(a)
We are told that for all x,y (with (x,y,z) near (2,−1/2,1)),
the function z(x,y) obeys
z(x,y)4−xy2z(x,y)2+y=0(∗)
Differentiating (∗) with respect to x gives
4z(x,y)3∂x∂z(x,y)−y2z(x,y)2−2xy2z(x,y)∂x∂z(x,y)=0⟹∂x∂z(x,y)=4z(x,y)3−2xy2z(x,y)y2z(x,y)2
Similarly, differentiating this equation with respect to y gives
4z(x,y)3∂y∂z(x,y)−2xyz(x,y)2−2xy2z(x,y)∂y∂z(x,y)+1=0⟹∂y∂z(x,y)=4z(x,y)3−2xy2z(x,y)2xyz(x,y)2−1
(b) Substituting (x,y,z)=(2,−1/2,1) into the results of part (a)
gives
∂x∂z(2,−1/2)∂y∂z(2,−1/2)=4−11/4=121=4−1−2−1=−1
(c) Under the linear approximation about (2,−1/2),
f(x,y)≈f(2,−1/2)+fx(2,−1/2)(x−2)+fy(2,−1/2)(y+1/2)=1+121(x−2)−(y+0.5)
In particular
f(1.94,−0.4)≈1−120.06−0.1
so that
f(1.94,−0.4)−1≈−0.105
(d) The tangent plane is
z=f(2,−1/2)+fx(2,−1/2)(x−2)+fy(2,−1/2)(y+1/2)=1+121(x−2)−(y+0.5)
or
12x−y−z=−31