method of approximating a difficult to compute
function. The height of the tangent line is close to the height of the graph near the point of tangency.
This means the value of the tangent line function approximates the value of the function, close to the
point of tangency. The two-variable analogue of a tangent line is a tangent plane.
Question 4.5.1
What Is a Tangent Plane?
Definition
A tangent plane at a point P = (x
0
, y
0
, z
0
) on a surface is a plane containing the tangent lines to the
surface through P .
Figure: The tangent plane to z = f (x, y) at a point
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