Linear Approximation of 3 Variables: Formula Check

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
3 replies · 2K views
tandoorichicken
Messages
245
Reaction score
0
My book gives a formula for linear approximation of two independent variables, but I needed one for three. So I modified the formula given in the book, but I need someone to please just quickly see if it looks okay.

Given:
[tex]f(x,y)=z=f(x_0,y_0)+(\frac{\partial f}{\partial x} (x_0,y_0)) (x-x_0) + (\frac{\partial f}{\partial y} (x_0,y_0)) (y-y_0)[/tex]

Modified:
[tex]f(x,y,z)=f(x_0,y_0,z_0)+(\frac{\partial f}{\partial x} (x_0,y_0,z_0)) (x-x_0) + (\frac{\partial f}{\partial y} (x_0,y_0,z_0)) (y-y_0)+(\frac{\partial f}{\partial z} (x_0,y_0,z_0)) (z-z_0)[/tex]

Does this look alright?
It looks fine to me but I'm prone to overlooking glaring errors
 
Physics news on Phys.org
When you have time, you might want to see if you can rigorously justify that expression!