Sign of Directional derivative

Baron

Junior Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2010
Messages
73
The question is in the attachment and my work is also in the attachment.

My reasoning:

I labelled the points on the graph. Let z be the contour map function

1) At the point (0,2) if you go up, z changes from 4 to 6 so the directional derivative is positive
2) At the point (0,-2), in the direction of the vector <1,-2>, z becomes more positive so directional derivative is positive
3) At the point (1,0), z changes from 0 to positive so directional derivative is positive
4) At the point (-1,1) z moves parallel to the contour so the directional derivative is zero
5) At point (-2,2), z moves right, from 8 to 6 so directional derivative is negative
6) At point (-1,1), z moves towards the top left hand side so z becomes more positive and the directional derivative is positive.

But apparently one or more of the parts are wrong. Which one is it? I've checked over my reasoning and I can't find my error.
 

Attachments

  • question_contour.JPG
    question_contour.JPG
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  • my work.JPG
    my work.JPG
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The only one that looks wrong to me is #4. You are moving tangent to the contour, NOT "along" it.
 
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